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No, but I worked for a high-end agency in college. We were all college educated (or in progress), we had a health test, we were first aid and CPR (infant and child) certified, we had full background checks done, and we went through a pretty extensive interview process (first by the agency, and then by the family). In some situations, we even signed non-disclosure agreements. They offered pretty much any situation you could think of in terms of childcare. I guess it's more of a situation where you go in knowing what you're getting?

I worked through two different high end agencies and it was a great experience. With one placement we had a few minor bumps in the beginning and the agency really helped us figure out a way to make the situation work out. It was also really nice too have some help with the negotiations.

For the families I worked for I would say they both found it extremely helpful to find someone. They both had unique needs and it was helpful for someone to sift through people to find someone who completely understood and was on board. It was in the agency's best interest to find someone in it for the long haul as opposed to someone who decides to "see how it goes" since they offered a guarantee on their placements.

I do suspect part of the benefit of an agency was that they were offering a live in position so they could relocate someone pretty easily. Offering a place to live greatly increased the pool of candidates.

If you have any other questions feel free to let me know.

I didn't use an agency because in my area the local moms list serv is so active I was able to find a rock star nanny in a short amount of time. Had I not had that option, I would have totally used an agency. I guess my only suggestion would be to vet prospective agencies the same way you would a nanny candidate? I know I was solicited my a few agencies when I first placed my ad and while some seemed legit, others seemed a bit mail order bride

@spaniellove: @MamaBehr: how come? I need help and was going to use care.com but I guess I didn't know how else to find someone

@gotkimchi: maybe it is because I only needed help twice a week for a short period of time (though for a whole semester) and wasn't willing to pay a premium for someone to come to my house to watch my kids during nap (where I put them down before I left) but I had people not respond to me, not show up to interview, and one chick (who I hired to do the job) just stopped responding to my text messages! It was horrible. The person who I found to watch my kids was from care.com, but it took forever and she was hired after the semester started!

@MamaBehr: I think the people not responding has gotten worse over the last several months. Don't know if it's because they started their community where caregivers can gripe about moms. But I also dreaded posting a position because no one would ever read it and the responses would be generic and have nothing to do with what I was asking for.

@PrincessBaby: Glad it was helpful! It was also nice to have a third party to handle firing and rehiring and such so I didn't have to handle that messy business (although to be fair we also got fired a few times from people who couldn't handle LO's separation anxiety). They're a national franchise with local businesses, I can PM you the name if you want, though I suppose it may be inconsistent from city to city. The upfront fees weren't outrageous and we literally have no family/friends in the state so having that backup available was a life saver. They came out to my house (great when I had a newborn) to tell me about the company and go through paperwork, and they have been super responsive via phone/email to deal with issues and coordinate things.

@PrincessBaby: yeah in your situation I defintely think an agency would be something I'd do, if it's financially feasible (and it sounds like it is!) They can help with splitting a nannys schedule so even if she wants more hours they might come from another family.