How much should i charge to be a companion to a handicapped guy (and would it be worth my precious time)?

Aids working from an agency get about $15 an hour. The agency charges the patient about $25 an hour.

And she is probably expecting to pay less, or she would be asking the agency for someone.

You should charge what you think is fair, but probably less than the agency in that you are not bonded or certified and because you will be able to sleep while “working”. Babysitters in our neck of the woods get between $5 and $10 an hour. All-day adult sitters charged us $60 a day. CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistants) get $15 if we pay them directly. If an agency is involved, that means medicare is involved, and they end up with something like $25 an hour.

Since the son is independent in terms of medical needs, would you really have to spend the night? Couldn’t you come make sure he gets dinner and whatever he needs from the fridge, then go on back home to do what you need to, and then swing by in the morning to make sure he gets breakfast.

I wonder if getting her son a small fridge set on a table so he could reach into it himself would be something to suggest to her. That way he could get whatever he needs when he needs it, and the fridge could be set where he can get to it easily at night.

It doesn’t sound like you would be doing much. I would probably do it for like 40 bucks. Plus, you’d be right next door to your place. It’s not like you have to drive out and waste your gas.

I would worry about whether you could be available for your daughter in an emergency. Just a side thought. If that could be arranged then what the others wrote.

I say it is definitely worth your time. A price between $10 and $15 an hour sounds pretty reasonable to me. If nothing else it seems like an easy way to make some extra money.

I am a single mom in my early 40’s. The love of my life is C5 complete quadriplegic, so my answer may be a bit biased.

If it’s just a job, don’t do it. It might be more demanding than you think.

@Bri_L : it would be occasionally, but the only possible day i would do it would be a friday, when my daughter is at my mom’s.

@Darwin : the mom said she would not want to leave him alone, in case of emergency. he has “lifeline” (remember “help me, i’ve fallen and i can’t get up”) but she would want someone there at night just in case. i don’t blame her.

Oh, which means I think not much, depending on where you are. Like $9 or $10, so that would be $108 or $120 for your free time.

I don’t know what area of the country you are in, but maybe this little bit of real life info would help. There is a good friend of mine who lives in a fairly rural part of Northern Virginia and when she does private duty (as opposed to working for an agency) she charges between $10–15 per hour for the exact same time period you are talking about. She prefers those hrs. since it leaves her days free.

The last long term job she had for a couple of yrs. until the lady passed away, she would come around 7 PM, fix a simple dinner, client in bed usually by 10–11PM and then she fixed breakfast before she left at 9 AM. But this particular situation also required diaper changes for a rather obese woman and helping her onto the toilet for BMs. Obviously she was doing a little more than will be required of you, and for that particular client she was getting $14 per hr. even tho she was sleeping most of the time. She also has no formal training such as CNA or similare, but had cared for both of her elderly parents until they passed away.

Awake or asleep really isn’t the issue here——the important (and most valuable ) aspect is the reliability and good judgment of the caregiver. This is what you are really being paid for and you certainly deserve significantly more than a teenage babysitter orf something.

You might try looking around in your area for any caregivers who are running ads looking for work and give them a call as if you may be a potential client and see what the going rate is in your neck of the woods. Try Craigslist as well as the local papers. Also check CL for other folks searching for caregivers and see how much they are expecting/willing to pay.

Personally speaking, I would find it difficult to do it for less than $10 per hr., but that’s just my opinion. I had several yrs. experience as a caregiver, but it was in a live-in situation year round and I would never do that ever again. It usually ends up being quite a bit more involved than what is first described. Just a little word to the wise.

But, I learned a lot and got to know quite a lot of other caregivers and eventually will be looking for a situation on a part-time basis similar to what you describe.

I got $6.29 an hour to work with mentally challenged folk in Appalachia in the mid 90s. I would say, if your chairbound neighbor has the money, $10 to $15 per hour. If not, perhaps you can work out an arrangement that is fair to both of you. Don’t do it for too little or you will develop a very bad attitude with him.

Do you enjoy the man’s company? I would only do it (for any amount of money) if I found him nice to be around.

Something like $100 for the whole night sounds fair, since you wouldn’t really be doing much, and would be right next door to your place. If you don’t have the time, then this is not an issue anyway, simply don’t do it. But perhaps you could use the time to do other stuff (like read a book) and catch up on sleep. As long as the job is not physically demanding (I think the mother just wants to be sure there’s someone there just in case, rather than expect you to do stuff), I don’t see why not. I’d do it. I’d probably do it for free actually. And of course as Likeradar said, what sort of person he is might affect my decision. Perhaps you’ll get to meet him better and find out he’s really interesting and you two could have fun, or maybe play chess or something (just saying). Or maybe he’s so annoying and demanding that you’d regret every second of it.

But since the main issue here is “time”, I’d make sure time spent there was not wasted, but somehow used differently.

Well since you already have insufficient spare time i suggest not to do it. Occasional help will be fine and I believe you can do it willingly for free but doing it everyday, I will never think it is worth it unless you are short of income or for other reason.

If someone asked me to do that, i would firstly ask myself if i could bare the responsebility to do it.
I mean, when my pussycat is coughing a bit strange i already almost panic…
If i thought i could do it, i would suggest to do it for free, but maybe only one time, or maybe twice (if the mother really can’t find other solutions).

About staying over during the night (‘in case of an emergency’): maybe suggest to provide the guy with a cellphone with your number in it, so that he (in case of that emergency) can give you a call, while you are sleeping in your own bed.

for those who inquired – i live about an hour north of NYC. it’s a rural area, a lot of the neighbors in my housing complex are very friendly with each other, their families have lived here, for decades as it used to be a summer community, so these people have long histories and memories of this place. the mom and son i’m asking about live about a block or two distancewise. i am thinking about asking for $100, so if i do have to do it once in a while it will be a chunk of change for me, and less than she’d have to pay an agency, so like partly a favor for her. i definitely don’t need the money, so i want to charge a price that is high enough that she doesn’t say “hey, this isn’t bad, i’ll go away all the time.” she made it sound like it would be very rare occasions, so maybe it would be like every six months or something. i have two free nights, so my time is definitely precious. the rest of the time i’m either working, commuting, or i have my two year old, and anybody who’s had a two year old knows that they are the real work!!

@jca – I am the full-time caregiver for my husband. I sleep downstairs where he does in case he falls or needs something during the night. Most of the time I hear him and there is no problem, but once I did not hear him fall even though I was right there.

Even if you do spend the night, she may need to think about how her son can make sure to wake you if he has a problem.

It sounds like you don’t want to so don’t. If you aren’t living in a very isolated, very small community, there are probably respite services available. If you feel you would like to do something to make it easier for your neighbor to connect with distance family, why don’t you go to some community group or church and see if they could raise money for a wheelchair accessible vehicle so this guy could get around and visit family too,