The quote may be the paper that persuaded your family. The contract is the paper you will have after the calls are over.
Do not assume the second document includes everything in the first. Sit down with the quote, the proposed agreement, every attachment, and the notes from your calls. Your job is to trace each promise into the paperwork you are being asked to accept.
This is a document check, not a judgment about whether an agency or a direct hire is better. If that choice is still open, use Hire a Caregiver in St. Louis: Agency or Direct before comparing forms built for different arrangements.
1. Build one comparison sheet
Draw four columns on paper:
Quote item: ____________________
Where it appears in the agreement: ____________________
Same, changed, or missing: ____________________
Who will correct or explain it: ____________________
Use one row for each promise. Do not write “care” as a single item. Separate the actual work: arrival window, days of service, minimum visit length, meal work, laundry, transportation, household tasks, supervision, replacement coverage, family updates, and anything else discussed.
The desk’s five-step hiring sheet treats the written job and the comparison of providers as separate work. Keep them separate here too. First identify what you requested. Then test whether the final paperwork supplies it.
2. Mark the status of every document
Ask the provider to identify each paper by function:
“Is this an estimate, a quote, a service proposal, a care plan, an attachment, or part of the agreement?”
Write the answer at the top of the page. Then ask:
“Which of these papers will be part of what we sign?”
Listen for a direct list of document names. “It is all in the file” does not identify what governs the work. “The agreement and Schedule A” gives you something you can locate.
Write down:
Documents included with the agreement: ____________________
Documents described as informational only: ____________________
Person who gave this answer: ____________________
3. Trace the work, not just the total
Start with the service description. Find the exact place where the contract or an attached work plan describes what the caregiver will do.
For every quoted task, record one of three results:
Carried over without change: ____________________
Carried over with different wording: ____________________
Not found: ____________________
When the wording changes, ask the provider to explain the difference using one ordinary shift. For example:
“The quote says meal preparation. The agreement says household support. On a normal visit, what work does that include?”
Do not fill the gap yourself. Write down the provider’s answer and ask where that answer will appear in the signed documents.
4. Match the schedule promise
Compare the proposed days, arrival window, visit length, start condition, and frequency. A weekly total does not tell you how those hours are divided. A start window does not identify a confirmed first shift.
Ask:
“Show me where the agreed days and visit lengths are recorded.”
“If the schedule page conflicts with the main agreement, which one controls?”
“What has to happen before the first shift is confirmed?”
Record the document name and section:
Schedule location: ____________________
First shift confirmation comes from: ____________________
Unresolved difference: ____________________
5. Find every condition attached to a promise
Return to the sentences that mattered most during the sales call. Look for conditions elsewhere in the packet. Common signals in paperwork include “subject to,” “when available,” “as needed,” “at the provider’s discretion,” and references to another policy.
Ask one question for each condition:
“What event makes this promise unavailable?”
“Who decides whether the condition has been met?”
“Where will we receive that decision in writing?”
This is not a request to remove every condition. It is a request to expose the condition before your family relies on the promise.
6. Check what happens when the quoted caregiver is unavailable
If the quote mentions continuity, matching, replacement coverage, or backup, locate the corresponding contract language. Keep this narrow. You are checking whether the paperwork commits to a process, not whether a particular caregiver can never miss a shift.
Ask:
“Does the agreement require you to offer a replacement, or does it only allow you to try?”
“Who contacts us, and what contact method does the agreement recognize?”
“If no replacement is available, what does the paperwork say happens to that visit?”
Write the answer and the page number:
Backup process: ____________________
Notice method: ____________________
Missing-shift language: ____________________
7. Separate explanations from written changes
A clear phone explanation may solve your question without changing the document. Ask the provider which result you are getting.
Use this wording:
“Are you explaining the existing agreement, or agreeing to change it?”
If it is an explanation, write down the section being explained. If it is a change, ask for the revised agreement or an attachment that identifies the change.
Explanation of section: ____________________
Requested written change: ____________________
Expected revised document: ____________________
The site explains its own distinction between sourced facts, practical checks, and judgment calls in How We Write the Sheets. Use the same discipline here: keep what the paper says separate from what someone says the paper means.
8. Run the missing-promise call
Do not send a general message asking whether everything is included. Read the missing rows one at a time.
“The quote lists ____________________. I cannot find it in the agreement. Where is it?”
“The quote says ____________________, while the agreement says ____________________. Which wording will apply?”
“Will you add the agreed wording before we sign?”
Listen for a page, section, or revised document. Write down vague answers such as “standard practice,” “we always do that,” or “the office will know.” Those answers may describe an intention, but they do not close the empty row on your comparison sheet.
9. Stop when the document set keeps moving
Pause the signature if a cited attachment is missing, the provider cannot identify which papers are included, a material promise exists only in call notes, or a revised page arrives without a clear indication of what it replaced.
Also pause if the provider asks you to sign first and promises to correct the paperwork later. Your next move is simple:
Missing document or correction: ____________________
Person responsible for sending it: ____________________
How receipt will be confirmed: ____________________
If you need a public office or local program to help identify the right place for a question, use Local Help for Hiring a Caregiver. The desk’s public reference list is collected on the Sources page.
10. Keep the final packet you actually accepted
When the rows are closed, save the final quote, signed agreement, incorporated attachments, work plan, schedule page, and written corrections together. Remove superseded drafts from the working stack or mark them clearly as replaced.
On the front page, write:
Final document set received: ____________________
Attachments included: ____________________
Open items: ____________________
Person holding the family copy: ____________________
The finish line is not “contract signed.” It is a complete packet in which every promise your family is relying on can be found, named, and handed to the person who will manage the first shift.