We're planning to move into an independent living community that wraps in twice-a-month housekeeping, and I've been looking into lockable cabinets for sensitive financial papers, medicine, jewelry, etc. I'm not fussed about damage -- it's not as if I've never damaged something while cleaning. But I am concerned about privacy and the potential temptations created by leaving small valuable objects or medications easily accessible.

Having a friend refer someone is one way to make it more likely the person is trustworthy. If you hire someone from a service, ask about how they go about vetting their staff, and make sure they carry appropriate insurance. It's also possible to pay a firm to vet a potential employee if you want to hire directly.

While I'm at it, if you haven't looked at your homeowner's insurance to see if you are covered if an individual you have directly hired gets hurt while working for you, you should do that. And think about how you will pay them and how you and they will handle income taxes, etc. If you pay a service, they will handle all that, of course. Once upon a time, someone working on our house stepped in a gopher hole in the back yard and broke an ankle -- it really caused me to pay more attention to this sort of thing.