The caregiver says driving is no problem. The agency says transportation is available. Neither answer tells you who checked the driver, which vehicle may be used or what happens after a collision.
This is one job you either do yourself or assign in writing. Do not split it by assumption. If you hire the caregiver directly, the check stays on your desk unless another named person accepts it. If you hire through a provider, make the provider identify exactly what it verifies and what it leaves to the family. The two hiring lanes place different work on your desk, as shown in Hire a Caregiver in St. Louis: Agency or Direct.
1. Write down the driving job
Do not ask, “Can you drive Dad?” List the trips the caregiver would actually make.
Regular destinations: ______________________________
Expected driver: ______________________________
Vehicle to be used: caregiver’s / family’s / provider’s
Who supplies fuel, parking passes and keys: ______________________________
May the caregiver drive without your parent in the vehicle: yes / no
May anyone else ride in the vehicle: yes / no
A vague job produces a vague check. A person who will move the family car in the driveway presents a different question from a person who will carry your parent across the metro.
2. Pick who owns the check
If you hire directly, write your own name beside each item you will verify. If you hire through a provider, put the provider’s name beside an item only after it says it owns that item.
Driver’s license checked by: ______________________________
Driving record checked by: ______________________________
Vehicle registration checked by: ______________________________
Insurance checked by: ______________________________
Permission to use the family vehicle confirmed by: ______________________________
Collision reporting instructions supplied by: ______________________________
The Missouri Family Care Safety Registry is a background-information route, but its listed searches are not a driving-record check. The government pages behind that distinction are cataloged on the site’s Sources page. Do not let “background checked” fill the driving-record line.
3. If you do it yourself, inspect the documents
Ask the caregiver to show the current driver’s license. Compare the name and photograph with the person in front of you. Write down that you inspected it, the state that issued it and when you will inspect it again. Do not copy more personal information than you have decided you need.
License inspected: yes / no
Name matched: yes / no
Issuing state: ______________________________
Recheck point: ______________________________
If the caregiver will use a personal vehicle, ask to see the registration and proof of insurance for that vehicle. Match the vehicle description and plate to the car that will carry your parent. Then have the caregiver ask the insurer whether the planned paid driving is covered. Write down the insurer’s answer, the name of the person who obtained it and any restrictions reported to you.
Vehicle matched to papers: yes / no
Paid driving described to insurer by: ______________________________
Answer received: ______________________________
Restrictions: ______________________________
If the caregiver will use the family vehicle, call the family’s insurer yourself. Describe who will drive, that the driving is paid work and how the vehicle will be used. Ask what information the insurer needs before the first trip.
Insurer called by: ______________________________
Driver information requested: ______________________________
Coverage answer: ______________________________
Written confirmation requested: yes / no
4. If you hire it out, make the provider name its process
Ask these questions one at a time. Write the answer given, not a checkmark beside “yes.”
“Do you permit this caregiver to drive clients?” Answer: ______________________________
“Which driving record do you obtain, and who reads it?” Answer: ______________________________
“What would keep a worker from receiving a driving assignment?” Answer: ______________________________
“How often do you repeat the license, record and insurance checks?” Answer: ______________________________
“Whose vehicle may be used for our trips?” Answer: ______________________________
“Whose insurance applies to each allowed vehicle?” Answer: ______________________________
“Will you put those answers in the service agreement or an attachment?” Answer: ______________________________
“Who do I call after a collision, a traffic stop or vehicle damage?” Answer: ______________________________
The provider may own some checks and leave others with you. Draw the line before the first trip. The site’s five-step hiring path uses the same rule throughout: identify who screens, supervises and covers the work, then write down the answer.
5. Test the vehicle without taking the trip
Stand beside the exact vehicle that will be used. Confirm that the caregiver has the correct key and knows which trips are authorized. Point out where registration, insurance information and collision instructions are kept. Do not place original personal records in the vehicle unless they belong there.
Exact vehicle inspected: ______________________________
Key issued by: ______________________________
Allowed destinations written down: yes / no
Collision instructions stored at: ______________________________
Provider contact stored at: ______________________________
If more than one caregiver may drive, repeat the driver check for each person. Approval of one driver is not approval of an unnamed substitute.
6. Set the call-before-driving rules
Write the conditions that require a call before the vehicle moves. Keep the list short enough to use.
Call first if the destination changes: yes / no
Call first if a different vehicle will be used: yes / no
Call first if a different driver arrives: yes / no
Call first if another passenger will ride: yes / no
Call first if the caregiver reports a license, insurance or vehicle change: yes / no
Name to call: ______________________________
Backup number: ______________________________
7. Know the answers that stop the hire
Pause the driving assignment when the person or provider will not identify the driver, will not name the permitted vehicle, treats a general background check as a driving check, refuses to explain insurance responsibility or will not provide a collision-reporting route.
Also pause when the document and the vehicle do not match, when a substitute driver appears without being checked or when the provider’s spoken answer conflicts with its written agreement.
Write the unresolved item here: ______________________________
Who must answer it: ______________________________
No driving until answered: yes / no
8. Keep one driver page
Put the job description, ownership list, provider answers and call-before-driving rules on one page. Record each later change on that same page instead of relying on a text thread.
Driver approved: ______________________________
Vehicle approved: ______________________________
Check owned by: family / provider
Next recheck trigger: ______________________________
If you need the public offices and hiring resources used by this desk, keep Local Help for Hiring a Caregiver with the driver page. The site’s sourcing method and limits are explained in How We Write the Sheets.