From the file: the points below describe what to look for in a signed service agreement and its written policies. Editorial: this is a reading checklist, not legal advice. Ask the agency to explain each point in writing.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Find the clause first

Search the service agreement and the written policies for the section on damage, breakage, lost items, and property. Some agencies place it under a heading about the home. Others place it in a list of general rules. If you cannot find it, that is the first question to put to the agency.

Read it twice

Read once for what the clause promises. Read again for what it leaves out. Look at who must report damage, how soon, and in what form. Check whether the clause says how the agency reviews its own staff's work, and whether it excludes the family's own items.

List what could be damaged

Before the first visit, walk through the home and write down items that matter to the family: heirloom dishes, glassware, electronics, furniture, and anything fragile near a path the aide will use. A list written in advance turns a later dispute into a simple comparison.

Ask these questions in writing

  • Does the clause cover damage caused by an aide, and damage caused by an accident in the home?
  • How is damage reported to the family, and who signs the report?
  • Is there a time limit for reporting damage?
  • Does the agency's paper say how it handles an item the family has marked as fragile?
  • May the family keep a copy of the signed clause?

Compare the clause to the care plan

The clause and the care plan should describe the same home, the same items, and the same visitors. If the care plan sends the aide near a fragile item and the clause says nothing about it, ask for the gap to be closed in writing before the first visit.

Editorial: a damage clause is not a promise that nothing will break. It is a sheet that shows who answers for what, and how that answer is written down.

For the agency-side check before you sign, see how to check a provider yourself, in five lookups.