How a support coordinator can make NDIS Community Participation easy

June 6, 2022

At Disability Plan Services, we understand NDIS participants often have a lot on their plate. Either living with an intellectual, cognitive, neurological, sensory, physical, or psychosocial disability finding the time or having confidence in their ability to engage outside of everyday routines can be understandingly overwhelming. 

Within individual plans that NDIS participants develop with assisted funding they can better pursue their own personal goals the way they want, on their own terms. As NDIS participants control their budget received from assisted funding, they decide who provides their support, how, where, and when. They can choose to have funds managed by a third-party Plan Manager, or the NDIA, or themselves… or have a combination of management types.

What can Support Coordinators help with?

Achieving positive NDIS Community Outcomes our team of dedicated support coordinators aim to assist people with disability, their families, and carers by connecting them with facilities offered to NDIS participants.

Helping provide the keys to positive NDIS Community Participation each step of the way, our support workers assist participants in making their NDIS Community Participation plan a reality with options for a wide range of activities, such as:

• personal development courses
• social groups or sporting clubs
• outings – e.g., to local library visits, concerts, or the movies.

Support Coordination

In the ‘Capacity Building’ section of a NDIS plan, some participants have the option for ‘Support Coordination’, which is broken down into three levels of support (more on this below).

If you are approved for support with community participation, a Support Coordinator can assist by connecting you with local providers who can get you involved in community, social, or recreational activities.

All three levels provide different NDIS Community Outcomes, depending on the individual requirements of NDIS recipients, such as:

• their disability and the functional impacts on their life
• whether they have family, carers, or other types of support in their life.

Level 1: Support Connection

In Level 1 – Support Connection, support coordinators assist NDIS participants to use their NDIS plan effectively.

Support coordinators help assist people with disability, their families, and carers to:

• understand their personalised NDIS plan
• broaden their support systems
• connect with providers.

Level 2: Coordination of Supports

In Level 2 – Coordination of Supports, support coordinators assist NDIS participants with designing and building their support system. Support coordinators help assist people with disability, their families, and carers to direct their lives and not just their services. 

This is achieved by coaching participants to build and maintain a network of formal and informal supports, and by working together to understand:

• participant’s personalised funding
• what participants expect from services
• how participants want their services designed and why.

Level 3: Specialist Support Coordination

In Level 3 – Specialist Support Coordination, these support coordinators have more focused expertise and assist NDIS participants to remove barriers so they can access appropriate supports.

Specialist support coordinators help assist people with disability, their families, and carers to:

• reduce complexity in their support environment, enabling them to connect with supports
• negotiate support solutions with multiple stakeholders, achieving a well-coordinated plan implementation
• manage crisis points, ensuring they have access to relevant supports during a crisis.

Support for Social and Community Participation

Depending on individualised requirements of Community Access NDIS participants may need, some participants have the option for ‘Assistance with Social and Community Participation’ and ‘Increased Social & Community Participation’.

The activities in this category of funding may aid in establishing volunteer arrangements in the community, mentoring, peer support or individual skill development. Activities that help NDIS participants to build skills, independence, and capability are the focus in this category. These include:

• art classes
• sports coaching
• tuition fees
• camps
• horse riding
• vacation activities.

It’s important to have a support coordinator assist NDIS participants with this process, as NDIS may cover additional costs unknown to participants, such as specific items or adjustments needed for a participant to be able to carry out certain activities. For example:

• gripping aids 
• sensory aids
• recreation devices
• prosthetics or orthodontics
• computer access aids
• seating and positioning equipment
• mobility aids
• environmental controls.

‘Assistance with Social & Community Participation’ vs ‘Increased Social & Community Participation’

‘Assistance with Social and Community Participation’ and ‘Increased Social & Community Participation’ offer different levels of support for NDIS participants.

Under the NDIS Core Supports budget, funding for ‘Assistance with Social and Community Participation’ focuses on helping NDIS participants with everyday activities, their current disability-related needs, and working towards specific goals.

The Core Supports budget is the most flexible, as in most cases the funding can be spread across any of its four subcategories: 

1. Assistance with Daily Life
2. Consumables 
3. Assistance with Social & Community Participation 
4. Transport

Under the NDIS Capacity Building Supports budget, funding for ‘Increased Social & Community Participation’ focuses on building independence and skills of NDIS participants to pursue their personal goals. 

The Capacity Building Supports budget, unlike a Core Supports budget, cannot be transferred from one support category to another. Funding can only be used to purchase pre-approved individualised supports under the Capacity Building Supports categories of:

• Support Coordination
• Improved Living Arrangements 
• Increased Social & Community Participation 
• Finding & Keeping a Job 
• Improved Relationships 
• Improved Health & Wellbeing 
• Improved Learning 
• Improved Life Choices 
• Improved Daily Living

If you want to learn more about how our support coordinators at Disability Plan Services can assist you in optimising your plan or make accessing NDIS Community Participation easier, contact us here.