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

Hourly home care

Hourly home care at FAINS is scheduled in-home visits of four hours or more, staffed by a chemistry-matched caregiver at the credential tier the plan of care specifies (companion, CHHA, LPN, or RN). Hourly is the entry structure for most FAINS families and the right fit for predictable weekly schedules, respite for a primary family caregiver, and daytime coverage for clients who are safe alone at night. Every hourly case has a Registered Nurse Supervisor of record. The methodology draws from seventeen years of Irina Fain operating home care in New Jersey, since 2009.

Minimum credential: Vetted companion, NJ-certified CHHA, or licensed nurse (per plan of care)
Starting rate: $40 per hour companion · $46 per hour CHHA · $78 per hour LPN · $95 per hour RN
Shift minimum: Four hours (per The Fain Standard pillar 3)

What hourly home care means in practice

Hourly home care at FAINS is scheduled in-home visits of four hours or more, staffed by a chemistry-matched caregiver at the credential tier the plan of care specifies. Hourly is the entry structure for most FAINS families. The shape is straightforward: the family and the RN Supervisor agree on a weekly schedule at intake, the caregiver arrives on the scheduled days at the scheduled times, the work of the shift follows the plan of care, and the caregiver leaves at the scheduled end time.

The hours themselves cover whatever the plan of care names. A typical CHHA hourly shift includes the morning ADL routine (bathing, dressing, toileting support), breakfast, medication reminders, mid-morning activity or ambulation, light housekeeping in the client's care spaces, laundry, meal preparation for the shift's duration, and the documentation the shift log requires. A companion tier shift centers on presence, engagement, meal preparation, medication reminders, and transportation. A nursing tier shift includes the specific clinical task the RN Supervisor's plan of care named, alongside the CHHA-level personal care support.

The four-hour minimum is the private duty industry standard in New Jersey, and FAINS publishes it on every service page rather than burying it in fine print. The four-hour floor is what funds the RN supervision, license verification, chemistry matching, and on-call coverage that make hourly care actually operable. Families whose need is genuinely a 30-minute medication visit or a one-hour grocery run receive a straight answer at intake: that need is a different service model than private duty, and FAINS refers to a fit-for-purpose provider whose model is built for shorter visits.

Hourly caregiving asks a specific set of qualities of the caregiver: reliability at scheduled times, professionalism in someone's home, comfort building a working relationship with the specific client and family, the technical skills of the credential tier, and the temperament to do the same rhythm well for months at a stretch. The FAINS matcher screens for those qualities and matches candidates to families whose intake and assessment describe a household the candidate is likely to work well inside.

Who calls FAINS for hourly home care

Four family situations account for most of the FAINS hourly caseload.

A sandwich-generation adult child who needs weekday coverage while at work. The presenting family caller is often a daughter in her 50s or early 60s, still working full-time, sometimes still parenting teenagers or young adult children at home, whose aging parent needs supervision and personal care during the workday. Hourly CHHA coverage for six to eight hours a day, five weekdays, is the shape that fits. The parent stays in her own home, the daughter works without the constant worry, and the caregiver's presence closes the safety gap that would otherwise force a residential placement.

A family caregiver who needs respite to prevent burnout. The presenting family caller has been the sole caregiver for months or years and is running on empty. Hourly coverage of four to six hours a day, two or three days a week, gives the family caregiver back the ability to grocery shop, attend her own medical appointments, see friends, and rest. The intervention is often the difference between the family caregiver continuing sustainably and collapsing in a way that forces a residential placement of the client.

A post-hospital or post-procedure client in the recovery arc. A client home from a hospitalization or a surgery often needs elevated support during a defined recovery window. Hourly CHHA coverage of six to eight hours a day, five to seven days a week, holds the recovery period. The hours often taper as recovery stabilizes. Cataract recovery, hip replacement, knee replacement, orthopedic procedures, cardiac procedures, and stroke recovery all fit this pattern.

A live-alone client whose family wants scheduled daytime eyes. The presenting family caller is often an adult child living out of state whose parent lives alone and is starting to show subtle signs of decline. Hourly CHHA or companion coverage on a scheduled weekly rhythm gives the family a real set of eyes in the home multiple times a week, a caregiver who knows the client's baseline and notices changes, and the RN Supervisor's clinical read on how the situation is evolving.

Other cases include daytime supervision for early-stage dementia clients who are safe alone at night but need daytime support, ambulation and exercise support for post-orthopedic clients, meal preparation for clients whose nutrition has slipped, and specific-task nursing visits for cases with a defined clinical need.

How pricing works for hourly home care

Hourly home care is billed at the published rate for the credential tier of the caregiver on shift, multiplied by hours worked. Current published rates are $40 per hour for companion tier, $46 per hour for CHHA tier, $78 per hour for LPN tier, and $95 per hour for RN tier. All rates appear on the pricing page and match the rates that appear on the weekly invoice.

Weekly invoicing runs Monday through Sunday under weekly transparent invoicing. Each shift is one invoice line: the date, the caregiver name, the hours worked (matched to the shift log), the tier rate, and the total for the shift. If mileage was billed (one dollar per mile beyond 15 miles from Mount Olive) it appears as a separate line with the mile count. ACH is free; card carries a three percent surcharge disclosed at invoice time as a distinct line.

The four-hour minimum shift applies to every hourly case. A shift scheduled for four hours is billed for four hours even if the family releases the caregiver early; the four-hour floor is what makes the shift operationally sound for both sides. Shifts longer than four hours are billed for the actual hours worked, honestly to the minute the caregiver clocks out.

When a case involves caregivers at multiple tiers on different shifts (for example a CHHA weekday morning shift and a companion weekend afternoon shift), each shift is priced at its own tier's rate. The plan of care names which tier fits which shift and why.

What FAINS commits to for hourly cases

Every FAINS hourly case is governed by all seven pillars of The Fain Standard.

Every hourly case has a Registered Nurse Supervisor of record. She writes the plan of care after an in-home assessment, credentials the caregivers assigned to the case, and returns at least every 60 days for a supervisory visit. In hourly cases her role includes checking whether the current shift structure is still fitting (is the schedule enough, is it too much, has the client's picture changed) and adjusting the plan of care with the family when needed. She is also the family's clinical phone line between visits.

Every caregiver on a FAINS hourly case is license-verified at the tier of her credential (companion tier caregivers are background-checked and reference-verified; CHHAs are verified against the NJ Board of Nursing registry; LPNs and RNs are verified against their respective license boards). Verification happens before the first shift and repeats monthly.

The chemistry-matched commitment applies to every caregiver on a case. The FAINS matcher proposes candidates the family interviews before the first shift. If the fit is wrong inside the first week the swap happens without penalty. Continuity of the primary caregiver across scheduled shifts is a working priority.

The 24-hour cancellation window applies both ways. Family cancellations with less than 24 hours notice bill the four-hour minimum; caregiver absences trigger the RN Supervisor's personal coverage coordination call from the on-call roster. The family is never left without notice.

Hourly care at FAINS is private pay and private insurance only, including long-term care insurance policies that cover hourly home-based care.

Two composite case examples

Karen's mother, 81, early Alzheimer's with daytime supervision need, Westfield (Union County). Karen worked full-time in Manhattan and her mother lived in the Westfield home Karen had grown up in. Her mother was still sleeping well overnight, still safe at night in the familiar home, but had begun leaving the stove on during the day and forgetting to eat lunch. Karen was driving to Westfield at lunchtime three days a week and was exhausted. The FAINS RN scoped hourly CHHA coverage from 9 AM to 5 PM, five weekdays, with the same primary CHHA holding the case. The CHHA held the morning routine, made breakfast and lunch, took Karen's mother out for a mid-day walk, held the medication schedule, and left at 5 PM when Karen or Karen's brother would arrive for the evening. The structure held for fourteen months before the case progressed to overnight coverage as well.

David, 68, post-knee-replacement recovery, Millburn (Essex County). David came home from the Summit ambulatory surgery center after a right total knee replacement with an eight-week recovery arc ahead. His wife Susan was working and could not be home during the workday. The FAINS RN scoped hourly CHHA coverage from 9 AM to 3 PM, five weekdays, for the first three weeks, then tapered to three weekdays for weeks four and five, then to two weekdays for weeks six through eight. The CHHA held morning ADL support, meal preparation, ambulation support with David's PT protocols, and the specific pressure-care regimen the RN's plan of care named. David hit every recovery milestone on schedule and returned to independent function at week nine. The case ended cleanly.

How hourly care differs from FAINS's other hour models

Hourly is the entry structure. It fits most FAINS families. Some cases start hourly and escalate to structures that carry more hours per week. Naming the differences directly helps families pick the right fit at intake, and pick the right transition at each 60-day review.

Hourly versus overnight caregiver coverage. Overnight is a specific hourly product covering the overnight window (typically eight to twelve hours from evening to morning). Overnight is priced at the same hourly CHHA rate as daytime shifts and carries no overnight premium. Families whose daytime is covered by family or a daytime hourly caregiver but who need overnight coverage use overnight-only. Families whose need is genuinely 24-hour tend toward one of the two next models.

Hourly versus 24-hour home care hourly. 24-hour hourly is the escalation of the hourly model into continuous coverage: two or three CHHAs covering the full 24-hour cycle at the hourly CHHA rate. The staffing is more intensive and the weekly cost is higher, but the model is the same underlying hourly product. Hourly and 24-hour hourly are the same tier priced by hours worked.

Hourly versus live-in care. Live-in is a per-day pricing model with one caregiver in the home for a multi-day rotation and a defined overnight sleep window. Live-in fits when the client sleeps a solid overnight. Hourly (and 24-hour hourly) fits when the overnight requires awake presence or when the household does not have a private bedroom for the live-in arrangement.

The right structure is the one the RN's assessment recommends and the family agrees to. Cases often begin as hourly, escalate to overnight or 24-hour or live-in as the client's picture changes, and sometimes taper back down as recovery arcs stabilize. The 60-day RN review is the natural checkpoint for those adjustments, and any family can request a review of the structure at any time.

Common questions

What is the minimum length of a single hourly shift?
Four hours. The four-hour shift minimum is Pillar 3 of The Fain Standard and it is the private duty industry standard in New Jersey. When a family needs less than four hours (for example a 30-minute medication visit or an hour of grocery help), FAINS refers to a fit-for-purpose provider whose model is built for shorter visits. The four-hour floor is what funds the RN supervision, license verification, chemistry matching, and on-call coverage that make hourly care operationally sound.
How many hours per week does a typical hourly case run?
The range is wide. Some cases run at 12 hours a week (three four-hour shifts). Some cases run at 40 hours a week (five eight-hour shifts). Some cases scale up to 60 or 70 hours a week (multi-shift daily coverage with an overnight caregiver at night). The RN Supervisor scopes the hours at intake based on the client's assessed needs, the family's schedule, and the payer's arrangement. Hours can be adjusted at any 60-day review and often are as the family's needs settle in.
How is hourly pricing calculated?
The published hourly rate for the credential tier the caregiver holds, multiplied by the hours worked. If the shift is four hours at the CHHA rate, the invoice line is four hours times the CHHA hourly rate. If the shift is eight hours at the companion rate, the line is eight hours times the companion rate. The rate for each tier is published on the pricing page. Weekly invoicing runs Monday through Sunday. There are no coordination fees, no per-shift fees, no per-visit fees, and no premiums beyond the stated tier rate.
Which credential tier fits which case?
The companion tier fits cases centered on presence, engagement, meal preparation, medication reminders (not administration), light housekeeping, and transportation. The CHHA tier fits cases that include hands-on personal care: bathing, dressing, toileting, transfers, positioning, and skin care. The LPN or RN tier fits cases with a specific clinical task: wound care, insulin administration, medication administration, catheter care, G-tube care, or a plan of care that names a task requiring a licensed nurse. The RN Supervisor determines the fit at the in-home assessment, and cases sometimes involve caregivers from multiple tiers depending on the day.
Can hours vary week to week or does the schedule need to be fixed?
Both patterns work. Many FAINS families set a fixed weekly schedule at intake and hold that schedule for months. Others use hourly care as needed with a variable weekly schedule (heavier weeks when adult children are traveling, lighter weeks when family caregivers are home). Variable schedules require enough advance notice for the FAINS scheduler to hold caregiver availability. The 24-hour cancellation window applies both ways under Pillar 6 of The Fain Standard.
How does the same caregiver stay assigned across multiple shifts?
The FAINS matcher aims for continuity: the same primary caregiver held across the family's scheduled shifts week over week. When more than one caregiver is needed to cover a schedule (either because of the hours involved or because of vacation and days off) the matcher aims for a small stable roster of two or three caregivers, all chemistry-matched to the family, rather than a rotating pool of unfamiliar faces. Continuity is a working priority and is part of what chemistry-matching is designed to protect.
What happens if the assigned caregiver cannot make a shift?
The RN Supervisor personally calls the family and dispatches a covering caregiver from the on-call CHHA roster (or the covering companion, LPN, or RN as the tier requires). The family never learns at the door that no one is coming. The covering caregiver is introduced to the family in advance where possible and briefed on the plan of care before her arrival. This coverage discipline is the operating face of Pillar 6 of The Fain Standard.