Support Coordination

Standard & Specialist support services available

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What we offer

Including You have 13 Support Coordinators working full-time and offer Standard (Level 2) & Specialist (Level 3) Support Coordination services. We do not have a wait list and we have capacity. In line with NDIS, we are funded through an NDIS plan to provide support to individuals and families to coordinate and implement their plan. It is our goal to upskill service users to manage their plan in the future.

Our role is:

  • To engage service providers for Direct Supports
  • To engage professionals for assessments and training to support the service user.
  • To create Service agreements between the service user and chosen service.
  • To explain the NDIS pricing guide and advise service user and family. Always looking at the overall finances for the service user and the best bang for the buck.
  • To assist the service user and their family , how to problem solve issues that might present.
  • To educate service users and families their responsibilities under a service agreement.
  • To change or amend a service agreement.
  • When requested by NDIS we provide a 8-week report and a 9-month report to inform NDIS what has worked and what hasn’t. This includes preparing the service users for their next NDIS plan review.
  • A collaborative approach driven by the service user and their family.
  • To help service users achieve their goals and find the best possible options available.

Specialist Knowledge

 

Our Support Coordinators are experienced and committed to supporting people involved with:

    • Early Intervention 0-7 yrs - Working alongside families and their children in collaboration with key workers and other allied health services.
    • Child Protection across Victoria extensive experience working within the Child Protection (NDIS) space.
    • Working with the Justice system to source accommodation and adhere to conditions of orders including those who are incarcerated
    • Alcohol and other substance use involving harm minimisation and working within the NDIS context
    • Working closely with the health system and knowing the difference between the NDIS and Health
    • Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) experience and committed to correcting unfair decisions made by the NDIS
    • Mental Health services in conjunction with the NDIS
    • Trauma-informed and understanding the impact untreated trauma has on individuals, their behaviour and the way they lead their lives
    • Working collaboratively with hospitals and rehabilitation centres across Victoria, supporting the transition and exit from these services to their home with a collaborative planning approach.

NDIS Update: Improving Support Coordination for Participants

 

The NDIA asked for feedback from participants, support coordinators, providers, and the disability sector about the current support coordination model. In response to the consultation, the NDIS has released a paper called Improving support coordination for NDIS participants.

Roles of a Support Coordinator

A Support Coordinator should have four key roles:

  1. Help NDIS participants connect to NDIS and other supports
  2. Build participant capacity and capability to understand their plan, navigate the NDIS and make their own decisions
  3. Broker supports and services in line with participant wishes and their plan budget
  4. Monitor plan budgets and support effectiveness.

Support Coordinators will help participants with different things depending on what the individual participant’s goals, needs and circumstances are. This should also consider what has been funded in the participant’s plan.

1.  Helping participants connect to the NDIS and other supports.
A key role of Support Coordinators is to be familiar with the services in their location and connect participants with relevant service providers. This may involve:

  • Using local market knowledge to drive quality participant outcomes
  • Linking participants to mainstream, community and informal supports
  • Developing strong provider networks in the local area (the NDIS is working on ways to support the development of such relationships, particularly in areas where there are service shortages).

The NDIA recommends setting clear expectations about the scope of service and limits of your role as a support coordinator. Where lines become blurred, it may be worth connecting your client to a formal advocate.

2. Build participant capacity

A support coordinator has a critical role to play in building a participant’s capacity and capability to understand their plan, navigate the NDIS and make their own decisions.

Suggestions are provided for supporting participants to make informed decisions including communicating in a way that the participant understands, providing multiple options, discussing any consequences and allowing time to consider and trial options.

Participants say they appreciate when a support coordinator takes time to understand their situation, engages on a regular basis and proactively sources evidence to support plan reviews.

The NDIA is developing a “Support for decision making policy” that seeks to increase opportunities for participants to more actively involved in decisions about their life and improve their capacity to make decisions.

3. Broker supports and services

The third role of support coordinators is to help participants connect with NDIS and other supports as well as explore the right mix of supports based on the goals in the person’s NDIS plan.

This can include:

  • Trialling options
  • Designing a suitable approach for each individual
  • Negotiating service agreements in line with participant’s preferences and their plan.

The NDIA has been working on models to deliver more timely supports and services in rural and remote areas. Testing found that group purchasing models where support workers bundle and pool plan funds can drive better participant outcomes in regional locations.

4. Monitor plan budgets and support effectiveness

Support coordinators provide critical monitoring of NDIS Plan implementation to ensure supports are effective in helping participants achieve their goals.

This can include:

  • Regularly monitoring plan progress and with the participant
  • Help to prepare for plan reviews (plans are underway to make it easier for support coordinators to report back to the NDIS)
  • Helping the participant prepare for unexpected events or interruptions in supports
  • Ensuring the participant can access appropriate crisis or emergency supports

Tracking how the participant’s plan is being used and ensuring they receive adequate support throughout the length of their plan.

Promoting Participant Safety

Support Coordinators have a unique view of what is happening in a participant’s life, due to the high level of trust and knowledge of their changing needs. For this reason, the NDIA asks that support coordinators proactively support the participant to raise concern or issues connected with the safety and quality of supports or services.

 

What’s next?

The NDIA mentions a raft of measures that it is undertaking to improve the outcomes of support coordination.

  • Educating support coordinators on their roles
  • Support coordinators registered to delivery group 106 (assistance in coordinating or managing life stages, transitions or supports) or 132 (Specialised support coordination) must undertake additional training in NDIS Practice Standards.
  • Non-registered support coordinators can use these standards to better understand expected services standards
  • Encouraging and supporting sector-led training
  • Developing niche support coordinator services to meet specific participant needs
  • Removing the ability for a single provider to offer both support coordination and other supports to an individual participant to reduce potential conflicts of interest.

While some support coordinators had requested automatic access to participant plans, due to privacy considerations, the NDIA will only share a participant’s plan with their consent.

 

Good to Know

  • Many respondents asked for the three-level structure of support coordination to be simplified. This will be considered as part of the Annual Pricing Review.
  • The review will also consider the experience and skills required to deliver quality support coordination services.
  • Support coordinators are expected to follow the NDIS Code of Conduct, regardless of whether they are registered providers or not.
  • The sector called for more clarity and consistency on when and how support coordination goes into an NDIS Plan. This is being reviewed.

Information source: Improving support coordination for participants web page and accompanying document also available at the same link.