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A directory nobody paid to be in

Starting in Massachusetts, where I have used most of these myself, and expanding state by state as listings can be verified. Nothing here is a lead generation form.

Aging Life Care ProfessionalsIndependent assessment and a written care plan. Paid by you, not by a facility. Roughly $125 to $225 an hour, with a bounded assessment usually $300 to $1,350.
Elder law attorneysDocuments, asset protection, and Medicaid planning done in the correct order and for your parent's state.
In-home aide agenciesHourly care, screened, bonded, and insured, with the real rate and minimum shift stated up front.
Adult day programsThe most overlooked option in the entire system, and usually far cheaper per hour than in-home care.
Hospice and palliative careTwo different things. Palliative care can start years earlier than most families are told.
Home modificationGrab bars, ramps, stair lifts, and first floor bathrooms, with grant programs noted where they exist.
Senior move managersFor the downsize, the sort, and the move nobody in the family can face alone.
Daily money managersBill paying and account oversight when the checkbook has become the problem.
The listing rules

How this stays useful

  • No one pays to be listed. Not now, not at scale, not as a premium tier later.
  • No referral fees, ever. If a provider offers one, that fact goes in their listing.
  • Nonprofit and small local providers are listed the same as large chains, which is exactly what the referral sites cannot do.
  • Options that pay nobody get equal space, including staying home, adult day, Medicaid waivers, and doing nothing yet.
  • Your contact information is never sold or passed along. Nobody is going to call you because you looked something up here.

Free national resources worth knowing first

Before you pay anyone, four things are free, national, and underused. I would start every family with these.

  • Eldercare Locator, at 1-800-677-1116, which routes you to your local Area Agency on Aging. That agency is the gateway to meals, transport, respite funding, and subsidized aide hours in your county.
  • BenefitsCheckUp from the National Council on Aging, which screens roughly two thousand programs against your parent's income and zip code.
  • Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program, free unbiased Medicare counseling from someone who sells nothing.
  • The Aging Life Care Association directory, to find an independent care manager whose only client is your family.
How to tell guidance from lead generation. Ask one question of any free service: who pays you? If the answer is the community, the agency, or the provider, you are talking with a salesperson. That is not a scandal, and it is not advice.