Today our writer attended a NDIS information session about working with participants. The main focus was on helping Support Coordinators and Recovery Coaches understand their roles within the NDIS framework.
Here's what we learnt.
Managing Budgets and overspending
The NDIS has formed a new team called the Budget Management Support Team to assist participants who may struggle with managing their funds. This team will:
Alert participants if they're spending too much and might run out of funds.
Investigate why this overspending is happening.
Collaborate with others to help participants keep track of their spending.
Develop strategies to help participants manage their spending better.
This process might involve working with support coordinators to ensure participants use their funding more effectively.
Note: A trial of this team was conducted from December 2023 to January 2024 for participants who were not spending their funds in line with Section 34 (1) reasonable and necessary criteria.
Note well: The Budget Management Support Team are an internal unit and cannot be utilised or contacted to assist with participants.
Support Coordinators and their role
The role as defined by the NDIS:
Assist participants with connection to the NDIS and other supports.
Build capacity and capability to understand their plan, navigate the NDIS and make their own decisions.
Broker Supports and services in line participant wishes and their budget.
Monitor plan budgets.
Support participants to access funded services and supports and connect to mainstream services where applicable and appropriate.
Empower Decision-Making: Make sure individuals can freely make their own choices and assistance with understanding their options.
Strengthen Decision-Making Skills: Help individuals develop their decision-making abilities, stepping in if they lack informal support.
Ensure Communication Support: Ensure each participant has the right help to communicate and make decisions.
Guard Against Influence: Keep an eye out for any undue influence or conflicts of interest from support providers.
Building Trust: Build trust by offering various choices, discussing consequences, and giving ample time to consider options.
Advocacy:
Clarify the Role: While not formal advocates, support coordinators do advocate within the NDIS framework.
Set Clear Expectations: Be clear about what you can and can't do.
Assist in Finding Advocates: Help participants find formal advocates if needed, especially for issues including AAT, Government Housing or Centrelink.
Expectations in Supporting Participants:
Access to Services: Ensure participants know they can access mainstream and community services and request reasonable adjustments.
Connecting to Services: Help participants connect with mainstream services and advocacy groups.
Reporting Suspicious Activity: Report any suspected fraud to the NDIA.
Emergency Planning: Assist participants in planning for emergencies like bushfires or floods, helping them create their own emergency plans based on their needs and capabilities.
NB: The presenter also stated that the future design of the role of Support Coordinators, Recovery coaches and Navigators will develop over time and in partnership with the sector. It was also noted that the NDIS view Navigators as "humanising the role".
Psychosocial Recovery Coaches and their role.
Recovery coaches are there to help you take charge of participant's lives and assist in learning how to handle everyday challenges.
Participants can choose the type of coach they want:
Someone who has been through similar struggles: This coach has personal experience with mental illness and recovery and has used mental health services themselves.
OR
A coach with professional expertise: This coach may not have personal experience with mental illness, but they have studied mental health and have relevant industry experience.
Initially, the focus of the support will be on building a relationship with participants and creating a plan with them for recovery. Here's what the coach will do:
Understand their goals, priorities, strengths, and resources, and assist in figuring out what barriers might be holding them back.
Help participants make the most of your NDIS plan by connecting them with NDIS providers and other helpful services, including clinical mental health support.
Conflict of Interest
Conflict of Interest can arise when someone takes actions that benefit their own interests in a way that clashes with the NDIS code of practice and the individuals they're meant to support.
It's important to note that not all conflicts of interest are fraudulent or non-compliant, but they still require attention.
Here's what a Conflict of Interest might look like:
Actual: It's already happened.
Potential: It could happen in the future.
Perceived: It appears to be a conflict, even if it's not confirmed.
Fraudulent: This occurs when someone doesn't disclose receiving incentives for recommending a participant to another provider for support or services.
Want to dive deeper into understanding Conflict of Interest? Check out our post
Conflict of Interest for more insights.
Consent
Support coordinators and supports are under an obligation to respect a participants choice to share all or only parts of their NDIS plan, or any other personal information.
Remember that you will need a consent form signed and lodged to the NDIS by the participant or their representative.
During the Q&A section, many of the attendees brought up the delays and the situation that consent was frequently misplaced by the NDIS. There were no firm answers given to this anomaly, but many were perplexed and concerned that valuable time and participant resources were being utilised.
Service Agreements
The presentation touched on the essential elements of service agreements and highlighted that they do ensure that participants are protected. That the agreement defines the relationship and recommending that NDIS participants have a written agreement with their providers.
You can read more about agreements here NDIS Service Agreements 101
Delivery of supports.
The key takeaway is that the NDIS funds services in line with the participants plan, goals and approved budget and that participants or their informal supports assisting with the management of the budget needs to understand that there are enough funds to cover before they buy and claim from supports.
As per any business deal, service providers need to have a clear understanding of how the person seeking supports intends to pay for it, before delivering the support.
Without clear and consistent understanding, providers are putting themselves at financial risk if they are not apprised of the funding available. With the added caveat that NDIS providers have a responsibility to only recommend and provide services that are appropriate and within budget.
Support Coordinators are again highlighted in implementing the reasonable and necessary supports and ensuring the choice and control of their participant.
They further went on to emphasise that providing services outside of disability specific support needs or above the plan and budget would constitute non-compliance. This includes claiming at a faster rate, which may place the participant at risk.
If the participant support needs change and they need more or different supports, they can ask for a change at any time.
Change in Circumstances
What was evident and expressed very clearly, is that the NDIS will not accept that fully utilising a participants plan funds prior to their plan expiry date as a change in circumstances.
The advice from the NDIS has always been to make sure that you have relevant information, evidence, document issues, and barriers including reports from occupational therapists which highlight the changes in functional impact due to the disability.
While participants can ask for a plan reassessment or plan variation at any time there was no guarantee that the NDIS will approve the changes. Participants have the right for a review of a decision and take the matter further, if they are not satisfied with the outcome.
Also advised is that only participants or those with consent to act on their behalf have the right to asks for a plan change.
During the session, tensions rose without a word being said by attendees who voiced their frustration (in chat) over the delayed response of changes to their participants' situations. Many expressed disappointment with the lack of support from the NDIS, citing wait times of over six months in some cases. The presenters attempted to appease the audience by acknowledging the backlog, but attendees felt compelled to highlight their ongoing dissatisfaction with spending funds on complaints and calls that went unaddressed and the hypocrisy of what had just been presented.
In conclusion, the writer felt that the session reflected that Support Coordinators and Recovery Coaches should assist participants in managing their funds more effectively and monitor other service providers closely, which is what any good Coordinator will do.
The overall vibe from the session: with the NDIS facing budget blowouts and looking towards controlling their spending - Support Coordinators seem to be indirectly tasked with helping address these financial issues.
Some of the useful links from the session are below:
We wish you well, as always
The Lama Care Team
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