NDIS Capacity Building: Support Coordination
About Support Coordination
For many participants, NDIS funding provides essential support that can greatly improve your independence, your ability to connect with your community, and your overall quality of life. However, if you need a significant level of support, then using your NDIS funding can create additional challenges. In order to use your funding, you need to identify your needs, determine the specific types of supports you need, find the right providers, and schedule services. In addition, you need to keep track of how effectively your supports are helping you, and you need to adjust them as your needs change over time. All of this requires knowledge, self-advocacy, and management skills.
If you need help with managing and coordinating your supports, you can include funding for a support coordinator in your Capacity Building budget.
What’s Included in Support Coordination
Your support coordinator will help with three main tasks:
- First, they will help you understand your NDIS plan, including what your supports mean and how you can use supports to work toward your goals
- Second, they will help you connect with the supports you need, including finding a provider, scheduling your supports, and tracking their effectiveness
- Finally, they will help you learn the skills needed to coordinate your supports independently
Understanding Your Plan
The first role of your support coordinator is to help you understand and navigate all the requirements and guidelines regarding your NDIS plan. For example, they will help you understand how each budget category works, including how much flexibility you have in how you spend your budget. Your support coordinator can explain what options you have in how to use specific NDIS funds, and they can help you decide how to use your budget in the way that will best help you meet your goals.
Your support coordinator can also help you understand your options for plan management. Plan management involves coordinating the financial side of your plan, including tracking your spending and your budget, so you still have the option to self-manage your plan even if you are using a support coordinator. You can also choose to use a plan manager or to have your plan managed by your provider. Each option has benefits and disadvantages, and your support coordinator can help you understand those and choose the one that’s right for you.
Finally, your support coordinator will help you understand everything you need to do to access your NDIS funding. For example, they can show you the correct way to claim reimbursement for purchases or services and help you understand what items to claim. They can also make sure you understand how to get quotes for supports that require them and how to understand the price limits on support services.
Connecting You with Supports
The second task of a support coordinator is to help you connect with the supports you need. Your support coordinator is knowledgeable about the NDIS providers in your region and can help you navigate your choice of providers. They are also familiar with the rules that determine when you must use a registered NDIS provider and when you can choose an unregistered provider if you prefer. In addition, they are familiar with the informal supports available in your community, including government programs and community supports. Your support coordinator’s job is to help you access all of these. If you want, your coordinator can take care of researching providers, contacting them, and negotiating your costs and service agreement.
A support coordinator can also help you schedule your supports. They will talk with you about your needs and budget, and they will help you design a weekly schedule of support services. These can include informal help from family, community activities, and visits from NDIS providers. Your coordinator can call all the providers you decide to use and schedule your support visits for you.
Your support coordinator can help you adjust your supports as your needs change over time. It’s part of the job of a support coordinator to help you assess how well your supports are working. They can provide reports to the NDIA on how well your supports are working, how you’re progressing toward your goals, and what changes might be necessary. One of the main purposes of your NDIS funding is to help you increase your independence and capacity, so it’s normal and expected that your support needs will change over time. Your support coordinator can help you identify how your supports are no longer helping you progress toward your goals and adjust them so you continue to grow.
Your supports could also change because of other factors. If your chosen provider stops servicing your region, or if you’re dissatisfied with your provider, your support coordinator will help you find and schedule a new provider so your supports can continue uninterrupted.
Increasing Your Capacity to Coordinate Supports Independently
Your support coordinator is funded through your Capacity Building budget, and their main purpose is to help you build your capacity to coordinate your own supports. Your support coordinator will encourage you to exercise choice and independence throughout the process of choosing and scheduling supports. They should never make decisions for you; instead, they should educate you about your options and choices and coach you on how to implement your plan.
Your support coordinator will also help you build capacity by preparing for unexpected situations that could impact your support services. For example, your coordinator might help you create a crisis plan in case of an unexpected change in circumstances such as hospitalisation, a move in living situation, or a family emergency that affects their ability to provide informal supports.
Pricing and Plan Management
Several different items can be used to claim support coordination, depending on the type of service provided. The price limits depend on the type of support and the specialised skills needed.
Support Coordination Level 1-3
The main tasks of support coordination can be claimed at three different price limit levels: Level 1, 2, or 3.
- Level 1, Support Connection: This level has the lowest price limit and is used for coordination activities that involve helping you understand your plan and connect with the supports you need.
- Level 2, Coordination of Supports: This level is for activities that help build your capacity and resilience to coordinate your own supports.
- Level 3, Specialist Support Coordination: This level is used for all aspects of support coordination for participants who have complex or high-risk needs and require a more specialised provider.
Capacity Building and Training in Plan and Financial Management
In addition to helping you build your capacity to coordinate and implement your own supports, your support coordinator can help you work toward managing your NDIS plan. Plan management is separate from support coordination; the latter involves managing and implementing services and activities, while the former involves managing your plan budget, tracking expenses, and handling the financial aspects of your plan. Paying for a plan manager to handle the financial aspects of your plan comes out of your Core Support budget. However, if you want to work toward self-managing your plan, you can use support coordinator funding for that purpose. This item is used to help you build skills such as negotiating service agreements with providers and tracking your NDIS budget so that you can eventually self-manage your plan.
Psychosocial Recovery Coaches
If you are a participant with a mental health disability, you can also use your support coordination budget for a psychosocial recovery coach. This is a mental health professional or peer work coach who can help coordinate your supports during times of increased need. Many mental illnesses are episodic, which means that there might be times when you unexpectedly need additional supports for a period of time. A psychosocial recovery coach helps coordinate supports during those times, ensuring that you continue to receive the support you need to work toward your goals.
Since you may need this type of support at unexpected or unscheduled times, the price limits vary depending on whether you receive the support on a weekday, a weekend or a public holiday.
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