What to charge for private home care?

How much is fair to charge to provide home care for a mentally disabled child.?

• I'm an experienced teachers assistant working with severely disabled children. I love my work but can't live on my current salary. I would like to start caring for autistic, downs syndrome, etc. children in their home and don't know what the going rate might be.

• Answer:

  Its so rewarding working with the people with disabilities, but the pay is not reflective of the work we do, or the qualifications one has. I not sure what country your in, but as someone said you could ask a care service and ask what the going rate is. Also find out if there is any police checks needed to care for children, as some countries do require that any person working with children must have a current police check. If you go through an agency, this gives you some security, with wages and set regular hours, they should also give you a profile of client, and what to do, should a situation arises, thus providing you a back up, if something should go wrong, and you have followed polices and procedures. Where as if your doing this type of work by yourself, you may have problems in getting paid, the hours can be erratic and there is no back up if anything was to go wrong. I am a Youth & Disability support worker, and work as a carer, doing PC (Personal Care), Respite Care, etc, and the wage can depend on the type of service I provide and the time of the day. My wages can vary between $18-20 an hour and $27 for Saturday, and $30 for Sunday, overnight care is a bit more, but this may depend on the care needed through the night, and whether you actually sleep. My wages have gone up each year according to current wages for type of care etc, but also years of service and experience. Good luck and keep up the hard work