If Dad needs someone nearby during your doctor visit, write down when you must leave and when you expect to return, including travel time, before asking for a quote. Guiding Souls Home Care does not provide assisted living, a nursing home or skilled care at home. Guiding Souls Home Care does not provide home health either.
What does respite care at home cost in Sacramento?
The CareScout 2025 survey, taken from July to November 2025, put the median non-medical caregiver in the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom area at $40 an hour. The national median was $35.
Hours a week times the hourly rate gives you a weekly cost. At the CareScout rate of $40 an hour, 10 hours a week costs $400 weekly, or about $1,733 a month when you multiply by 52 weeks and divide by 12.
The CareScout monthly median of $7,627 assumes 44 hours of care a week. Four hours on a Saturday is $160.
For comparison, the same survey lists assisted living in this area at $7,750 a month.
What changes the price?
The number of hours matters most. Many agencies set a minimum visit length, so ask what it is before you book.
Other things move the price:
- Nights, weekends and holidays can cost more than a weekday morning.
- Two caregivers for a safe transfer cost more than one.
- Help with dementia, wandering or heavy lifting takes more skill and time.
Ask for the rate in writing, and ask which of these changes it. If you hire someone yourself, you become the employer. California overtime for personal attendants is 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 9 in a workday or 45 in a workweek, as the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights FAQ explains.
Before you hire, you can check a person's registration in California's Home Care Aide Registry, which requires a criminal background check run by the California Department of Social Services.
How can you pay for respite care in California?
Start with the free and public options. Then look at private pay.
Area 4 Agency on Aging. This is the Area Agency on Aging for Sacramento County. The state's Sacramento County services page lists caregiver support and respite among the services it funds, along with senior meals, transportation and legal help. If you live in Placer County, your own county's Area Agency on Aging is the place to ask, and the same state site lists it.
IHSS. In-Home Supportive Services helps eligible aged, blind and disabled people stay in their homes. A county social worker visits and decides how many hours to authorize. If approved, your relative hires the provider and is the employer. Family members can often be that provider. IHSS is for people on Medi-Cal, and Medi-Cal has an asset limit of $130,000 for one person through 2027-06-30. After that date it drops to $21,000 for one person, per the DHCS asset limit FAQ. The home and one car do not count.
Paid Family Leave. This does not pay for a caregiver. It pays you, partly, while you take time off work. The EDD caregiver page says it covers up to 8 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition, and it requires a certificate from the family member's doctor.
Veterans. The VA's Homemaker and Home Health Aide program can send an aide for respite at home if VA finds a need, and a copay may apply. VA Aid and Attendance adds to a VA pension for those who need help with daily activities.
Long-term care insurance. Check the policy for a home care benefit. A CalPERS plan, for example, asks for an itemized invoice and Daily Visit Notes from the provider, as the CalPERS newsletter says.
What should you do this week?
Call the Area 4 Agency on Aging first, since it costs nothing. Ask about caregiver support and respite for your county.
Then write down what a normal day looks like: wake time, meals, bathing, medications, bedtime, and the hours you most need covered. Have your relative's insurance cards and any policy numbers close by.
When you talk to any agency, ask for the hourly rate in writing, the minimum visit, the extra charge for nights or weekends, and who covers a sick day. Ask how caregivers are chosen. Compare at least three.
A short trial is fine. Try one afternoon before you plan a week. The respite care page explains the service, and Where We Serve lists the service area.
What happens if you call Guiding Souls Home Care?
A person answers (916) 229-8120 at any hour, weekends and holidays included. The first visit to the house is free and carries no obligation. Mereani Blanton, who founded the agency in 2022, does it herself on most new cases. She looks at the routine and the layout, then a plan and a clear cost are put in writing before anything begins. There is no contract, and a caregiver is assigned only once the match is right. The care is non-medical: help with daily life, and reminders about medication rather than giving it. You can also schedule a free assessment online.
