It is true when they say that disability is not inability. You can still live a happy and fulfilling life despite being disabled. However, most people with a disability rarely get the support they need to move forward. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS management) allows anyone with a disability to look at life differently.
However, not many understand the system or find services that conform to their plan after approval. For those who feel like they have no skills to do it alone, a support coordinator will be there to assist. To understand more about the roles of a support coordinator, here are some notes to guide you.
What does a Support Coordinator Do?
A support coordinator assists individuals in understanding and implementing the funded supports in their NDIS plans. They also link them to mainstream, community or government-sponsored services. Support coordinators can also assist in building knowledge to exercise choice and control NDIS support coordination and access to the local community.
Levels of Support Coordination
- Support Connection
Links you with informal, funded, and community supports to assist you in optimizing your plan and meeting your personal goals. Support connection is great for encouraging clients to solidify their support coordination.
- Support Coordination
It helps in skills development to better understand and fully utilize your plan. The coordinator guides you to ensure you have various support levels to boost your ability to maintain relationships, manage service delivery and encourage independent living.
- Specialist Support Coordination
This level of NDIS support coordination helps individuals with more complex needs and require specialist support. A specialist support coordinator addresses various challenges within your support environment while overseeing service delivery. Specialist support coordinators are psychologists, occupational therapists or social workers with qualifications.
Roles of an NDIS Support Coordinator
- Connection
An NDIS support coordinator must connect participants with service providers in the community. Therefore, they play a crucial role in implementing and overseeing the plan’s success. In addition, due to the knowledge and available connections of the support coordinators to service providers, they can make referrals based on client needs.
- Plan Education
Understanding the various aspects of the NDIS support coordination can be very tricky, especially for people who are still new. Understanding and interpreting the terminology could be daunting. A support coordinator uses their NDIS knowledge to simplify your plan. They also educate you about how your plan affects you by considering your needs to make trustworthy recommendations.
- Choice Provision
A support coordinator must show all available and practical solutions to those who need them, providing some control over their support. Coordinators can also give recommendations depending on the options they feel will impact an individual’s situation to allow decision-making.
- Crisis Resolution
If there is an issue on the service providers’ side, a support coordinator can help resolve these issues or act as a mediator. If they determine a provider is not the right pick, they can quickly end the relationship and find better solutions.
- Reflection and Refinement
After placement and settlement in a plan, a support coordinator consults with you to reflect on your personal experiences. Then, they can make any necessary adjustments from time to time to ensure the continued success of the plan.
When looking for a support coordinator, you must find one that can hold your hands throughout to help you achieve your dreams. The NDIS support coordinator must find a way to help you work towards your short- and long-term goals. They should also be there for you during times of crisis to connect you to the right services. With the notes above, your search for a support coordinator becomes much easier.
