Any advice on live-in caregiver compensation?

Im not sure what you call it in the states but in the UK its called employer liability insurance. A violent person (from the dementia that is not naturally violent) could be a serious risk to even the most trained caregiver especially if it is something like temporal or frontal lobe dementia. You should ensure you are covered ...just in case

Dear Rhonda - There's some excellent suggestions here. As a 'friend' today can make your worst enemy tomorrow; please do as several have suggested and draw up a Caregiver Agreement showing the hourly rate and rent 'offset' information.

As ECAmbassador & Lisa indicated (more risk & liability) - whoever's home is being used can be held liable for injury to the caregiver while performing designated duties in the home. Right now - the level of care and watchfulness may not be much, but as the dementia gets worse, the duties will change. Whatever agreement is drawn up should include the option for either party to ask for periodic 'reconsideration' of expectations and costs.

If you should decide to take the Licensed Caregiver route - please ask the agency if they provide background checks on their employees. Some agencies do not.

This is a complicated topic, as you can see from all of the answers. I will be covering this topic on the KSCO Money Matters program in July.

The important things to consider for your own safety are a background check for the caregiver, liability insurance (perhaps your homeowners insurance covers this, you'll have to call to ask), and Worker's Compensation must be paid for the caregiver (or you can face heavy fines as the employer). You can pay the person no less than minimum wage for your area (which varies even throughout California, you'll need to look it up), and time and a half after 9 solid hours of care, and time and a half after 45 hours of care in any work week. Those are the minimums. I also recommend that you check all of his/her references.
These are things that a full employment agency does for you, including the insurance, bonding, Worker's Compensation, and extracting state and federal taxes from the caregiver's paycheck. The huge advantage of an agency caregiver is that they have been vetted, and liability falls on the agency, not on your own shoulders as an independent employer.
There should also be a Plan of Care, which is the list of tasks the caregiver is expected to perform. Communication of expectations is key.

Well, I wondered what the answer would be to this question as I am considering a live in care giver. I have heard that some agencies do not do background and drug tests. For me, that would be a MUST. I believe they also provide bonding.

I was also considering to allow a women with a child. I thought it would be about $20 to $30 an hour. (reduced some for the room and board). A contract would be drawn up.

I know there is training available.

Who pays the caregiver depends on whether you are on State Aid or paying bills out of your own income. So the fee for the State Aid might be different. I would expect the caregiver to have specific days off.

They could not smoke and they would have to keep the house clean. They would have use of my car for Dr. Appt. Since grocery shopping relaxes me, I will continue to do that chore.

Now that I have said all of the above, I have concerns as to whether my Partner would even allow another person to care for him. He is such a reserve and private person. I believe for awhile, they would only be needed days.

The simple answer to the question posted is you can really pay whatever you agree too. My recommendation is to of course to follow applicable minimum wage laws in your state, employment laws and as mentioned the training/certification requirements in your state. If Medicaid is currently a consideration or will be in the future, then be sure that you comply with their caregiver agreement requirements. If you have a set "rent amount" and "food allowance", then you can subtract that from the caregiver services.

With that being said caregivers are in general not paid enough for the extremely important services that they provide. Whether it is for a few hours or a full time service, they are in essence providing safety and security for the person they are caring for and reducing the potential of what many call "caregiver burnout" for family caregivers.

Depending on your location the average hourly fee for a home care service who employs their caregivers is anywhere from $17-$20 an hour(often times with a minimum service time). There are variances of course based on the location and the services being provided.

If you decide to use a person who is not employed by a service then you do assume more risk and increased liability. The same applies to the caregiver. However, this does not translate to a low hourly rate. If you put things in perspective a 24 hour service for an agency at the rate of $17 hour is approximately $408/day or $12,240/month.

Reducing the rate by a few dollars is reasonable. If you were to pay a service $20 then reducing it to $18, $17 or even $16 is fair. Reducing it by half is not. As your loved ones needs change so will the role of the live in caregiver. If the person is everything you hoped for then it makes sense pay them fairly to secure the relationship.

Here the average rate is $10.00 per hour, some people who are providing room and board offer a stipend and the amount is decided by the number of hours 'on duty'. It is difficult to care for someone with dementia, depending on the symptoms they are exhibiting, it's good you have found someone you know.

I forgot to add that we paid him $500 a month and at the grocery store he bought what ever he wanted to eat.

We had a young man live with us. 31. He came with good references. He had our car to drive when ever he wanted. He had our credit card to go grocery shopping or what ever for us. My husband has dementia and I have a multitude of problems though I take care of my husband. I did the cooking, a housekeeper did the cleaning. Well, I discovered $1500 charged on my mastercard that he had done.
My jewelry dissappeared and our pain med diissappeared when we fired him.
He left the state and went back to Texas , his home town and our police dept would not even try to get him back so he got away scott free. Be very very careful.

Find out the going rates from agencies in your area (minus the agency's cut), and you sit down with the caregiver and discuss what would be fair.

Some states will provide caregiver training and financial assistance to clients who need in home care. Check into the states Department of Health and Human Services.

I would find out the hourly private duty companion care rate in your area. It is $8-$12 per hour in my area ( California might be higher than where I am) I work pay her based on the number of hours she works in a week. I would probably pay on the low end of the range for your area because of room and board. Please also check caregiver laws in your state. Many require paid caregivers to have trainings, certifications and to plase background and clearance checks.