Collective Support Services

25/02/2021

SAM TRANSLATES
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Media statements
(link to original in comments)

25 February 2021
NDIA Says: The NDIA is not cutting funding for support coordination, and it is incorrect to say funding is no longer available for support coordinators.
Sam Translates: We don’t like it that Bill Shorten simplified this issue in his tweet.

NDIA Says: Since March 2020, the NDIA has introduced a number of temporary measures to ensure participants have access to essential supports during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Sam Translates: In March last year, we let participants know they could do things a little more flexibly with their already allocated NDIS Plan funds, to help them through the pandemic without needing to wait months for a Plan Review.

NDIA Says: This included allowing participants who did not have specific funding included in their plans for support coordination, or those needing to increase their use of support coordination services, to temporarily use other areas of their funding to access support coordination.
Sam Translates: One of the changes we made was that participants could prioritise their already allocated Plan funds to purchase support coordination services from a different area within their Plan, even if that wasn’t specifically mentioned in their Plan package already.

NDIA Says: This measure was put in place to help participants identify additional supports if needed when their supports had been disrupted by COVID-19. This temporary measure was put in place until 28 February.
Sam Translates: We allowed this originally because we saw that Support Coordination services would be useful to people in a crisis and there was no freakin’ way we would be able to push through all those plan reviews in the middle of a pandemic. Then we told participants and Support Coordinators that this plan flexibility was indefinite (and posted that on our website too – see below). We changed our minds about Support Coordination, but only told people today, two business days before we whip the rug out from underneath participants.
This is what was on our NDIS Website just two days ago:
"2 October: Will I always be able to use my core funding for Support Coordination?
Participants continue to be able to use their Core funding for support coordination services"
This is what we put on our NDIS website today:
"Other temporary measures will end on 28 February 2021:
Support Coordination line items claimable under a participant's core budget - support coordination will still be available for all participants who have a reasonable and necessary need for it from their Capacity Building budget"

NDIA Says: As restrictions ease around the country, the need for flexible support coordination has also eased, as participants return to their usual services or are able to easily find, choose and access their preferred services, as they did prior to the pandemic.
Sam Translates: When COVID stuff settled down a bit, people were less likely to need extra Support Coordination services, but in the meantime planners and Lac’s encouraged participants not to do plan reviews when they needed more Support Coordination anyway, because “you can use your core!”. Now, of course, it’s too late to get a review and some participants are at serious risk of harm due to our poor communication, siloed thinking and eagerness to restrict participants’ enshrined right to choice and control, flying in the face of all our (lip service?) talk about increasing plan flexibility.

NDIA Says: The NDIA wants to provide clarity and reassurance to participants that those with support co-ordination included in their plan and budgets continue to have access to this support.
Sam Translates: So even though this is fine for those who had sufficient Support Coordination funds to start with, the rest of the poor bastards can just rot away without supports because there’s no way we can do a plan review for everyone in TWO BUSINESS days.

NDIA Says: For those participants who temporarily accessed support coordination during the temporary period and who still require this support due to COVID-19 disruption of services they should contact their Local Area Coordinator, ECEI partner or planner to seek a plan review or call 1800 800 110 for assistance.
Sam Translates: So, if you still need extra Support Coordination service because of COVID, we can do a plan review sometime, maybe, if you’re lucky, but if you need it right now, because you’re leaving hospital and have nowhere to live, or you’re suicidal and homeless, or about to be discharged from prison, tough luck to you.

Extra notes by Sam: It’s important to know that NONE OF THIS is about asking for extra funds to be added to NDIS plans. This is just about being able to prioritise core support funds that are already in a package, to use for Support Coordination services when a participant or nominees chooses and needs that support. At The Growing Space, and around the country, are participants who have are now at serious risk of harm through pulling of services. We will continue to serve our clients at risk at my personal cost, but not all providers will be able to do this. I am deeply concerned for their welfare. Please take action.

What can you do?

1. Fill out this two question survey – the results will go to the NDIS - https://bit.ly/2NTssGD
2. Send NDIS your thoughts at feedback@ndis.gov.au
3. Contact Minister Stuart Roberts’ office at minister@dss.gov.au
4. Contact your local MP, radio and media and let them know what you think.

This post is copyright of Sam Paior 2021. You are welcome to share it, with credit and no edits. Thanks.

22/12/2020

Holiday help for those who need it.
We hope everyone stays safe and is looking forward to a more settled start to 2021!

03/09/2020

Interesting research into the neurobiology of autism

New research shows that neurons in autistic brains begin to developmentally diverge in early prenatal stages.

28/08/2020

Some breaking news this morning …

The Minister for the NDIS Stuart Robert has released the government’s response to the Tune review.

Just in case you have forgotten (because it already feels like a hundred years ago thanks to COVID) …

Last year Mr David Tune conducted a review into the NDIS Act. Not the whole kit and caboodle of the NDIS, but just what needed to change in the Act.

And even though it was just supposed to be about the NDIS Act, Mr Tune made a bunch of sensible, practical recommendations about a whole lot of things – like the need for simple and clear language to explain key NDIS terms like “reasonable and necessary”.

Things like greater flexibility in how you can use your NDIS funds. And outreach and support for people who are really missing out – like First Nations people with disability or people from a culturally and linguistically diverse background.

And the good news is that the government appears to have accepted all the recommendations except for two – and those they have accepted “in principle”. That’s government speak for “we’re kinda on board but we need to hedge our bets for a few reasons”.

Great to see acceptance - now for making them happen!

And the Minister also announced the release of the Participant Service Charter and the Participant Service Improvement Plan (mouthfuls we know).

Those two documents do two things. The Charter outlines the way participants can expect the NDIA to behave when it works with them. And the Plan outlines all the work the NDIA will do over the next two years to improve people’s experience of the scheme.

Really critical things like introducing longer plans and greater flexibility in how you can use your NDIS funds.

But amongst all the other things there was one part of the announcement that did catch our eye.

The Minister also announced that from next year the NDIA will fund independent assessment for people applying to enter the scheme. And then later in the year for people having plan reviews at critical life points – like leaving school or leaving home.

There is not a lot of detail about that one. We know that lots of you are worried about what those assessments will mean for you.

We do want the NDIS to be fair and consistent. And people shouldn’t have to pay for expensive reports that may or may not hit the mark.

But the most important thing of ALL - we need to make sure that people get the support they desperately need.

As with all of these things the devil is always in the detail.

There was a lot of information released today so we are working our way through it - so stay tuned (no pun intended).

👉 In the meantime you can read the announcement here – https://ministers.dss.gov.au/media-releases/6156

👉 You can read the government's response here - https://www.dss.gov.au/disability-and-carers-programs-services-for-people-with-disability-national-disability-insurance-scheme-2019-review-of-the-ndis-act-and-the-new-ndis-participant-service-guarantee/government-response-to-the-ndis-act-review

👉 You can read some media coverage here - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-28/ndis-disability-sector-government-proposed-reforms/12602432

👉 The Participant Service Charter is here - https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policies/service-charter

👉 The Participant Service Improvement Plan is here - https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policies/service-charter/participant-service-improvement-plan

👉 And if you want to go back and have a look at the Tune review again you can find it here - https://www.dss.gov.au/disability-and-carers-programs-services-for-people-with-disability-national-disability-insurance-scheme/2019-review-of-the-ndis-act-and-the-new-ndis-participant-service-guarantee

👉 Or our summary here - https://everyaustraliancounts.com.au/singing-to-the-same-old-tune-ndis-tune-review-report-released/

👉 The NDIA and Minister have released a few short videos this morning. You can find them all here - https://everyaustraliancounts.com.au/big-ndis-changes-are-coming-government-and-ndis-response-to-the-tune-review/



(Image description: A red rectangle with the words "Breaking News" in white capital letters. Underneath the words you can see the Every Australian Counts logo and the words "NDIS: Make It Work)

28/08/2020

Well worth a read to put things into perspective

Autistic people learn to be good guessers, but we never really know if our social responses are appropriate. We live in a state of perpetual social anxiety, always in danger of saying or doing the wrong thing.

13/08/2020

Great table to understand plan reviews!

Plan Renewal, Rollover, or Extension… ARGH!!!! What do they all mean?

WORTH SAVING and SHARING: End of plan reviews – 4 types – and what you need to know when your plan is about to finish!

Firstly, a plan “rollover” can mean *any* of the types on new plans I’ve explained below in this post, so we are just not gonna use that word (rollover) anymore, and instead we’ll use the more “official” NDIS terms for the different types.

This post is about the options for when your plan dates are ending. This post does not cover when you ask for a review because you are unhappy with your fairly new plan (review of a reviewable decision) or when you are requesting a change of circumstances review.

1. Plan Auto-Extension

A genuine plan extension is the “default” option and what happens when your plan is set to expire and no one at the NDIA or the LAC has done anything to get you a new plan.
When you get a Plan Extension, it is usually automatic for one year (though it can sometimes be one month or anything in between).
A plan extension does not give you a “new” plan, and in fact, the pdf plan you can download on the NDIS MyPlace portal doesn’t change one little bit.
But, you’ll notice in the other parts of your portal, that the end date has changed, and a pro-rata amount of funding has been added.
Plan extensions usually happen when there hasn’t been any other human intervention, or sometimes when a planner is working on your new plan but it’s not quite finished yet, so they add a month or two to your old plan to give them time to do their work.
If you have a Plan Extension, the money left in your plan remains, and extra money is put in as pro rata.
An example: If you have an old $12,000 plan which “expires” today, and you still have $2,000 left that you didn’t use: if your plan is extended by a year, there should now be a new plan end date of 14th August 2021, and there should be around $14,000 in that plan (and the start date won't change from your old plan!).
And yes, you can still claim for stuff dated anytime between August 14 2019 and August 14 2021. (before you ask, I’m not you if the extra funds take into account the July price increases or not, sorry!)
Often the Agency uses these Extension Plans as a stop-gap, until they get your new plan all sorted and approved.
Under the NDIS Act (the law!) an NDIS plan never ends until it is replaced with a new one, or the participant “exits” the scheme, and that’s why we have Plan Auto-Extensions – to be rid of those awful plan gaps we used to see, which were always against the law. Grrr...

2. Plan Renewal

A Plan Renewal is when you get a whole new plan (usually one or two years long) which is basically a repeat of your current, about to expire old plan. This generally needs you, the participant, to approve it. This can be a great option for people who are happy with their old plan, and don’t want to be assed going through a full plan review.
These Renewal Plans *are* a whole new (repeat) plan, so *none* of the leftover funds from your old plan are available for supports and services dated during the new plan dates.
The new plan usually starts when the old plan was set to end, but sometimes planners bring this forward a bit sooner, which can be frustrating if you’ve been saving your funds to get something at the end of your old plan. So – if you’re talking to an LAC or planner and are keen for a Renewal Plan, make sure to ask them to wait until you’ve been able to purchase that larger “end of plan” thing. And… if you’re not confident about them holding off, then jump in and get that service/support sorted as soon as you can!
When this Renewal Plan starts, you will still be able to makes claims for things you bought during the dates of the old plan from the old plan (before the new plan start date) for up to 90 days on the portal (for self managers), and Plan Managers should be able to do the same.
You should also get a whole new pdf plan to download in the NDIS MyPlace portal with a new start and new end date.
You generally won’t get a renewal plan if you’re in ECEI or your current plan is considered well above “TSP” (typical support package) and higher than what they would expect for a person of your age, situation and disability.

3. Light Touch Plan Renewal

This one is pretty much the same as the full Renewal Plan ( #2 above), except a planner or an LAC might have a chat with you, often on the phone or sometimes even via email, in what feels like a “review-lite” meeting. The planner or LAC will just check in if there are any relatively easy changes that need to be made.
You might find that your plan funds increase due to this “chat”, but you might also find you lose some funding – an example might be someone who has already had SLES funding for two years, so it is left off of the Light Touch Plan Renewal.
One typical change for a Light Touch Plan Renewal, is the recent change to where ADE (Supported Employment) funds go in your Plan: they are now put in your more flexible Core funds bucket, and are no longer put in your Capacity Building buckets.
Another more obvious example is that equipment that you’ve already received during the current plan isn’t going to be repeated and funded again in the new Renewal Plan.

4. Full Plan Review

This is the regular full plan review meeting – on phone or in person where you go through *all* the “stuff” with an LAC, ECEI partner or planner, and they build you a whole new plan.
For these reviews, you’ll generally want/need to provide therapist reports and other evidence of your support needs, your carer statement and all that stuff.
Generally, young children will nearly always get a full plan review, and no Renewal Plan options, as little tackers’ needs are pretty changeable through early intervention. This also often applies where a participant has a plan the Agency thinks was well funded for a specific time-limited purpose (or therapy program, for example), and for folks in this boat, you’re also unlikely to be offered a Renewal Plan.

So, how do you get the type of review you want?

Have a think about which of the above options will work for you.
Once you’ve decided, and you’re maybe two or so months out from the end of your current plan, call your local LAC, or call (1800 800 110) or email the NDIS on enquiries@ndis.gov.au and let them know what you’d like.
There are no guarantees that you will get your choice, of course, but there’s probably no harm in giving it a crack.
And don't forget, if your new Plan doesn't give you what you need, you can always ask for a Review of a Reviewable Decision (also known as a RORD or S100 Review) for all new Plan, except where there is an extension plan (in which case you could potentially ask for a Change of Circumstances review)
Wishing you all the best! Sorry this is so messy, and long.

This post is copyright of The Growing Space 2020, and we’re thrilled for you to share it, with credit and no edits, here on Facebook. if you want to share it anywhere else, we request that you ask us for permission. We really appreciate our work being shared, but we’re a bit fussy about it being reproduced in whole, so there aren’t any misunderstandings, which makes us cranky when it goes pear shaped. Thanks heaps.

pic description: an image that puts the above information into a table

13/08/2020

Principles of Trauma Informed Care

1. Take time to understand and embrace each person’s goals and aspirations, strengths and support needs, including communication, problem solving and other cognitive processes.

2. Understand and recognise trauma and its impacts, including the potential relationship with behavioural difficulties that may be experienced by the person.

3. Create opportunities for people to make and find their own meanings and to create the environment that supports them to communicate their feelings.

4. Promote a safe physical and emotional environment tailored to each individual

5. Be culturally respectful and informed and work towards cultural competence.

6. Support the person’s control, choice and voice to have or work towards autonomy, self-determination, participation and respect for human rights and freedoms.

7. Share power and governance in a genuinely inclusive way.

8. Value safe and genuine relationships in the process of recovery.

9. Embed a family-sensitive approach

10. Ensure access to supported trauma-specific treatment, delivered by trained professionals

11. Acknowledge that recovery is possible for everyone and the importance of hope, fun, joy and peer support in the present and for the future

12. Integrate practice that has a holistic view of the person and the recovery process and facilitates communication among services and systems to support continuity

13. Acknowledge the need to be and feel safe

Check out more information about Trauma-Informed Care

https://collectivesupport.com.au/trauma-informed-care.html

01/08/2020

18/07/2020

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching. New to the NDIS and a much needed support to many Australians. Psychosocial Recovery Coaching has emerged as the NDIS realised that more needed to be done to assist those living with a psychosocial disability to live a full and quality life.

Psychosocial recovery coaches are people who have either lived experience or formal qualifications. The support provided by psychosocial recovery coaches is designed to foster hope, build capacity and resilience through strong and respectful relationships. Communication is the key, not only with the person but also with families and other services. The goal is to work collaboratively with everyone to identify, plan, design and coordinate supports.

So what do psychosocial recovery coaches do?
A recovery coach will ensure people understand their NDIS plan, and will help build the skills needed to manage their plan. This might also include connection with supports, services and the community. To achieve this, a recovery coach needs to understand a person's goals and actions that can be taken to achieve this goals. They also need to provide feedback and help the person reflect on where they have come from and where they want to be.

Funding for psychosocial recovery coaching will be included in selected NDIS plans from July 1, 2020. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

06/07/2020

Only when we can incorporate a growth mindset into our lives can we then promote inclusion as a practice

When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.

Sketchnote via

04/07/2020

Helping kids support children with delays and disabilities is a challenge for all parents. But the benefits impact everyone.