This internal-use tool helps you evaluate prospective or existing clients across five key risk domains—legal, emotional, operational, financial, and relational. It ensures you’re making sound, sustainable decisions about who you serve and how intensively.
Purpose:
To identify early red flags that could compromise safety, boundaries, emotional sustainability, or legal clarity in your solo-provider model. Use this during intake, after escalation events, or during quarterly care reviews.
Risk Domains & Scoring Framework
Each domain is scored 0–3:
1. Legal / Liability Risk
| Criteria | Example | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Known fall history without mitigation | No grab bars, refuses PT, unsafe stairs | 0–3 |
| Medical complexity beyond your scope | Meds, oxygen, injections, known dementia | 0–3 |
| Requests outside your legal role | POA, money handling, legal forms, passwords | 0–3 |
| Family conflict or pending elder law issues | Sibling fights, guardianship in court | 0–3 |
2. Emotional / Psychological Risk
| Criteria | Example | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Clingy or emotionally dependent behavior | Daily texts, expects 24/7 access | 0–3 |
| Mental health concerns unaddressed | Depression, anxiety, paranoia | 0–3 |
| Trauma history or inappropriate disclosure | Sexual, financial, or religious trauma | 0–3 |
| Lack of emotional reciprocity | No gratitude, high criticism | 0–3 |
3. Operational / Scope Risk
| Criteria | Example | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frequent schedule changes or demands | Reschedules weekly, expects availability | 0–3 |
| Asks for out-of-scope help | Moving furniture, yard work, errands | 0–3 |
| Unsafe or inaccessible home | Hoarding, stairs, hostile dog | 0–3 |
| Client cannot be alone safely | Needs 24/7 care, you become default fallback | 0–3 |
4. Financial Fit & Sustainability
| Criteria | Example | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Inconsistent payment or late invoices | Missed payments, argues fees | 0–3 |
| Unclear who is paying | Client doesn’t know, adult child vague | 0–3 |
| Reluctance to commit to tier | Asks for one-off help, pushes back on subscription model | 0–3 |
| Over-reliance on you to “justify” cost | Makes value conditional on emotional reassurance | 0–3 |
5. Relational Dynamics
| Criteria | Example | Score |
|---|---|---|
| You don’t feel safe or trusted | Gut sense of being used, tested, or challenged | 0–3 |
| Difficult family dynamics | You get caught in triangulation | 0–3 |
| Client resistant to your approach | Pushback on boundaries, insists on different “model” | 0–3 |
| You feel dread or emotional burden | Before or after visits | 0–3 |