Every provider you call will say they check their people. That sentence costs them nothing and tells you nothing until you know which searches ran, who ran them, and what the result looks like on paper. Use this sheet with each provider, in the same order, and write the answers down before you move to the next call.

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.

Step 1: Ask for each search by name

Do not accept the word background by itself. Ask for each search separately and listen for identity verification, a criminal history search, a sex offender registry search, and an abuse or neglect registry search. Ask which places each one covered. A search limited to one county will not show a record filed in another county or state. Write down:

Searches run: ______________________

Places searched (county, state, national, registry): ______________________

Step 2: Ask who ran it and who holds the report

Ask for the name of the company that ran each search and whether the report goes to you or stays with the provider. A provider who runs checks in-house can still be careful, but you should be able to ask to see the report with personal details blacked out. If the provider refuses to show even a redacted copy, write that down as its answer.

Ran by: ______________________

Report goes to: ______________________

Step 3: Check the address history

Ask how far back the address history reaches and whether the search covered every address the caregiver has listed. A caregiver who has moved often can show a short search if the history was cut off early. Ask the provider to say, in one sentence, how many addresses were searched and how many the caregiver has lived at in the last several years. If the answer is vague, ask again in writing.

Addresses searched: ______________________

Step 4: Ask what happens when a search returns something

Ask what the provider does if a search returns a record. Ask who reviews it, who decides whether the caregiver is placed, and whether you will be told. Write down the answer in the provider's own words, not your summary of it.

If a record appears, who decides and who tells me: ______________________

Step 5: Ask how often the search is repeated

Ask whether the search runs once before hire or again on a set schedule after that. Ask how long the provider says the interval is. A search run once and never repeated tells you about the past only. Write down the interval.

Repeat interval: ______________________

Step 6: Hold the report against the caregiver's ID

When the caregiver arrives, hold the printed report next to the photo ID. The name, the identifying details, and the address on the report should match the ID. If the caregiver goes by a different name on any record, ask why, and write the answer down next to the record.

Signs to walk away

Stop the comparison with a provider if it says yes to every check but cannot name the searches or the places searched. Stop if the report is available on request and never arrives. Stop if a name on the report does not match the caregiver's ID and the explanation is missing or changes between calls. Stop if the provider will not say who ran the search.

What a clean report still does not prove

A background search is a record check. It shows what was filed where the search looked, and it does not promise how the caregiver will behave in your house. Keep your own visit schedule, your own notes from each shift, and your own list of who to call when something is wrong. For how this desk treats public records and what it will and will not claim, see How We Write the Sheets.

Keep this sheet in the front of the folder with the rest of your answers, so the next person who calls the provider can see what was already said.