Editorial note: the desk marks each block in this guide. A line tagged From file would come from a public record or a listing pull. Editorial means the desk's own reading of how these agreements usually read. This guide is editorial throughout.

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Find every supply line before you compare

Editorial: Supplies rarely get a heading of their own. They appear inside a rate sheet, a fee list, or a short paragraph about what the aide brings to the house. Open the proposal and the agreement side by side. Mark every item that names a product, such as gloves, cleaning solution, bags, laundry soap, mop heads, or paper goods. Then mark who the paper says buys each one.

Read the buyer, then the total

Editorial: The buyer decides where the cost sits. When the agency buys, the cost is inside the rate or on a separate supply line, and the paper should say which. When the family buys, the cost stays with the household and the shopping becomes a task. Write that task into the house routine so nobody assumes the aide will pick it up. When an aide buys with their own money and asks for repayment, the agreement should name how receipts reach the agency and when repayment happens.

Questions to put to each agency

  • Which products does the agency supply, and which must the family keep stocked?
  • Is the supply cost inside the rate, or does it show as its own line?
  • If an aide runs short during a visit, who buys the replacement and how is it recorded?
  • Can the family request a specific product, and who pays any difference?
  • How is a supply receipt delivered, and how long after the visit?

Write the line into the agreement

Editorial: Compare every spoken answer against the paper. A promise made on a phone call is not a supply term until it appears in the agreement. Ask that the list of supplies be attached and that the buyer for each item is named. If a line is blank, ask for a written answer before you sign.

Editorial: Keep this guide with the check sheet. The supply line is one row on that sheet, and it matters most when two proposals look alike.