A caregiver can arrive on time and still be unable to complete the list because the clean towels are gone, the laundry soap is empty or the preferred meal ingredients were never replaced. The hiring question is not whether the house is stocked now. The question is who owns the next shortage.
This check covers ordinary household supplies used during assigned non-medical tasks. Keep medications, medical supplies and equipment instructions outside this sheet. If you are still deciding which tasks belong in the job, use Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring first.
1. Walk through one real shift on paper
Write the tasks in the order they usually happen. Beside each task, list every household item required to finish it. Do not write “kitchen supplies.” Write the individual items.
Task: ______________________________
Items used: _________________________
Usual storage place: _________________
Minimum amount that must remain: _____
Repeat this for meal preparation, laundry, cleaning, changing bed linens and any other task in the proposed schedule. Include items supplied by the family even if the caregiver brings nothing.
Do not use this list to expand the job during the interview. Its purpose is to expose the support work behind tasks already under consideration.
2. Ask who is expected to notice a shortage
Ask the provider or direct-hire candidate: “If you use the next-to-last item, what are you expected to do?”
Write the answer word for word: ______________________________
Then ask:
“Where is the shortage recorded?”
“Who receives that notice?”
“Does the caregiver only report the shortage, or may the caregiver replace the item?”
“If nobody responds, who follows up?”
“What happens when the missing item prevents an assigned task?”
Listen for a complete path: notice, record, named recipient, response and confirmation. “The caregiver will let you know” leaves the method and owner unresolved.
3. Separate reporting from purchasing
There are two jobs here. Someone identifies the shortage. Someone else obtains the replacement. Do not assume the same person does both.
For every recurring item, complete these lines:
Person who reports it: _______________
How the report is made: ______________
Person who approves replacement: ______
Person who obtains it: ________________
Where completion is recorded: _________
If you are comparing an agency arrangement with a direct hire, first identify which party controls the caregiver’s duties. The basic hiring paths are laid out in Hire a Caregiver in St. Louis: Agency or Direct. Then ask the same restocking questions under each path. Do not transfer an answer from one arrangement to the other.
4. Set a reorder point that can be seen
“Tell me when it is low” is not an instruction two people will necessarily apply the same way. Give each important item a visible trigger.
Examples of usable triggers include one unopened package remaining, one clean set remaining or the replacement line on a marked container. Choose the trigger that fits the household and write it down.
Item: _______________________________
Reorder trigger: _____________________
Storage location: ____________________
Backup location, if any: ______________
Keep the trigger observable. Nobody should have to remember when the last purchase occurred or estimate how long an item might last.
5. Decide what the caregiver may substitute
Ask: “If the usual item is missing, may the caregiver use a substitute?”
For ordinary household products and food, record one of three instructions: use the named substitute, contact the named person first or leave the task unfinished and report why.
Item: _______________________________
Approved substitute: _________________
If unavailable, contact: ______________
Do not leave this as “use judgment.” Write the boundary the caregiver can follow without reaching a different family member every shift.
6. Test the handoff with one missing item
Choose an ordinary item from the list and present this situation during the phone call: “You begin the task and discover this item is gone. Walk me through what you do next.”
Record the sequence:
First action: _________________________
Person contacted: ____________________
Record created: ______________________
Task completed, changed or stopped: ___
Follow-up owner: _____________________
Compare the answer with the written role and proposed agreement. If the caller says the office handles shortages, ask where that responsibility appears. If the candidate says the family handles everything, name the family member before moving on.
7. Put one person in charge of maintaining the list
A supply sheet also needs an owner. Name the person who removes discontinued items, adds approved replacements and updates storage locations after the household changes.
List owner: __________________________
Where the current list is kept: ________
Who may change it: ___________________
How caregivers learn of a change: _____
Use one current copy. Mark old copies as replaced instead of leaving several versions around the house.
8. Know the answers that should stop the hire
Pause before agreeing to the arrangement if any of these remain true:
The provider cannot say whether reporting shortages is part of the caregiver’s assigned work.
The caregiver is expected to buy items, but nobody can explain the approval and documentation process.
The family names several contacts, but nobody owns the response.
The proposed process depends on verbal reminders that are not placed in the household record or service instructions.
The written role conflicts with what the caller says will happen inside the house.
The answer is not to score the provider. The next move is to return the unfinished line and ask for one name, one method and one written location.
9. Keep the finished sheet with the hiring record
Attach the supply sheet to the task list or other working instructions accepted by the household and provider. Give the caregiver access to the same version. If a public rule, office or registry becomes relevant to a separate hiring question, begin with Local Help for Hiring a Caregiver and verify the point through the public materials collected on the Sources page.
Final check: Can a new caregiver identify a shortage, notify the right person and continue or stop the task without guessing? If not, the supply system is still being carried by whoever happens to notice.