Fain's Private Duty
Fain's Private Duty Home Care is a nationwide private duty operator built on 17 years of New Jersey home care operating experience. New Jersey is our first launch market.
SERVICE TIER

Companion care

Companion care is non-medical support delivered by a background-checked caregiver who becomes a steady presence in the home. FAINS runs companion care under the same weekly transparent invoicing, four-hour minimum shift, and 24-hour cancellation window that governs every other tier of The Fain Standard.

Minimum credential: Vetted companion caregiver (background-checked)
Starting rate: $40 per hour
Shift minimum: Four hours (per The Fain Standard pillar 3)

What companion care actually covers

Companion care is the non-medical tier of private duty home care. A background-checked caregiver comes into the home for a scheduled block of time and provides presence, conversation, meal support, light housekeeping in the client's own space, medication reminders (not administration), transportation in the family's vehicle, and the structure of a familiar face on a predictable schedule. It is the right fit when the clinical situation is stable, when the family's need is engagement and safety rather than personal care, and when the person at the center of the case is still ambulatory and still cognitively present enough to participate in the shift.

Families typically call for companion care in one of three situations. The first is a spouse who wants respite: the wife of a husband with early cognitive decline needs three afternoons a week to see her sister, to keep a book club, to stay whole. The second is a daughter or son who lives out of state and wants steady eyes in the parent's home for the hours they cannot be there. The third is a hospital discharge for an otherwise-independent older adult whose family wants a friendly presence during the first two weeks home while the clinical situation settles. In all three, the companion is the right instrument. Bringing in a CHHA or a nurse for a case that does not need clinical hands is overbuild.

What a typical case looks like

Diane, 78, lives alone in a two-story colonial in Randolph, Morris County. She lost her husband four years ago. Her daughter Maria lives in Charlotte and flies up once a quarter. Diane is still driving locally, still cooking her own breakfast, still walking a mile in the neighborhood on the days the weather cooperates. She has early-stage cognitive changes that a geriatrician has been monitoring for eighteen months. Nothing acute. Nothing that requires a nurse.

Maria called FAINS in a pre-license waitlist conversation because she wanted her mother to have a steady companion three afternoons a week, 1 PM to 5 PM. The mid-afternoon is Diane's flattest stretch of the day. She had begun napping through the entire window, waking disoriented, and skipping supper. Maria's ask was structure, not care: someone in the house who would prompt a walk if the weather cooperated, prepare a light meal together, sit at the kitchen table for the afternoon crossword, and be present until Diane's supper was on the table. The FAINS RN Supervisor scoped the case for the CHHA-alternative tier and wrote a plan of care that named engagement, ambulation, and meal presence as the three shift priorities. Once the NJ license issues, Diane's case will begin with a chemistry-matched companion caregiver, a four-hour afternoon shift three days a week, and a weekly Sunday invoice Maria can see from Charlotte.

What FAINS commits to for companion care

Companion care at FAINS is governed by four of the seven pillars of The Fain Standard, and the family sees each of them on the invoice or on the intake conversation before the first shift.

The four-hour minimum shift is the published floor for every companion case. It appears on the pricing page, on this page, and in the intake conversation. If the family's need is a 30-minute check-in or an hour of medication supervision, we say so honestly and refer to a visit-based provider that fits the shorter shift. We do not accept a case that does not fit the model.

The weekly transparent invoicing cadence runs Monday through Sunday. The invoice publishes the tier rate in dollars. ACH is free. Card is available with a three percent surcharge disclosed at invoice time. Every line matches a shift log entry. There is no coordination fee, no assessment fee, and no hidden per-visit charge layered on top of the hourly rate.

The chemistry-matched commitment applies to companion care with particular weight, because companionship is a working relationship rather than a clinical task list. A human matcher inside FAINS proposes one to three candidates after the RN's intake profile is complete. The family interviews before the first shift. If the fit is wrong inside the first week, we swap without penalty.

The 24-hour cancellation window applies both ways. If a family cancels a shift with less than 24 hours notice, the minimum is billed. If a companion caregiver cannot make a shift, the FAINS RN Supervisor calls the family personally and dispatches a covering caregiver from the on-call roster. The window is a discipline the household relies on, not a penalty aimed at the family.

Companion care is private pay and private insurance only, like every other FAINS tier. We do not participate in Medicaid or Medicare. Families needing those payer sources deserve a fit-for-purpose provider and we refer to one honestly.

Every companion case has a Registered Nurse Supervisor of record even though the shift itself is non-medical, because the RN is the person who writes the plan of care, revisits it monthly, and moves the case to a higher tier when the clinical picture changes. That is Pillar 1 of the framework, RN-supervised care, applied even where the shift work does not require a clinical hand.

What companion care does NOT do

Companion care does not include medication administration, wound care, injections, catheter care, glucose checks, bathing when the client cannot participate in the transfer, incontinence care, or any clinical task that belongs to the CHHA or skilled nursing tier under NJ regulation. A companion caregiver can prompt, remind, log, and observe. A companion caregiver cannot administer or clinically assess.

If a family's needs cross that line, the FAINS RN Supervisor moves the case to the Home Health Aide (CHHA) tier or to skilled nursing, depending on which credential the case requires. The transition is planned in advance with the family, not surprised on them mid-shift. If FAINS is not the right fit for the case at all, we refer to a visit-based provider or a facility-based option and name it specifically.

How the intake works for companion care

Three steps, transparent from the first call.

Step one is the initial call. A family member speaks with the FAINS intake line, describes the situation, hears the four-hour minimum and the tier rate before providing any payment information, and books the RN assessment window if the case looks like a fit.

Step two is the RN Supervisor's in-home assessment. The assessment runs 60 to 90 minutes and is done in the client's home. The RN walks the space, meets the client, hears the family's ask in the client's own presence when the client can participate, and writes the plan of care. For a companion case the plan is lighter than a CHHA or skilled nursing case, but it still names the shift priorities, the safety notes, and the escalation triggers that would move the case to a higher tier.

Step three is the chemistry match. The human matcher inside FAINS reviews the plan and the intake profile, proposes candidates, and coordinates the pre-shift interview. The family interviews the caregiver at the client's home, typically for 20 to 30 minutes. If the fit is right, the caregiver arrives for the first shift on the agreed schedule. If the fit is not right, another candidate is proposed. The family is never forced to accept a match that does not feel right in the client's own house.

Common questions

Does a companion caregiver give medications?
No. Medication administration is a licensed clinical task and belongs to the CHHA and skilled nursing tiers. A companion caregiver can offer a medication reminder, meaning a verbal prompt at a scheduled time, and can note in the shift log whether the reminder was acted on. If the plan of care needs actual medication administration, the FAINS RN Supervisor moves the case to a CHHA or LPN before the first shift.
What does a typical companion shift look like?
A four-hour shift often includes a light meal prepared with the client, a walk if the client is ambulatory, conversation and cognitive engagement, help with light housekeeping in the client's own rooms, and structure around a mid-day activity the family has requested. The specific shape is set at intake by the RN Supervisor and revised as the case evolves. The shift log names what was done.
Is companion care appropriate for a client with dementia?
Yes, in the early and middle stages, when the clinical need is engagement and safety monitoring rather than personal care. A companion caregiver trained in dementia routines can be the right fit for a family whose loved one is still ambulatory, still eating independently, and still responsive to verbal cues. When the case progresses to ADL support, incontinence care, or transfer assistance, the FAINS RN Supervisor moves the case to the CHHA tier. The transition is planned, not sudden.
Can the companion drive the client to appointments?
Yes, with the companion driving the client in the family's vehicle. FAINS caregivers do not use their own vehicles to transport clients. Mileage is not billed to the family for in-town drives; a longer round trip is discussed at intake and reflected in the shift plan. The caregiver holds a valid NJ driver's license, verified at hire.
What is the shift minimum and how is it billed?
Four hours per shift, billed weekly on a Monday-through-Sunday cycle at the published tier rate. There is no per-visit fee, no coordination charge, and no assessment fee on top of the hourly rate. The shift log matches the invoice line item, minute for minute, and any variance is explained on the invoice itself.
How is a companion caregiver matched to our family?
A human matcher inside FAINS reviews the intake profile the RN Supervisor writes after the assessment, then proposes one to three candidates. The family interviews the candidates before the first shift. If the fit is wrong inside the first week, FAINS swaps the caregiver at no cost and no notice fee. Chemistry is a working requirement in this house, not a bonus.
Do we need a physician's order for companion care?
No. Companion care is non-medical and does not require a physician's order. What FAINS does require is a plan of care written by the RN Supervisor after the initial assessment, so the caregiver arrives on day one knowing what the family is asking for. That plan is a FAINS internal document, not a regulatory prescription, but it is the reason the first shift lands well rather than starts from scratch.