Support coordinators are among the most critical professionals assisting people with complex disability support needs to achieve positive outcomes under the NDIS
It is support coordinators who assist young people to explore their housing options and find alternatives to aged care, and many support coordinators will need a significant amount of professional development to do this effectively.
The Summer Foundation is unlikely to be able to achieve our mission of stopping young people being forced into aged care unless they have access to a high-quality support coordination workforce.
So, we have launched a flagship program, UpSkill, to build the capacity of the support coordination workforce.
UpSkill will also trial a connection service to link people with high or complex needs – such as those in aged care and at risk of entry to aged care – to highly capable support coordinators.
The NDIS is expected to fund at least 70,000 hours of support coordination annually for young people who live in aged care or are at risk of admission. Currently, many of these young people are unable to access a support coordinator with the skills needed to assist them to avoid or exit residential aged care (RAC).
People with high or complex disability needs must have access to a support coordination workforce that has expertise in:
- Housing alternatives to aged care
- Hospital discharge
- Life transitions from hospital or RAC back to the community
Finding support coordinators with this specialist experience has been identified as a challenge by people with disability, hospital staff, aged care staff and by the NDIA.
UpSkill will:
- Showcase best practice for support coordination for people with high or complex support needs
- Run workshops for support coordinators, allied health professionals and hospital discharge staff to reduce the number of young people entering aged care
- Develop an online Community of Practice for expert support coordinators specialising in working with people with high or complex support needs
- Build the capacity of NDIS participants to understand support coordination and choose the right support coordinator for them
- Pilot a connection service to link people with high or complex needs to highly capable support coordinators
UpSkill has been made possible by a philanthropic grant for activities around the Austin and Alfred local area health networks in Victoria until May 2019. It has also received additional funding from the Department of Health and Human Services Victoria, Transition Support Package, which will extend the life of the project.
To learn about face-to-face professional development opportunities coming up in Victoria, NSW and Queensland and how to access our online resources, sign up to our support coordinators mailing list
Upcoming Events
Housing Plan Workshop
UpSkill is presenting a workshop to build the capability of support coordinators and allied health professionals so they can write quality housing plans.
Find out more here.