Group pushes for accountability in Arizona home care industry

Arizona’s senior population is growing faster than any other state in the country, yet Arizona has no licensing requirement for home care agencies. This means anyone can open an agency with no state oversight, required background checks or recourse if something were to occur.

As a result, the Arizona In Home Care Association (AZNHA) was formed specifically because of the legislative gap. Industry leaders built their own system of standards, certification and consumer accountability.

Steve Alfonsi, Board President of the AZNHA, joined “Arizona Horizon” to offer tips on what questions to ask, how to determine if the agency is a good fit and how consumers can protect their loved ones and themselves.

“A lot of states do have licenses in place, but there’s not one here, and ultimately that’s why the Arizona In Home Care Association took it upon ourselves,” Alfonsi said. “We created this association to put some ethics, standards and guidelines around this to provide safety for one of the vulnerable populations, the seniors.”

Alfonsi explained the AZNHA is primarily a part of a home care group, assisting with the activities of daily living.

“As we all age, certain things become a little bit more challenging, whether it’s hygiene, dressing, bathing,” Alfonsi explained, “and that’s where the caregiver services come in.”

Alfonsi said the AZNHA has a system of standards and certifications that the home care groups must follow.

“With part of our group, you have to have workers comp, general liability insurance, professional liability and do a background check on the employee,” Alfonsi said. “We ultimately are trying to watch out for all individuals that are involved, whether it be from the clients or the caregivers and protect everybody that’s involved.”

According to Alfonsi, companies that want to be part of the AZNHA must go through an application process. The association and its ethics committee then verify and validate that their standards are in place.