What Families Get Wrong

What is the single most common mistake families make when they first call an agency?

Families almost always want to know the cost for care without asking any follow-up questions. I understand why — cost matters. But here's the part most people don't know: there is no formal licensure program for non-medical home care in Michigan. No standard. Which means quality, training, staffing model, supervision, and accountability vary dramatically agency to agency.

I always like to educate families on our practices first and learn their full needs before we talk about price. Otherwise we're just two people trading numbers without context — and that's how families end up with the wrong care, or worse, no care at all when a shift gets cancelled. See the agency-vetting guide for the questions families should be asking before price.

When a family asks "what does it cost?" before anything else, what does that tell you?

It tells me that quality is not their first priority — which it should be. I get it: cost is a major factor. But let's say I charge a dollar more per hour than a competitor, and that competitor cuts corners and has a bad reputation in the area. Is the cost saving really worth dealing with all the headaches that come with an inferior agency? Cancelled shifts, stranger caregivers, no continuity, no accountability — those are the costs that never show up on the quote.

When price is the only question, I gently steer back to the questions that actually predict the experience: who staffs the case, how many caregivers will rotate through, what happens at 2 a.m. when a caregiver is late, who answers the phone when something goes wrong.

What question do you wish more families would ask but almost never do?

I wish families asked why our costs are what they are, instead of just how much. I'm always open to explaining all the costs they may not even think about — especially when comparing to a private-hire caregiver. Workers' comp, payroll taxes, background screening, training, supervision, fill-in coverage when the regular caregiver is sick, liability insurance — none of that exists in a private-hire arrangement, but every dollar of it does exist in ours, and that's the difference between a real safety net and an informal handshake that falls apart the first time something goes wrong.

Walk through the real numbers in our private hire vs. agency guide — once families see what an agency actually covers, the price conversation changes.