I would like to be a caregiver in my home to the elderly. Do i need an inspection, license, and/or insurance?
Asked by Meg
I just had my basement finished with 2 bedrooms and one bathroom it’s like a little apartment downstairs with a door leading to the outside. I'm a CNA and a Medical Assistant and I wanted to have two elderly people live in my basement, so I could take care of them. Is this allowed without anything or do I need to get an inspection, license, and/or insurance? Do you know of any useful web site that would help me better understand what I have to do in order to make this all legal? I also wanted to know if anyone knows all of the step I have to take to get this going? Please help thanks! I live in VA and if you have four or more I am told you have to be licensed. But I am just going to have 2 or 3 at the most. But i wanted to know if I still need my house to be inspected and if I need insurance?

Best Answer:
Yes, this is not the place to get this answered. You will need the fire dept to inspect, you will need to confirm to the disabilities building codes (often ramps, multiple means of exit, bathrooms equipped with bars etc), you will need HUGE insurance (and your home owners insurance may NOT insure you for this);. you will need a business license, the health dept will probably want to inspect, and the city codes may not allow multiple non-related people in the house a s well. You may also not be able to do certain care functions (like give meds etc as you are not licensed). You need to do some serious research. Start at city hall for where you live, and your insurance co (that may put an end to it right there).
ER PA/MD
Answered by Diane A

You will need to get your CNA and hha certified (HHA IS A HOME HEALTH AIDE and CNA is a certified nursing assistance) most of these you get together. I live in sarasota florida and we have classes you can take with in 2 weeks and become certified and the price is 425.00. but yes you will need to be certified b/c then it will be a lawsuit for you and I am sure you don't want that. Good luck.. My mother did it for 26 yrs.
Answered by lialuv23

THis is going to be different than just being a home health aide. There would probably be a lot of laws you need to be concerned with, and I would not trust Yahoo! Answers for something this big. I would try and find an agency that sets people up with caregivers. They exist, and I have heard of people that did it. THen you would have someone behind you that knows laws. Still be sure that your butt is covered. Even if the laws are only for 4 or more, you should still try and do everything right. You would DEFINITELY want to look into insurance, you may have to worry about liability if something goes wrong. YOu want to make sure its up to code for people with disabilities. I am sure the basement is sufficient, but how do you get in and out? If the only exit is up a flight of stairs, it may not be good for the elderly. You may be OK for getting a younger person that is mentally disabled, and there may be a greater demand for that since older people tend to end up in nursing homes or assisted living facilities if they need full time care.
Answered by science chick

There's a ton involved with starting any business. These are just a few things, but you are going to need to get ahold of a lawyer to really advise you. The following is just some ideas of what you might run into. You are first going to need to check your local zoning and see if this is accepted where you live. Next, you are going to need to establish yourself as an actual business- forming a corporations, LLC, or other. To do this, the best is to go to a lawyer and have your business formed correctly. Get the advise from the beginning for all that you are asking here from the very beginning - it will save you alot of hassle in the long run. You'll need to find out what licensing requirements there are for your town, and also your state - look on the state website for new businesses. If you hire employees, it is a completely different thing then if you are the sole person working --- you'll need to check this out with your attorney . You'll need insurance - first check with your homeowner insurance. Since you'll now be running a business, your insurance requirements will most likely change. You'll also need professional liability insurance - so will need to search around for that. I imagine your town will require an inspection. I would hope that you are talking about a walk-out basement, and not just one with a staircase going down to a basement. You are going to need a way to get people quickly out of the basement in case of emergency, fire -- to do this, you'll need a second exit. Might want to look into this before you start the more expensive parts to starting a business and hiring a lawyer --- if you don't have the right set-up, the rest wont be possible. Again , you'll need to check out all the requirements with an attorney as there's so much to starting any business, let alone one that takes care of other people. Also , check with an accountant - so that you are doing all your bookkeeping correctly from the very beginning - either they can do this for you, or teach you how to do a computer book keeping program. All in all, it probably looks overwhelming - I know starting a business did with me. But if you really want to do this, you can. Just do it right and get ahold of a good attorney - they should be able to get you on the right track for this business. Good luck~
Answered by Anne