Find Caregivers in Taft, CA
Nearly three in ten Taft households include someone aged 65 or over, and the nearest hospital is in Bakersfield. Post what you need free and hire a caregiver directly.
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How to find a caregiver in Taft
Taft, Ford City, South Taft and Taft Heights form a west-side community of about 15,000 where 14.4% of city residents are 65 or over. Every hospital admission means Bakersfield, and Mercy Southwest is about 31 road miles away, so the practical questions when you hire are whether the caregiver drives, whether they can manage the first days after a discharge, and whether they can get to you from Bakersfield if that is where they live. About a quarter of city residents speak Spanish at home, rising to 44% in Ford City, so say which language your parent prefers.
Honest inventory: no caregiver has created a profile within 50 miles of Taft and no Taft family has posted yet. The cards above will fill as people join; in the meantime the nearest established pool is Bakersfield, and a posting with a sensible rate is what draws the first local applicants.
Caregivers near Taft, CA
Independent caregivers with profiles on CaregiverConnect whose home base is within 50 miles. You agree on duties, schedule and pay directly with the person you hire.
No caregivers within 50 miles of Taft have joined yet
We do not pad this page with distant profiles. Posting is free, and caregivers who join in Kern County see it immediately.
Counts come from live caregiver profiles on CaregiverConnect. Sample and test profiles are never shown here.
Are you a caregiver in Taft?
Open postings and a free profile.
Types of in-home care families in Taft arrange
All non-medical. For nursing tasks (injections, wound care, catheters) you need a licensed home health agency, not a private caregiver.
- Senior care at home: meals, reminders, housekeeping, errands, company.
- Personal care: bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, transfers.
- Companion care: conversation, walks, appointments, errands.
- Dementia care: routine-based support; ask for experience.
- Respite care: shifts so a family caregiver can rest or work.
- Overnight and live-in: night supervision or room-and-board arrangements.
- Post-surgery recovery: non-medical help after a hospital stay.
- Part-time and flexible: a few hours on set days is the usual start.
Evaluating caregivers in Taft
Three credentials are checkable: the Home Care Aide Registry, which independents may join but need not, so an unlisted applicant is not a warning sign; enrolment as an IHSS provider, done at the county Public Authority; and a CNA certificate for anyone who will do transfers or wound care. Beyond paperwork, ask for references from the clinic staff or families they have worked with in Taft, interview with your parent in the room, and pay for a few trial shifts before fixing a weekly schedule. A background check through a consumer-reporting agency is your call, with the applicant's signed consent first; CaregiverConnect does no checking or vetting of its own.
Questions families here ask at interview
- Would you take my mother to appointments at Mercy Southwest or Kern Medical, and how do you charge for the trip?
- What experience do you have with the first week home after surgery?
- Do you have a reliable car for the drive between Taft and Bakersfield?
- Which clinic in Taft does my father use, and are you comfortable coordinating with its nurses?
- Can you cover an overnight if his condition changes?
- Are you enrolled with IHSS, and would you accept IHSS hours plus private hours?
- What is your hourly rate and what would make it change?
Typical schedules and what care costs in Taft
Taft families are likely to post a few hours of weekday help with meals, medication reminders and errands, a block of full days after a Bakersfield discharge, and weekend respite so the family carer can rest. Overnights come with dementia; live-in is uncommon.
| Reference point | Hourly | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employed aides, Bakersfield–Delano metro (Kern County) | $16.50 median | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| IHSS provider wage, Kern County | $17.90 | CDSS; effective July 1, 2026 |
| California minimum wage | $16.90 | effective January 1, 2026 |
| Agency non-medical home care, California median (CareScout 2025) | $40.00 | CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 |
Who is the employer. When you hire a caregiver directly, you are a household employer under California's Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. The state minimum wage ($16.90 an hour from 1 January 2026; some cities set more, for example $17.75 in the City of San Diego) is the legal floor, and a personal attendant earns overtime at 1.5× after 9 hours in a day or 45 in a week. The main exceptions are IHSS recipients and an employer's own parent, spouse or child. Source: California DIR, Domestic Worker Bill of Rights FAQ.
In Taft the distance to Bakersfield is the main cost driver: expect a rate above the $16.50 employed median when driving is involved, plus mileage. A third of Taft households received food stamp benefits in the ACS period, and for a parent on Medi-Cal the IHSS programme, at $17.90 an hour for authorised hours, is the route most families use first. Direct hiring brings household-employer taxes and California overtime rules.
No agency tracks private rates. A caregiver you hire directly will usually expect more than the employed-aide median and less than an agency rate; every caregiver on this site lists an hourly rate on their profile, and the hiring guide covers taxes and overtime.
Caregiver resources for families in Taft
- Kern County Aging and Adult Services5357 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, (661) 868-1000. Area Agency on Aging for Kern: Family Caregiver Support, nutrition, IHSS applications and Adult Protective Services.
- Kern County IHSS Public Authority(661) 868-0987. Enrolling the caregiver you choose as your parent’s IHSS provider.
- West Side Family Health Care100 E. North Street, Taft, (661) 765-1935. The health care district’s clinic; the first call for routine needs.
- Omni Family Health, Taft1100 4th Street, (661) 630-1063. Primary care clinic.
- Mercy Southwest Hospital400 Old River Road, Bakersfield, about 31 road miles; the nearest acute hospital. Ask discharge staff to specify the help needed at home.
- West Side Recreation and Park District500 Cascade Place, (661) 763-4246. Community programmes in Taft.
Hiring safely in Taft
Write down duties, hours, rate, mileage and notice; keep weekly timesheets; secure cards, cheque books and medication; set alerts on accounts. To report abuse or neglect call Kern County APS on (800) 277-7866 (locally (661) 868-1006). The hiring guide covers the agreement and taxes.
How to find and hire a caregiver in Taft
CaregiverConnect is a marketplace, not an agency: you hire the caregiver directly, which is why there is no agency mark-up on their hourly rate. That also means screening is your responsibility, and we tell you how.
Describe the care you need
Who, which tasks, which days and time blocks, budget, start date. About ten minutes, free.
Your posting goes live
Caregivers in range see it immediately. Edit or close it any time from your dashboard.
Review caregivers and applicants
Experience, care types, languages, rates, availability. Applicants appear under your posting.
Message and hire
Messaging and confirming a hire are part of Family Premium ($24.99/month, cancel anytime). Browsing, posting and applications are free.
Agree terms and pay directly
Rate, schedule and payment are between you and the caregiver. No percentage is taken.
What is free and what costs money
Free family account
- Browse profiles, post and edit care needs, receive applications
Family Premium
- Messaging, direct job requests, confirming a hire; cancel any time
No commission on what you pay the caregiver; payments are between you. Details on the pricing page.
Find caregivers near Taft
Caregivers set a travel radius, so a caregiver based in a neighbouring town may well cover your home. These pages show who is nearby.
Taft is part of Kern County; the hub pages list every town and area they cover.
- Shafter, CA26 mi
- Find caregivers in Bakersfield, CA27 mi
- Oildale, CA30 mi
- Wasco, CA35 mi
Useful reading before you apply
California caregiver requirements: HCA registry, IHSS and CNA explained
Which rules apply to a caregiver in California depends on who pays them. A plain-language map of the Home Care Aide Registry, IHSS provider enrolment and CNA/HHA certification, with the official sources.
What caregivers earn in California and Arizona: BLS, IHSS and minimum wage (2026)
Median hourly pay for home health and personal care aides by metro area from the May 2025 BLS survey, county IHSS wages, state minimum wages, and how private rates relate to them.
How to hire a private caregiver: cost, screening, taxes and a written agreement
What a private in-home caregiver costs compared with an agency, how to screen and check references, the household-employer tax and overtime rules in California and Arizona, and what to put in writing.
Imperial County caregiver resources: training, job centres, IHSS, senior services and transport
A verified directory of the agencies and programmes caregivers and families in El Centro, Calexico, Brawley, Imperial, Holtville, Westmorland and Calipatria actually use, with addresses and phone numbers checked on 12 October 2026.
- ACS 2020–2024 profile, Taft city (Missouri Census Data Center mirror)
- ACS 2020–2024 profile, Ford City CDP
- CDPH/CHHS, Licensed and Certified Healthcare Facility Listing (September 2026)
- West Side Health Care District
- West Side Recreation and Park District
- OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap (road distances)
- BLS OEWS May 2025, Bakersfield-Delano, CA
- CDSS, IHSS wages by county
- CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2025, California
- Kern County Aging and Adult Services
Hiring a caregiver in Taft: frequently asked questions
How do I hire a caregiver in Taft?
Post the hours, the tasks and your rate for free. Nobody within 50 miles has a profile yet, so your posting is what brings the first Taft and Bakersfield caregivers to you; interview the applicants and hire directly.
Should I insist on a caregiver with a car?
Unless your parent will never need to leave Taft, yes. Hospitals, specialists and dialysis are all in Bakersfield.
What does home care cost in Taft?
Reference points are $16.50 (employed median, Bakersfield metro), $17.90 (Kern IHSS) and $40 (California agency median). Driving to Bakersfield usually adds mileage to whatever hourly rate you agree.
Can a relative be paid to care for my parent in Taft?
Through IHSS, yes, if your parent qualifies for Medi-Cal and the county authorises hours; the relative enrols as the provider at the Public Authority in Bakersfield.
What is free on this site?
Free: posting, browsing and receiving applications. Paid: messaging and confirming a hire, through Family Premium at $24.99 a month with no lock-in. Your caregiver’s pay is untouched.
Post your care need in Taft
It is free, takes about ten minutes, and caregivers in Kern County can see it as soon as it is live.
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