Verification: police, ID and reference checks explained

Verification is the part of hiring families feel awkward about. You are asking a stranger for documents, calling people who used to employ them, and possibly applying for a police check — all while they are deciding whether your household is worth joining. Done properly, none of it is rude. Done properly, it protects your parent, and it protects the caretaker, who is also walking into an unknown home.

Three checks matter: government ID, police verification, and references you have called yourself. They answer different questions, and none of them is a guarantee.

Step 1: Government photo ID

Collect a government-issued photo ID — passport, voter card, driving licence or Aadhaar — along with an address proof, before the first shift rather than after. Check three things in person: the photograph matches the person sitting in front of you, the name is spelled consistently across the documents, and the address is current.

Handle the copies carefully, in both directions. Write the date and the purpose on every photocopy you keep — for example, “collected for caretaker engagement, [date]” — so the document cannot be reused elsewhere. Give the caretaker a copy of the agreement and of anything of theirs that you hold. Do not retain original documents; keeping someone’s original ID is not a security measure, it is a power imbalance.

If the hire is for skilled nursing, add a qualification check: verify the nursing qualification and the State Nursing Council registration yourself, in the public register, rather than accepting a photocopy.

Step 2: Police verification

The process differs by city and state, so treat the outline below as a starting point and confirm locally. In broad terms, you apply through your local police station or through an agency that arranges it, providing the person’s identity and address details. The police may verify the address, speak to local references, or ask the person’s details from their hometown station. You receive an acknowledgement or receipt — keep it, and note the number.

Two practical points. First, start early: the timeline can run to weeks, and families who begin on joining day end up working without a result for a month. Second, agree the contingency in writing before it happens — a supervised start, a delayed start, or what the agency will do if the report is not clear. If you are hiring through an agency, ask directly who conducts the check, whether you will be shown the acknowledgement, and whether checks are repeated when a caregiver returns after a long break. An agency that answers “we do it, don’t worry” without paperwork is telling you something.

Consent matters too. The caretaker should know a check is being done and why, and should provide the details willingly. Verification done behind someone’s back poisons the first day of a relationship that depends on trust.

Step 3: Reference checks

Ask for two previous families and call them yourself, at a time when the agency or the caretaker is unlikely to be listening in. Three questions do most of the work: how long did they stay, why did they leave, and would you hire them again.

Then ask questions only someone who lived with the person could answer. Which room did they sleep in? Who else was at home? What did a typical evening look like? Did they handle medicines, and how? People introduced as references by an agency are often genuine, but occasionally they are friends; open questions sort one from the other quickly. Listen for warmth as well as facts — a reference who volunteers that they still message the person is usually telling you the truth.

If the caretaker has worked mainly in a relative’s home rather than commercially, ask to speak to that relative and, if possible, a neighbour who saw the person day to day.

What verification cannot do

No check tells you whether this person suits your parent. That question is answered by a trial of one to two weeks, a written scope with an out-of-scope list, and a family member who supervises rather than assumes. The caretaker contract is where the verified facts and the agreed boundaries go on paper; the hiring checklist sequences the steps so nothing is done on the joining day that should have been done a fortnight earlier. Our verification topic page collects the related material in one place.

None of this requires confrontation. Most people expect it, and many caretakers have asked the same questions of your household before saying yes — who lives there, what the routine is, whether the family is around. Verification is a two-way street, and saying so at the start sets the tone for everything after. When your task list is ready, the matcher shows what level of care you are verifying for.