Finding reliable home care can often be a challenging endeavor for many families. While most communities do have access to various home care agencies that provide these essential services, it is important to note that many of these agencies have strict requirements. Typically, they may mandate a minimum number of hours per week to be booked in order to receive any care at all. This can create a barrier for individuals who require flexible care arrangements, especially if their needs vary from week to week.
In this context, Care.com emerges as a highly valuable alternative, offering a level of flexibility that can be particularly beneficial for those whose care needs fluctuate. The platform is structured like a local directory, enabling users to easily search for and find home caregivers within their community. Care.com not only facilitates the search process but also conducts thorough background checks on all caregivers listed on its site, ensuring a degree of safety and trustworthiness.
For families who don’t mind putting in a bit of extra effort and research, Care.com provides an ideal solution for securing home care for their loved ones. The platform allows users to browse through various profiles of caregivers, read reviews, and directly communicate with potential hires, making the process more personalized and tailored to individual needs. By leveraging Care.com, families can exercise greater control over their choices, ultimately leading to a more satisfying and effective caregiving experience.
Care.com starts with a short screening quiz to find out what your loved one’s needs are. Once you give the website basic facts — like age, the activities they need help with, and if they’ll finance it — it will have you create an account to see your results. The results will show you local caregivers in your area, as well as their experience, ratings, and hourly rates. Think of it like a dating app but for caregivers. However, to be able to contact caregivers requires a paid subscription, which is not the case for most referral services. But, if you pay, you can easily find a caregiver and book them on the Care.com site or over the phone.
Types of Care
Unlike care referral services like APfM and the similarly named Caring.com, Care.com only offers in-home senior care. It can either be purely for companionship or for more hands-on services, like assisting a senior with showering, dressing, and eating — or even caring for someone with memory issues. If you are looking for a nursing home, independent living community, memory care, or adult daycare, Care.com is not the platform for you.
Pros and Cons
Pros
1. In-Home Care: Care.com is an excellent choice for families looking to ensure their loved ones can age comfortably in their own homes, rather than transitioning to an assisted living facility.
2. Affordable Rates: With hourly rates starting as low as $14, Care.com often presents a more budget-friendly option compared to well-known home care agencies like Visiting Angels, making quality in-home care more accessible.
3. Verified Caregivers: A key feature of Care.com is that all caregivers undergo background checks, providing families with the reassurance that they can trust the individuals who will be looking after their loved ones.
4. Diverse Skill Levels: Care.com offers caregivers with a range of qualifications, including certified professionals like Registered Nurses (RNs) and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). This means that families can find caregivers capable of providing a variety of services beyond just companionship and household assistance.
Cons
1. Misleading Marketing Practices: In August 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an $8.5 million settlement with Care.com over deceptive marketing practices. This settlement highlighted issues such as families facing difficulties when attempting to cancel paid memberships and caregivers being misled regarding the availability of job opportunities.
2. Paid Membership Requirement: To reach out to a caregiver, I discovered that a premium membership was necessary. This requirement can be a drawback for those seeking care, especially when compared to other platforms like Caring.com or A Place for Mom (APfM), which do not impose similar membership fees to connect with caregivers.
Care.com Costs
Care.com has costs two-fold: a premium membership, which allowed me to actually contact background-checked caregivers, and, of course, what I’d pay the caregivers themselves. As for the premium membership, it costs anywhere from $12.95 to $38.95 a month; I could have purchased a one-, three-, or 12-month package. I can’t imagine anyone taking more than a month to choose a caregiver. So, for most people, you’ll pay nearly $40 a month just to be connected with a caregiver.
From there, caregivers set their own rates. My first applications charged anywhere from $15 to $50 an hour, although the range goes from just $14 an hour. This is a low hourly rate; even someone with 10 years of job experience only charges $25 to $50 an hour. That’s right around the median hourly cost of long-term care. Genworth’s Cost of Care survey notes that it ranges from $36 an hour for homemaker services to $40 an hour for home health aides in Providence, Rhode Island.
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