Hiring a caregiver in Preston Hollow comes down to one choice first: go through a licensed home care agency, or hire a person privately. An agency costs more per hour but handles payroll, taxes, background checks, supervision and backup when a caregiver is sick. A private hire costs less per hour, and your family becomes the employer. This guide covers both routes, what care costs and what to ask before anyone starts.
If you are reading this, you probably have a parent who has lived in the same Preston Hollow house for decades, somewhere between Northwest Highway and LBJ, and who now needs more help than a neighbor's check-in or a weekly housekeeper can give. Maybe you live ten minutes away off Preston Road. Maybe you live in another state and get your news by phone. Either way, the question is the same: who comes to the house, and how do you know they are the right person?
What does an in-home caregiver actually do?
An in-home caregiver is a trained, non-medical helper who comes to your parent's house on a set schedule. The work falls into two broad kinds of help. Personal care means hands-on help with the body: bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting and moving safely from bed to chair. Companion care means help with the day: meals, light housekeeping, conversation, errands and rides.
- Help with showers, dressing and grooming, at your parent's pace
- Safe transfers from bed, chair, toilet and car
- Cooking meals in your parent's own kitchen and cleaning up after
- Laundry, tidying and keeping the rooms your parent uses in order
- Medication reminders from a pill organizer the family or pharmacy fills
- Rides to appointments, the pharmacy, church, a follow-up near Presbyterian Hospital on Walnut Hill or lunch at Preston Center
- Company, conversation and someone who notices when something is off
Our personal care service covers the hands-on side, and companion care covers the rest. Most families in Preston Hollow end up with a mix of both, and the balance shifts over time. If you are not sure which your parent needs, the guide to companion care versus personal care walks through it.
What a caregiver does not do
A non-medical caregiver does not give injections, change wound dressings, manage a feeding tube, operate medical equipment or administer medication. Reminding your parent to take a pill is allowed; measuring out doses is a nursing task. If your parent needs skilled care after surgery or a hospital stay, a home health nurse ordered by the physician handles that part, and a caregiver can fill the hours in between. Senior Care of North Texas is licensed by the State of Texas for Personal Assistance Services, License #020448, which is the license for exactly this kind of non-medical help.
Should you hire through an agency or privately?
Both routes put a caregiver in the house. The difference is who carries the responsibility when something goes wrong. With a private hire, you find the person, you pay them and you are their employer. With an agency, the caregiver is the agency's employee, and the agency carries the employer's work.
Here is what that means in practice:
- Payroll and taxes. A family that pays a household employee above the IRS threshold generally becomes a household employer, responsible for withholding and paying Social Security and Medicare taxes and possibly unemployment taxes. Paying cash does not make that obligation go away. A tax professional can tell you exactly where your family stands.
- Liability. If a private caregiver slips on a wet pool deck or hurts her back helping your father up, the question of who pays can land on your family. Check what your homeowner's policy actually covers before you assume it does. With an agency, the employer's responsibilities sit with the agency, and it is fair to ask what insurance it carries.
- Background checks. An agency runs them before a caregiver is placed. A private hire depends on what you check yourself, and a reference from a friend of a friend is not a background check.
- Supervision. An agency checks in on the care and on the caregiver. With a private hire, you are the supervisor, which is hard to do from another state, or even from across Northwest Highway with a full workday.
- Backup coverage. This is the one families feel first. When a private caregiver is sick, has a family emergency or quits, there is no one to send. An agency sends someone else.
Private hiring works for some families, especially when a trusted person is already known to them and someone in the family is ready to handle payroll and supervision. For a longer look at the Texas side of it, see agency versus private caregiver in Texas.
| Question | Licensed agency | Private hire |
|---|---|---|
| Who is the employer? | The agency | Your family |
| Payroll and employment taxes | Handled by the agency | Your family's job |
| Background check | Done before placement | Whatever you arrange yourself |
| If the caregiver is sick | The agency sends a replacement | No coverage unless you find someone |
| Injury on the job | Employer's responsibility sits with the agency | Can fall on your family |
| Supervision and training | The agency checks in on the care | Your family supervises |
| Hourly cost | Higher, one predictable rate | Usually lower, plus employer costs |
| Changing caregivers | Ask, and the agency makes the change | You start the search over |
What does hiring a caregiver cost in Preston Hollow?
Senior Care of North Texas charges one flat hourly rate of $30–34. The rate is the same for days, evenings, weekends and overnights; major holidays are billed at time and a half. The minimum visit is four hours. There are no levels-of-care tiers, so the rate does not climb as your parent needs more help, and there is no long-term contract.
Four hours is long enough for real work to get done: a shower without rushing, a cooked lunch, a ride to an appointment and back, and time to sit and talk. Families here often start with four-hour visits a few mornings a week and add days as needs grow. If both parents need help in the same house, a couples discount applies when one caregiver helps both. The cost of in-home care page shows how weekly and monthly totals add up for common schedules.
A private caregiver usually quotes a lower hourly number. When you compare, add the employer costs to that number: employment taxes, the time you spend on payroll and paperwork, and the cost of the days nobody comes.
How does caregiver matching work?
You do not pick from a roster or interview a line of strangers. We match. At the free in-home assessment, we learn your parent's routine, health picture and temperament, and we see the house itself. Then we choose a caregiver whose skills and manner fit. Some parents want someone quiet and efficient. Others want a talker who will play cards after lunch. A father who needs help getting up from a low chair needs someone confident with transfers.
If the match does not feel right, tell us. You can ask for a different caregiver at any time, and we make the change. The goal is one steady caregiver your parent comes to know, because familiarity makes bathing, meals and every other part of the day easier.
What should you ask any agency before you hire?
Whoever you call, ask the same questions and write down the answers. Vague answers are an answer too.
- Are you licensed by the State of Texas, and what is the license number?
- Are your caregivers your employees, or independent contractors?
- What background checks do you run before someone is placed?
- What is your hourly rate, and does it change for nights, weekends, holidays or higher needs?
- What is the minimum visit, and is there a contract?
- Who comes if our caregiver is sick?
- How do you match a caregiver to my parent, and what happens if we want a change?
- Who do we call at night or on a Sunday, and who answers?
Our full list of questions to ask a home care agency goes deeper, with what a good answer sounds like.
What about privacy in a neighborhood like Preston Hollow?
In Preston Hollow, people know each other. Your parent may have served on boards, hosted fundraisers or simply lived on the same street long enough that the neighbors notice a new car in the drive. Families here reasonably want the help to be discreet.
A good agency trains caregivers to keep family matters private: health, finances, family disagreements, who visits and what is in the house. That is a standard worth asking about directly. A few practical steps help too:
- Give the caregiver a separate gate or alarm code if your system allows it, so access can be changed without changing the family's own code.
- Decide what stays off-limits. A home office, a safe or a closed wing does not need to be part of the caregiver's day.
- Agree on where the caregiver parks on a long or gated drive, and which door they use.
- Name one family contact who talks to the caregiver and the agency, so instructions stay consistent and private details stay in one place.
What if you live out of state?
Many Preston Hollow parents have children in other cities. If that is you, hiring through an agency matters even more, because you cannot step in when a private caregiver does not show up. Ask for a short written note after each visit or a regular call with the agency, and keep a local friend or neighbor as an emergency contact. The guide to caregiving from out of state covers the rest.
How fast can a caregiver start?
Care can often start within 24 hours. The usual order is a phone call, a free in-home assessment at the house (or at the hospital or rehab, if that is where your parent is), a care plan and a caregiver match, then the first visit. Ryan Berry, who co-owns Senior Care of North Texas, does the in-home assessments himself. See how it works for each step, and the guide to the first 24 hours of in-home care if a discharge is coming fast.
Getting started in Preston Hollow
Whether your parent lives off Preston Road, off Inwood Road or closer to LBJ, the first step is the same: a conversation about what the day looks like now and what help would make it safer. Start with a few four-hour visits of personal care at home, see how your parent settles in, and adjust from there. You can read more about care in Preston Hollow on our neighborhood page.
This guide is educational and is not medical, legal or tax advice. Questions about your parent's health belong with the physician, and questions about household employment belong with a tax professional.
