The task sheet is the list of what a hired worker will do in the home, room by room and visit by visit. Agencies call it a care plan, a service plan, or a duties list. Whatever the name, it is the paper that shows whether the family got what it asked for. This guide walks through what to read on it before the first shift. Lines copied from the paper you were handed are marked From the file. Our own notes are marked Desk note.

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 sheet and its name

Ask for the task sheet in writing before you sign anything. Write down what the agency calls it. Then look in the agreement for the same name. If the agreement says 'service plan' and the sheet says 'duties list', you have two papers that may not match. Desk note: a sheet the agreement never names is a sheet the agreement may not bind.

Check whether the agreement attaches it

Read the attachments or exhibits section of the agreement. From the file, look for words such as 'attached', 'incorporated', or 'as set out in'. If the sheet is not attached, ask the agency to attach the signed version. Check the version label on the sheet, the page count, and the signature block on the last page. Each should match the agreement's list of attachments.

Read the task lines against what you asked for

Put your own list next to the sheet. Walk through the house in the order a worker would move through it: arrival, entry, kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, the yard door, and departure. For each thing you need done, find a matching line. Mark every gap. Common gaps include a line that says 'light housekeeping' with no definition, an errand with no limit on store trips, and a line that says 'as needed' with no way to tell who decides. Ask the agency to write a plain definition beside each vague term.

Find the lines that name the family's jobs

A good sheet also says what the worker will not do. Those jobs belong to the family or to another person the family chooses, and the sheet should name them plainly. If a job appears on neither list, decide who owns it before the first shift and write that decision on the sheet. Desk note: a job that falls between two lists is the one that gets missed.

Ask for the change route

Ask how a task is added or removed. Ask who signs the change, whether the change alters the agreement, and how fast the agency sends the revised sheet. Ask whether a worker may start a new task on the spot or whether the family must sign first. Desk note: a change made by phone with no written copy is hard to prove later.

Questions to ask before you sign

  • What is this sheet called in the agreement, and is it attached?
  • Which lines are the worker's duties, and which are the family's?
  • What does each vague term mean, written out?
  • Who signs a change, and how does the revised copy reach the house?
  • Where will the signed copy be kept in the home?

Check the agency behind the paper

A clean sheet does not confirm the agency. Read the public files on the agency before you rely on its paperwork. The desk guide on how to check any home health agency in five federal lookups explains the public files to read: How to check any home health agency in five federal lookups. For non-medical home care, the note on which record to check explains the different file: Home health versus non-medical home care: which record to check.

The sheet is only as strong as the agreement that holds it. Read both papers before the first worker walks in.