Support coordinators help participants make the best use of supports within their NDIS plan. Support coordination is a capacity building support which helps participants to:
- Understand and use their NDIS plan to pursue their goals
- Connect participants with NDIS providers, community, mainstream and other government services
- Build confidence and skills to use and coordinate their own supports.
A support coordinator or specialist support coordinator delivers support coordination services.
- There are three levels of support coordination that can be included in participants plan:
- Support connection – This support is to build participants ability to connect with informal, community and funded supports enabling them to get the most out of their plan and pursue their goals.
- Support coordination – coordination of supports: This support will assist participants to build the skills they need to understand and use their plan. A support coordinator will work with participants to ensure a mix of supports are used to increase the participant’s capacity to maintain relationships, manage service delivery tasks, live more independently and be included in the community.
- Specialist support coordination – This is a higher level of support coordination. It is for people whose situations are more complex and who need specialist support. A specialist Support Coordinator will assist participants to manage challenges in their support environment and ensure consistent delivery of service.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Action referrals in a timely manner.
- Maintain confidentiality of customers, their families/carers, and the organisation.
- Effective networking internally and externally to assist individuals achieve their desired personal outcomes.
- Manage any perceived or real conflict of interest in accordance with the NDIA’s Terms of Business.
- Provide NDIA with reports on specific goals, outcomes, and success indicators within the agreed reporting frequency.
- Support the NDIS participant to:
- Assess a number of mainstream, community, informal and provider options
- Select preferred options or providers
- Negotiate services to be provided as well as their prices
- Develop service agreements and create service bookings with preferred providers
- Arrange for any assessments required to determine the nature and type of funding required (e.g. assessment to determine the type of complex home modifications required)
- Determine the budget for each support type and advise any relevant plan manager of the breakdown of funds
- Liaise with any plan manager to establish the appropriate claim categories and attribute the correct amount of funds
- Link to mainstream or community services (i.e. housing, education, transport, health)
- Strengthen and enhance participants’ capacity to coordinate supports, self-direct and manage supports, and participate in the community, including providing participants with assistance to:
- Resolve problems or issues that arise
- Understand their responsibilities under service agreements
- Change or end a service agreement
- Be the key contact for service issues, complaints, major changes, and plan reviews.
- Assist participants to prepare for their plan review by supporting them to:
- Assess whether they achieved their goals and got value for money for their plan
- Identify solutions to problems experienced in implementing the plan
- Consider new goals
- Assist participants to decide on what actions to take to achieve goals in relation to exploring housing options and life transition planning.