Supported Residential Facility's are licensed by the council under the SRF Act & accompanying Regulations. They are also registered NDIS providers and have recently undertaken an audit under the practice standards (and are proud to advise that they passed with flying colours!)
Prior to the NDIS, SRF's were funded a daily subsidy from the state to provide services. I know what you are thinking, and no, the 79% contribution a client pays does not provide for services, it pays for their board and lodgings only - this is a common misconception. The Participant Contribution is 79% of the Disability Services Pension and this provides for their: A C C O M M O D A T I O N , F O O D A N D U T I L I T I E S .
The SRF Association has worked closely with DHS, local councils and the NDIS for an extensive period to redevelop our model in a way which would ensure the continuity of our comprehensive service.
SRF's are legislated under the SRF Act to ‘Assist our clients with personal tasks of daily life in a shared living environment’. And essentially, support is provided to enable our participants to live as autonomously as possible and maintain their home environment.
This includes assistance and supervision with:
Consuming food Mobility (physical assistance) Medication management and administration Personal finance management Passive overnight assistance Preparation of meals and ADL supervision and assistance
These supports are provided individually to participants into incremental portions over a 24 hourperiod as required by a team of rostered support staff.
We discovered after undertaking extensive dissection of our rostering and service delivery model, that we are able to provide all of the above services over a 24 hour period to each client in incremental portions TOTALLING just 1 hour.
What a cost effective model! So working on a basis of 1 hour of support provision per day under the current NDIS Price Guide rates, SRF's charge approx. $25,000 annually, which is accessed from a clients C O R E F U N D I N G budget.
CHOICE AND CONTROL We are firm believers that one of the most important principles of the NDIS is choice and control. So, where a participant has additional 1:1 support needs, both in the home in and relation to community integration, they may wish to choose us, or another agency to deliver this support through purchasing additional supports – eg continence care, personal care, or community support.
WORKING TOGETHER The NDIS has allowed our clients to access supports to work towards their goals like never before. Did you know under previous state arrangements, we were only funded between $7 - $14.00 a day to facilitate service provision? Unbelievable, right?! Also, IF (there were only limited packages) a client qualified for additional services, it was undertaken by the agency that was block funded in the area (no choice, no control) and capped at just 1.5 hours of self care assistance and 1.5 hours of community assistance.
You can see why we, and our clients L O V E T H E N D I S - it has been life changing for them to say the least.
All of this brings us to what this document is all about – working together. We believe our clients will be in the best position to achieve their goals by having a networked team of supports around them. So, we work with a clients team by:
Asking Support Coordinators and Support Staff to not be shy about coming to find the manager when they come to see their client. We are very involved in their care, and want to know how they are being supported.
Maintaining a central diary, and providing a reminder and prompt in the morning if they have an appointment booked.
Sharing information (with the clients consent of course). In most instances we have screening summaries and other information which may assist others involved in their care to assist the client, and keep everyone safe.
We have a visiting GP and podiatrist, and also are able to arrange free dental appointments for our clients and travel to get there and back.
We pride ourselves on effective communication, and ask that others let us know information that is important as a part of an effective handover, so we can work together to achieve continuity of support.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST We haven’t stopped developing our new service delivery model, and are working towards making it transitional for those clients who are working towards building their skills and transitioning to SMALLER ACCOMMODATION MODELS.
In the future we hope to purchase a range of group homes in the area, so if a client expresses that they want to explore other housing options, let us know so that we can see what we can possibly do to assist.