Got a question on how do I choose an NDIS Support Coordinator?
To choose an NDIS Support Coordinator start by asking Support Coordinator’s about their experience, local knowledge and travel charges. Your NDIS Support Coordinator should create and manage your plan that aligns with your goals. They should also build your skills and confidence to work independently.
You must navigate the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) system after getting approved. But finding and organising services that align with your goals can be challenging. Hence, you need a Support Coordinator that helps you understand your needs and get the most value out of your NDIS plan.
This article will discuss what makes a good NDIS Support Coordinator. You will also learn which questions to ask your Support Coordinator to reach your goals.
Continue reading to find out more on how do I choose an NDIS Support Coordinator?
What makes a good NDIS Support Coordinator?
Though necessary and well-meaning, family and friends often have emotional and historical ties that can influence the recovery process. In addition, family and friends can experience extreme pressure when helping someone they love through recovery. On the other hand, a recovery coach has no such ties; their presence can assist an individual through the recovery process without any enmeshment in their client’s life.
A recovery coach ensures that the transition back into in-home care and community participation occurs smoothly. A recovery coach fosters independence and aids in the recovery process, and supports cases where a crisis or relapse may occur. Although drug detox, rehabilitation treatment, or hospital stays are difficult, the most unpredictable period for someone in recovery is often the 90 days after leaving treatment, when they return home.
Returning home to familiar surroundings and seeing old friends can trigger relapse or cause emotional upheaval. In addition, meeting the demands of everyday life — work, school, family, and bills — while adjusting to recovery can be overwhelming. A recovery coach assists in making these issues much more manageable, increasing the chances for a successful recovery.
Ways a Recovery Coach Can Help
When looking for a Coordinator, you need to look for someone that genuinely cares. You also need a person that will help you achieve your dreams.
A Support Coordinator will help you in the following ways:
- Understand how to use the NDIS plan and reach your goals
- Link you to NDIS providers, government services, mainstream and community supports
- Boost skills and confidence, which will help you use and coordinate your supports
A Support Coordinator will guide you to get the most out of your NDIS plan’s money. The three Support Coordination levels that you can add to your NDIS plan include:
- Support Connection to create connections with the community, informal and funded supports. You receive the most advantages from the plan and reach your goals.
- Support Coordination will help you grow the skills needed to understand the NDIS plan. You will work with your Support Coordinator to ensure you get support in increasing different skills. These skills will help you increase your ability to maintain relationships, manage daily tasks, and live independently.
- Specialist Support Coordination helps individuals with complex situations that need specialist support. Specialist Support Coordinators help you to deal with challenges in your support environment.
A great Support Coordinator will do the following:
1. They create and organise your plan
You will work together to create a services plan that aligns with your goals. An excellent Support Coordinator helps you find services, providers and supports that suit your needs and specifications to help you reach your goals.
2. The Coordinator links you to supports and services
Your Coordinator should know and help you find the government, community and funded supports available for you.
A great Support Coordinator will help you understand when to pick an NDIS registered provider or unregistered provider. They will also ensure that the NDIS commission hasn’t banned any providers.
If you need a quote or assessment of any process, like home modifications, a Support Coordinator should guide you through it.
3. They help you create and maintain your supports
A good Coordinator should help you set up service agreements and bookings and take you through all the supports and services. You’ll understand and negotiate how you want the services delivered and the amount to pay through a Support Coordinator.
Additionally, you will understand which service providers are allowed to charge. If anything goes wrong, the Support Coordinator should help you understand how to create and maintain plans.
4. A good Coordinator helps you build skills and confidence.
Support Coordinators should coach you in increasing confidence and skills to carry out your plan on your own. They will guide on how to:
- Use NDIS systems
- Schedule your supports
- Get the most value from your NDIS plan
You will also know how to evaluate your supports, track your plan to reach your goals and change supports when necessary. Great support coordinators will go through your plan with you and see if you’re reaching your goals.
5. They report to the NDIA
A great Support Coordinator helps you reach out to the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency). You will need to provide NDIA with reports on how they have assisted you. The reports include the following:
- A plan implementation report – shows what you have done after starting the plan.
- A mid-term implementation report – shows how you’re currently doing and your next move.
- A Plan review report – shows how you conducted your plan and add your recommendations.
A great Support Coordinator should also know how to manage your budgets and support productivity.
At Blue Wing Care Professionals, we provide services like Support Coordination (among others) to help you live an ideal life. We understand that every disability is unique, and our goal is to provide tailored services. Our Support Coordinators help you with the following:
- Negotiating services and prices
- Deciding the budget for every support type
- Arranging evaluations needed to determine the type of funding required
6. An excellent NDIS Support Coordinator builds your capacity for independence
With the help of an excellent Support Coordinator, you’ll become more independent to choose and control your supports.
The Support Coordinator will help you increase your independence by:
- Finding multiple ways in which you can exercise choice and control
- Enhancing communication in how you want to receive supports and services
- Looking for providers who can meet your goals
- Allowing you to make the decisions because you have the right to take risks
7. They help you prepare for the unexpected
Great Support Coordinators help you prepare if things don’t go as expected. They will help you understand your situation and surroundings.
You will work together to plan for multiple changes, including:
- The level at which family can help you
- Relocation
- Hospital emergencies
- The amount of support a service provider can give you
A Support Coordinator will help you understand situations that will stop you from using the NDIS plan. You’ll also understand what to do if emergencies occur and have the confidence to practice on your own.
8. The Support Coordinator acts in your best interest
Lastly, a great Support Coordinator recommends and provides the best supports and services that suit your goals. Support Coordinators should also avoid conflict of interest.
Questions to ask your NDIS Support Coordinator
On meeting your Support Coordinator, you need to discuss your goals and ask how they can assist you in meeting them. Don’t shy away from asking questions because they will help you get the best help. You should also express your needs and evaluate if the Support Coordinator understands your needs.
Here is what to ask your NDIS Support Coordinator:
1. Do you charge for travel?
You need to know if your Support Coordinator charges for travel from the start. If your location is a distance away, Support Coordinators can charge for travel, and it’s your responsibility to take up the cost.
You can communicate through a video call. However, some people prefer face-to-face interactions. If this is your case, you can choose another Support Coordinator if the travel charges are too much for you.
2. What do you know about working with someone with similar needs as mine?
Choosing someone with experience gives you the upper hand because they know what you need. However, if you prefer a Support Coordinator with no experience, you may also find this beneficial to your particular circumstances.
A Support Coordinator with experience should have worked with people with some of the following similarities as you:
- Disability type
- Goals
- Interests
- Living situations
- Age
- Support needs
3. Do you have local knowledge about my needs?
A Support Coordinator should have basic knowledge about your community. You would be wasting your Support Coordination funding on someone that has to research online and make calls. A Support Coordinator should know the best support and services for you available in your community.
4. Do you have experience in using the NDIS system?
NDIS system is complicated for new users. You need a Support Coordinator that knows how to find providers, systems, and supports in NDIS. The Support Coordinator should help you navigate the system and teach you how to use it in the future.
5. How will you track my progress towards my goals?
You need a Support Coordinator that knows how to read, write and communicate excellently. The NDIA needs three reports from your Support Coordinator to make the next year’s changes. The reports feature progress, reaching your goals, and recommendations.
Get your Support Coordinator at Blue Wing!
An NDIS Support Coordinator assists you in coordinating and receiving the best value of your NDIS support plan and reaching your goals.
An excellent Support Coordinator should act in your best interest. They’ll teach you how to navigate the NDIS independently and overcome any challenges.
To get the best Coordinator, you should be bold when pointing out your needs and asking questions. For instance, you can ask the Support Coordinator if they can operate the NDIS system. A new NDIS operator can find the system challenging, so you need someone with experience.
Are you looking for a Support Coordinator?
At Blue Wing Care Professionals, we empower people to feel relieved by providing services like support coordination. Our Support Coordinators go the extra mile to ensure you get value for your money and solve any issues with your NDIS plan.
We also offer other services such as Occupational Therapy, Home Modifications, In-home Care, Community Access etc.
Want to know how we can help?
