Depending on your individual goals, plan objectives and aspirations you may receive funding for support coordination in your NDIS plan.
Support coordination is a capacity building support funded to assist you to implement all supports in a your plan. This includes informal, mainstream, community and funded supports. There are three levels of support coordination:
Support Connection
Support Coordination
Specialist Support Coordination
What activities does a support coordinator usually undertake?
Support coordinators work creatively and resourcefully with participants in how they utilise their support budgets to achieve their goals. This is likely to include supporting the participant to:
assess a number of mainstream, community, informal and provider options
choose preferred options or providers
negotiate services to be provided and their prices, develop service agreements and create service bookings with preferred providers
negotiate services and prices as part of any quotable supports
arrange any assessments required to determine the nature and type of funding required (eg assessment to determine the type of complex home modifications required)
decide 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 a participant's 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
Are there other activities a support coordinator might undertake?
Support coordinators may also undertake some specialist activities including:
assisting the participant to get ready for their plan review by helping them:
assess whether they achieved their goals and got value for money from their plan
identify solutions to problems experienced in implementing the plan
consider new goals
helping participants decide on what actions to take to achieve goals in relation to exploring housing options and life transition planning.
What activities doesn’t a support coordinator provide?
Support coordinators optimise the flexibility in the core supports to implement your plan and do not make a judgement about the adequacy of the plan and do not make requests for an unscheduled plan review on behalf of participants. For most participants, the need for support coordination is expected to decrease as capacity is increased. For this reason, support coordinators are not funded to provide:
participant transport
plan administration
plan management
support rostering
advocacy
disability supports
How are support coordination hours typically used?
Support coordination hours are typically broken up so that you get the most out of your plan.
This includes:
Assistance to implement a plan.
Assistance to change providers or resolve issues with existing providers.
Completion of reviews to ensure participants are meeting their personal goals.
Assistance to prepare for NDIS plan review meetings including identifying assessments or reports that participants might need.