Questions families ask us

Private-pay rates depend on the level of care and the schedule, and we put yours in writing after a free in-home assessment. There is a 4-hour minimum per visit and 20 hours a week minimum, and no long-term contract. 24-hour care is quoted per case after a free in-home assessment. We accept long-term care insurance and are a VA Community Care Network provider, so eligible veterans pay nothing for authorized hours.

Yes. A Precious Elder LLC is a licensed California Home Care Organization, license number 194700971, regulated by the California Department of Social Services Home Care Services Bureau. Every caregiver is a registered Home Care Aide with a cleared background check, TB screening and required training, and we carry liability and workers' compensation insurance.

The South Bay of Los Angeles: Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates, San Pedro, Carson, Lomita, Gardena and Hawthorne, plus Westchester, Inglewood, Compton, Long Beach, Lakewood, Marina del Rey and Culver City. Our office is at 2447 Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach.

Our goal is to start care within 48 hours, and we do our best to start the same day for hospital discharges and hospice. We will tell you honestly how soon we can start. Call (310) 571-5852 and you will speak with a person, not a call center.

Employees. We pay payroll taxes, workers' compensation and overtime, and we arrange another caregiver when yours calls off. Agencies that use contractors, and private hires, leave those risks with you.

No. We provide non-medical home care: personal care, companionship, meals, housekeeping, transportation, medication reminders, dementia care and 24-hour care. We work alongside home health nurses, physical therapists and hospice teams to support your parent at home.

Medicare does not pay for non-medical home care. It covers limited, short-term skilled home health after a hospital stay. Our care is paid privately, through long-term care insurance, or by the VA for eligible veterans. Low-income seniors on Medi-Cal may qualify for IHSS, which is a separate county program.

Yes. If the fit is not right, tell us and we change it. We match on personality, language and experience, not just availability, and we work to keep the same faces on your schedule.

Four hours per visit and 20 hours a week, for example five 4-hour weekday visits. There is no long-term contract. Tell us the schedule you need and we will put it, and the weekly cost, in writing after a free in-home assessment.

We invoice weekly for the previous week's care, and payment is by bank transfer. You receive an itemized invoice with the caregiver's visit notes. Long-term care insurance is accepted, and eligible veterans pay nothing for VA-authorized hours.

You can. When you hire privately you become the employer: payroll taxes, workers' compensation, overtime, liability if the caregiver is injured in your home, and no one to call when they are sick. An agency covers all of that, plus a backup caregiver and an office that answers. The California Department of Social Services explains the difference in its fact sheet on licensed versus unlicensed home care.

We are one family, not a franchise. A Precious Elder was started by Malia Kinimaka Freund and her son Zack, and it is still family run. Our caregivers are chosen the way we would choose care for our own family. It is why families keep giving us five stars on Google.

Yes. Caregivers use shower chairs, grab bars and standby techniques so your mother does the parts she can and has a steady hand for the parts she cannot. We will suggest simple bathroom safety changes on the first visit.

Most start with five 4-hour visits a week, which is our 20-hour weekly minimum. Four hours is enough for a meal, a walk and some conversation without feeling rushed. Families adjust up or down as needs change.

Three things: caregivers with dementia-specific training, tighter consistency in who comes and when, and a care plan written around triggers and routines rather than a task list. We also review the plan more often, because dementia changes.

No. Our 24-hour care uses two or three caregivers in shifts, and the night caregiver is awake all night, so someone is always alert when your parent needs help.

For a recurring block, a few days. For a vacation or 24-hour respite, a week is ideal so we can do the pre-visit and match a caregiver properly. In an emergency, call us anyway. We will do what we can.

Our goal is within 48 hours, and we do our best to start the same day after a discharge. Call us as soon as you know the discharge date.

Yes. Give us the doctor's instructions and we build them into the care plan. Low sodium, diabetic, renal, soft and pureed diets are all routine. If a dietitian is involved, we follow their plan.

Caregivers remind and assist. They can hand your mother her pre-sorted organizer, open it, and watch that she takes the dose. They cannot decide dosage, fill organizers from bottles, give injections or administer medication themselves. That is a California rule for non-medical home care, and it protects your mother.

No. Light housekeeping is part of a care visit, focused on the client's living areas and safety. Caregivers do not do deep cleaning, windows, heavy lifting or the whole family's laundry. If you need that, we will point you to a good cleaning service.

By the hour, like any care visit, with the usual 4-hour minimum. When the caregiver's own car is used, mileage is added at the current IRS rate. Most families pair the ride with lunch or errands so the four hours are well used.

Hospice covers medical care, equipment, medications and periodic visits from nurses, aides and social workers. It does not provide continuous hands-on care at home. That gap is what families hire us for, and we work alongside the hospice team to support your parent at home.

Veterans enrolled in VA health care who need help with daily activities, as determined by their VA primary care provider. It is a clinical decision, not a financial one, and there is no service-connected disability requirement for Homemaker and Home Health Aide care.