Telephone Counselling Service

• September 11, 2019
• admin

Sometimes we need to talk to someone about what we are dealing with, then and there. Sometimes we just can’t wait until our next face to face session. That’s where we can help!

You can call us on 1800 REACH US,  and speak to one of our counsellors, even just for 15 minutes. Sometimes, that’s all you need to get through the day.

You can call us, no matter where you are, as long as you have phone reception.

Short on phone credit? Let us know by sending a text, and we will call you back

If you think our Counselling service might just be what you need, you can sign up by:

• Phoning 1800 REACH US (1800 732 248)
• Emailing: reachus@createasenseofplace.com.au
• Completing our Referral Form

What you will need:

Have an NDIS Plan with either a budget for Improved Daily Living, or if you are self managing, you can use any budget to purchase our support!

Your NDIS service provider – are they organised or is their chaos affecting your supports?

• September 4, 2019
• admin

At Create A Sense of Place, we have set up systems to make sure we are working efficiently. This includes simple stuff like online forms which completely reduce our paper trail, but increase our audit trail for safeguard purposes.

We have checklists to follow, to ensure we get done what is needed, and regular staff meetings with action plans to ensure we stay on track.

Our work is transparent, and our records can be shared openly with the people we support should they wish to read their notes and files. This also flows into our claiming, and ensures we make the right claims for the support we have provided.

Being organised is so important!

Here’s some things to look out for that might mean your provider is disorganised:

• Missed supports
• Constantly changing shifts,
• Cancelling meetings/shifts,
• Over claiming for supports,
• Not claiming for months, and then doing a whopping huge claim,
• Constant change in workers.

Let’s look at support coordination.

A huge part of our role is helping to organise your NDIS plan. If your support coordinator is unorganised, or the company they work for is, you need to ask how on earth they will be able to organise your NDIS plan? Chances are they can’t.

Here’s some things to look out for:

• Your plan may not be implemented in full, or at all,
• Your funding may run out,
• Referrals have been made in house, and not organised based on suitability,
• Doubling up on work, leading to over charging,
• Bad, or non existent record keeping.

At Create A Sense of Place, we pride ourselves on being organised, and we believe this is reflected in our work, our thorough reporting processes and systems.

If this is important to you, and you feel you are not getting this with your current provider, get in touch.

You can read more about how we stay organised using online forms in an article here.

The Planning cycle – Tier 3 Specialist Support Coordination

• August 19, 2019
• admin

Support Coordination operates on three tiers:

1. Support Connection (see relevant article here)
2. Coordination of Supports (see relevant article here)
3. Specialist Support Coordination

Today we are talking about Tier 3 in the NDIS planning cycle, Specialist Support Coordination.

Specialist Support Coordination operates within a specialist framework where high level risks are present in the participant’s situation. This can be a specific crisis and does not always need to be ongoing.

The specialist role is time limited and focuses on reducing risks and developing solutions to complex situations. The role of the specialist exists in complex service environments where a large multi-disciplinary team of supports are involved and requires skills in developing intervention plans, skills programs, develop and deliver staff training, building participant capacity and resilience and high level communication skills.

Complex situations for participants often involve multiple chronic conditions, risk of entering the criminal justice system, high risk of placement or service breakdown, homelessness and significant periods of transition such as leaving school, family /carer breakdown or ageing.

The coordinator providing this level of support should hold relevant university qualifications, and have extensive experience.

For more information about the levels of support and what might suit your situation, get in touch with us.

Questions to ask when finding an NDIS Support Coordinator

• August 16, 2019
• admin

Here is a list of great questions to ask a support coordinator, when you are trying to find the right person.

• What is your background?
• How long have you been a Coordinator of supports?
• How do you make your referrals?
• Are you expected to refer in house with your company?
• What if you refer me to a place and I am not happy?
• How do you charge for your time?

You may also want to think about things such as:

• Do you need them to have a specialty area?  Such as housing, employment,  complex support management
• Do they have capacity? You want to make sure they have time to work with you.
• How soon do you need them to start?

Have you got any questions that you ask? Comment on the Facebook post, we would love to read them!

Service Agreements with NDIS Registered Providers are NOT lock in contracts!

• August 16, 2019
• admin

Service agreements are not lock in contracts! You can get out of them by providing the required notice outlined in the agreement.

Depending on the type of support you receive, a notice period may be 7 days, 14 days or sometimes even 28 days.

You are generally asked to provide this notice in writing, and the service agreement should outline how you do this, and who you should contact.

A service booking on the portal can be ended immediately, and a provider can leave enough funds for the services they provided that have yet to be claimed. This means your new service provider can access the remaining funding straight away.  There should be no excuses from your provider to do this.

And biggest tip, if your provider has breached their terms, the notice period should be waived!

Here is some info about service agreements, and the type of information they should contain:

A service agreement is an agreement between an NDIS Participant and their Service Provider that outlines;

• The support that will be provided
• The cost of these supports
• Any other costs such as travel
• How, when and where you would like your supports to be provided.
• The responsibility of the provider, such as treating you with respect, maintaining your privacy, goal achievement etc
• It outlines your responsibilities as a person receiving their services, such as cancelling a support, treating staff with respect etc.
• Ending the service agreement, how to do this.

Please make sure you read the service agreement before signing it.

Got any questions about a service agreement, or need some help to end your service agreement with a provider? We would love to help you.

You can reach out to us here.

Want to make a complaint about your provider?
Contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544.

Or fill in their complaint for here.

How to find the right NDIS Support Coordinator

• August 14, 2019
• admin

Finding the right Coordinator of Supports is so important to ensure your plan is implemented, and that the right supports are put in place that are suitable to you and your needs.

See our tips here, about how to find the right Coordinator of supports for you!

• Phone around and ask questions,
• Do some research, read websites and blogs, see if their values or articles resonate with you,
• Ask people you know if they can recommend anyone,
• Jump on some social media groups for recommendations

Remember, if you are unhappy with your support coordinator, you can find a new one.

The Disability Royal Commission is now accepting public submissions

• August 13, 2019
• admin

The Disability Royal Commission wants to hear from all Australians about their experiences of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability.

The Royal Commission is seeking information on a range of issues including:

• Incidents of violence
• Abuse
• Neglect
• Exploitation
• Complaint process and outcomes
• Access to places and services
• Quality and safety of disability specific services
• Best practice and innovation

Submissions received at this time will form part of the commission’s records. This means that if you decide to make a submission at this time, the information you provide will be publicly available, not confidential.

There are a number of ways you can make a submission:

• Via the online form- https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/submissions/Documents/submission-form-disability-royal-commission-Word.docx
• Also available in Easy Read – https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/submissions/Documents/easy-read-submission-form-Word.docx
• By phone: 1800 517 199
• By email: DRCenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au

For more information about making a submission, you can visit the Royal Commission website here.

We encourage people to participate, it is open to anyone, and you can reach out on the phone number and email address listed above, to receive help with your submission.

The Planning Cycle – Tier 2 Support Coordination

• August 12, 2019
• admin

The role of the support coordinator (SC) is to guide participants through the planning cycle of their individual NDIS plan. The plan is usually a 12 month cycle but can be longer or shorter, dependent on intensity, urgency (crisis management) and other considerations.

Support Coordination operates on three tiers:

1. Support Connection (see previous blog post here)
   
2. Coordination of Supports
3. Specialist Support Coordination

Today, we are talking about Support Coordination

Support Coordination is the service where SC’s meet and discuss all aspects of the participants goals as outlined in the NDIS plan. It often involves multiple services and specialists, requires building capacity for the participant to understand and build ownership of the NDIS Planning process and ensure collaborative practice between services.

This requires considerable intensity at the commencement of a new plan when services have been either not engaged or not coordinated previously. The SC develops a basic action plan for support coordination activities in accordance with a service agreement. Communication with participant would be expected to be at least monthly once services are engaged.

The SC role also extends to ensuring services are planned in accordance within funding limits. Where multiple services are accessing one budget item, this requires negotiation.

SC prepares detailed referrals for service outlining all aspects of service/intervention required including design, monitoring, reporting, participant/staff training needs and participant/SC communication.

Key Activities of Support Coordination

• Select with participant appropriate specialists and services
• Seek assessment and specialist advice regarding therapy and psychological services
• Liaise with other agencies i.e. NSW Health, Education, FaCS
• Liaise with the NDIA, planners and other teams within agency
• Review and support service providers with service agreements for participants
• Ensure service costs fit within funding limits
• Mediate and support service delivery issues and/or challenges
• Support key appointments with specialists as appropriate
• Prepare SC report for plan review
• Ensure all reports received as required to inform plan review process

Qualifications and Experience: This requires the support coordinator to hold a relevant qualification such as a diploma or degree, with relevant experience.