Three calls and one long intake form later, I have your brain on paper. This document is what I told you I'd build on our last call: the single source of truth every ad, landing page, text message, and phone script gets written from. When something in the ads doesn't match something on the website, this is the document that decides who's right.
Nothing in here is new. It is your answers, organized. Where I had to fill a gap with my own words, I flagged it so you can catch it.
Read it once, start to finish. It's long because it has to be complete, but most of it will read fast because you already said it.
Then send me three things:
The first six scripts are already drafted and came with this document. Once I have those three things, I lock the scripts against your corrections, the landing page gets its final copy, and we're on to filming.
Every piece of messaging we write reduces to this:
If you're caring for a family member at home in Massachusetts, you may qualify for a tax-free stipend of up to $1,700 a month, plus a nurse and a case manager who actually show up. Community First handles the paperwork, pays on time, and speaks your language.
That sentence does four jobs. It names who we're talking to (a family caregiver in Massachusetts). It leads with the number, because you told me on the phone that, whether the older agencies like it or not, the money is why people pick up the phone. It immediately pairs the money with the support, which is the part you actually care about and the part that keeps families for years. And it closes with the three things that separate you from the agency down the street.
Everything else in this document is that sentence, expanded.
You said it clearly on our first call: we are not advertising to members. We're advertising to the caregiver, the person who picks up the phone, makes the decision, and sits on the intake call.
There are two very different caregivers walking in the door, and they need two different conversations.
This is the daughter caring for her mother who never once called herself a caregiver. She stepped in because it was her mom. She's working, running her own house, exhausted, and convinced this is just what families do. Nobody told her there's help, and when someone finally does, her first thought is this sounds too good to be true.
Your words: "People are thrown into roles they never planned for." The stroke on vacation. The diagnosis that arrived in someone's fifties. The parents aging out of caring for a disabled sibling, so now it falls to the brother or sister.
She is the bigger audience by far, and she is the one nobody in Massachusetts is advertising to well.
She's already enrolled with another agency. She knows exactly what the program is. She's calling because something broke: she's paid less than she could be, she never knows when the check is coming, or she hasn't seen her nurse in three months. About half of your new inquiries are this person.
She is the fastest enrollment we can win, because she's already approved and already understands the paperwork.
You told me who you'd want fifty more of: the aging parent caring for a disabled adult child. The 80-year-old dad with his daughter. The twin sisters. The family where "it's just them and their child" and your monthly visit is the thing they look forward to.
They stay for years. They're grateful. And you get to do the part of the job that made you start this agency: sitting with the dad who cries because he thinks his daughter will outlive him, and walking him to the trust that takes care of her after he's gone.
We'll build one of the six ads specifically for this family. (One caution for the fine print: a parent who is the member's legal guardian can't be the paid caregiver under current rules. The parent who raised the child but never took guardianship can.)
For the survey and the ad targeting, the full list you gave me:
| RELATIONSHIP | HOW COMMON | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Adult child caring for an aging parent | Your biggest group | The "New to the program" caregiver, most of the time |
| Parent caring for a disabled adult child | Your favorite | Autism, lifelong disability. Parent must not be legal guardian |
| Parent caring for a younger adult who became ill | Common | Illness or injury in their 20s or 30s |
| Sibling caring for a sibling | Growing | Often after parents can no longer do it. Loudest in immigrant families |
| A relative or friend with a spare bedroom | Your matching program | "Foster care for adults." Someone who wants to care for a person they're matched with |
The ads should quietly repel these people before they cost your team a phone call:
Small things, but they decide whether an ad sounds like you or like a stranger.
| WE SAY | WE DON'T SAY | WHY |
|---|---|---|
| Member | Client, patient | Your team's word. "Client" is acceptable but "member" is preferred |
| Caregiver | Worker, employee, PCA | The caregiver is family, not staff. Also keeps us clear of "job ad" territory |
| Stipend | Grant, salary, pay, wages, income | I used "grant" once on a call and you corrected me. Stipend is the word |
| Tax-free | Untaxed, under the table | Accurate, and it's the phrase every caregiver asks about |
| Adult Foster Care, the AFC program | Foster care | On its own, "foster care" makes people think of children |
| You may qualify | You qualify, you're eligible, guaranteed | We never promise eligibility in an ad. That's your intake team's call |
| A program funded through MassHealth | Free money, government money, a benefit | It's the honest answer to "is this real," and it's not a handout |
| Case manager and nurse | Care team, support staff | Specific beats vague. People want to know who's coming to the house |
| Get support for the care you're already giving | Get paid to take care of your mom | Same idea. The first one is true to how you talk. The second one reads like a job listing |
One thing you flagged that I want to name: you don't love talking about the money. I hear you, and the ads will never be only about the money. But you also said "people aren't going to work if they're not paid," and that the seasoned agencies frowning at the newer ones is a preference, not a rule. So the money will be in the ads, said plainly, always in the same breath as the support. If a specific line reads as too money-forward to you, mark it and I'll pull it back.
Your list of the daily frustrations, in the order you gave them. These are the lines the ads open with, because a caregiver scrolling her phone at 11pm will stop for the thing she's actually feeling.
Caregiver A is somewhere between "I have a problem" and "I didn't know there was a solution." The ad's job is to walk her one step: you are a caregiver, there is a program for exactly you, and yes it's real.
Caregiver B already knows the solution. The ad's job is to name what's broken with her current agency and say, in five words, that you don't do that.
An ad is the first thirty seconds of the phone call, written down. So here's the phone call, in the order you said you'd say it.
You laid it out on August 14 without meaning to. Support first, then the stipend:
"You could get the support: somebody to listen to you, someone who understands what you're going through, because that's their everyday. Case managers, nurses, dealing with this on a daily basis. And then in addition to this, we also give you a stipend for the work you're already doing."
That's the spine of every ad. In some ads the stipend comes first because the audience is scrolling and the number is what stops the thumb. But the support is never more than one sentence behind it.
You told me most people who call already know about the program. But the people who see our ads mostly won't. Their first reaction will be "you're going to give me money?" So every ad and the landing page need a one-breath answer. Built from what you said on September 8:
"I know how it sounds. It's a Massachusetts program, funded through MassHealth. The state would rather help a family keep someone at home than pay a nursing home many times more for the same person. Agencies like ours are approved by MassHealth to run it. That's why it's real, and that's why there's paperwork."
Two notes. You guessed a nursing home might run around $500 a day but weren't sure, so I've kept the ad language to "many times more" until we have a number we can cite. And "that's why there's paperwork" is on purpose: it turns the biggest objection into proof it's legitimate.
Your answer was disarmingly simple, and it goes in as-is:
"Care for someone you live with who needs help with everyday things. That's it. If you're already doing that, you're already doing the work."
This is the section I need you to read twice.
| ITEM | WHAT GOES IN THE AD |
|---|---|
| The headline figure | Up to $1,700 a month |
| The floor | Not in the ads. Level I starts around $827 (see Open Items, the intake form said $837) |
| Tax status | Tax-free |
| When it's paid | The second Friday of every month |
| Who sets it | The state sets the base. Community First chooses to pay above it |
| Where you sit | You pay more than roughly 70% of Massachusetts agencies. One agency pays slightly more |
Every time a dollar figure appears in an ad, on the landing page, or in a text, this rides underneath it, in some form:
Stipend amounts depend on the level of care the member needs and are set by the MassHealth Adult Foster Care program. Caregivers must live with the member. Spouses, legal guardians, and parents of minors are not eligible to be paid caregivers under current program rules. Eligibility is determined during intake; nothing here is a promise of enrollment.
Your intake team explains this on the call, and the landing page says it once so nobody's surprised:
These are the four things you said surprise people. Each one becomes a line on the landing page and a text your team can send.
You said something on the first call that I wrote down and underlined: "Any agency could pay me. But what is it that you're providing?"
That's the switcher's real question, and it's the second half of every ad. Here is your answer, built from what families actually told you when they left another agency for you.
This is the legal ceiling for every ad. Nothing gets said in public that isn't on this list, and nothing on this list goes out until you've approved it. Please go line by line.
| CLAIM | AS IT WILL APPEAR |
|---|---|
| Stipend amount | "Up to $1,700 a month, tax-free" |
| Payment timing | "Paid the second Friday of every month. We have never missed a payment." |
| Retention | "8 or 9 out of 10 families who join us stay with us." |
| Responsiveness | "A real person answers. If you leave a message, you hear back within 24 hours." |
| Years in business | "Serving Massachusetts families since 2022" |
| Accreditation | "CARF accredited. MassHealth-approved Adult Foster Care provider." |
| Languages | "Staff who speak Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole" |
| Visit flexibility | "Evening and weekend visits available" |
| Team visits | "Your nurse and case manager visit together whenever possible" |
| CLAIM | WHY I'M ASKING |
|---|---|
| "We pay more than most Massachusetts agencies" | You said roughly 70%. "Most" is fair, but it's a comparison, and I want your explicit OK |
| "One of the highest stipends in the state" | Same claim, stronger. Only if you're comfortable |
| "When you switch, we time it so you don't miss a check" | You said you always try to coordinate the switch so there's no gap. This is the honest version of that. The dishonest version is "no gap, guaranteed," which we will not say |
| "Arabic-speaking staff" | The intake form says staff fluent in Arabic. On the call you said a couple of Arabic families and a translator you can bring in. Which is it? |
| "A nursing home costs the state many times more" | Fine as-is. If you want a specific figure in the ads, I need a source |
You said that by the time someone calls, "they're at their yes already," and what they're really asking is whether the process is worth it. These answers go on the landing page, in the follow-up texts, and in your intake team's back pocket. Same words everywhere.
How long does this take?
Usually one to three months from your first call to your first stipend check. The fastest we've seen is about a month. What decides the speed is almost always the doctor paperwork, and we'll tell you exactly what to get and when.
How much paperwork is there?
Less than people fear. For you, the caregiver: a note from your doctor that you're in good health, and a negative TB test from within the past year. For the member: a physical from within the past year, a doctor visit within the last three months, and the doctor signs the program form. That's the list.
Do I have to see my doctor? Yes, once. If you've had a physical this year, you may already be done.
How often do you visit?
A nurse and a case manager come to your home each month. We try to send them together so you're not repeating yourself.
Can they come together?
Yes. That's how we prefer it.
Do I have to quit my job?
No. Many of our caregivers work. If the member isn't in a day program, we'll help you find one.
Can I leave them alone at all?
Depends on the member. Some can be alone for up to a few hours a day. Your case manager will go over it with you.
Does the person I care for have to live with me? Yes.
Can I be paid to care for my husband or wife?
Not under current Massachusetts rules. If that changes, we'll tell you.
What if they don't have MassHealth?
Call us anyway. If the insurance isn't right, we'll point you to a broker who can help you figure out whether they can get it.
What if I'm already with another agency?
You can switch. Each agency has its own intake, and the state re-approves you, but we coordinate with your current agency so the change is as smooth as possible.
Is the stipend for me or for them?
For you. It's the caregiver's money, with no strings on how you use it.
This becomes the eligibility check on the landing page. The goal, in your words: repel the person who's "only interested in the money" without scaring off the daughter who's sure her mother wouldn't qualify.
| RULE | THE LINE |
|---|---|
| Age | The member is 16 or older |
| Diagnosis | The member has a chronic illness or disability and needs help with at least one daily activity |
| Living situation | The caregiver and member live together |
| Relationship | Not a spouse, legal guardian, or parent of a minor |
| Insurance | MassHealth Standard (most common), MassHealth CommonHealth, an SCO or One Care plan, and certain others (United, Fallon, Commonwealth Care Alliance). Private pay accepted |
| Location | Worcester, Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Hampden, and Plymouth counties. Not the Cape or the islands |
| Not a fit | Active substance use in the home. A diagnosis with no real need for help ("I'm diabetic, but it's managed") |
Short, one at a time, plain words. Here's the draft. Tell me if any question would make a good family bail.
A "no" on question 2, 4, or 6 doesn't slam the door. It routes them to a page that explains the rule honestly and still lets them call. A "not sure" on insurance gets a callback and the broker referral. Only the person who fails three or more gets the gentle "this program may not be the right fit."
The promise in the ad has to match what happens next, minute by minute. Here's the path we're building, so the copy can describe it truthfully.
No enrollment happens on our side. Your team runs the intake, the nurse does the assessment, the doctor signs, the state approves. The system just makes sure nobody falls through the cracks between those steps.
Twenty opening lines. Ten for the caregiver who's new to the program, ten for the switcher. These are the first sentences of ads, texts, and page headlines. They're written to be said out loud by you or a member of your team, on a phone, talking to one person.
You'll see your own phrases in most of them.
Five rules I'll hold every piece of copy to. You'll see them show up in the fine print, and sometimes in what we choose not to say.
You approve every ad, every page, and every text template before it's live. That's in our agreement, and it's how I'd want it if I were you.
Eight quick answers and this document is final.
Send those back, and we film.
— Spencer