What Do Support Coordinators Do?

October 21, 2020

What does a Support Coordinator do?

A Support Coordinator plays a very important role in the lives of many people of all abilities. A Support Coordinator wears many hats and often assists across a few different aspects of your NDIS plan.

Ultimately, the role of a Support Coordinator is to ensure your plan is properly put into place. Funding for a Support Coordinator is available through the category, NDIS support coordination, which is a capacity-building support.

What is NDIS support coordination?

If you don’t know what NDIS support coordination is, there are three levels of support coordination that can be included in your plan:

• Support connection. A short-term type of support coordination that is designed to help connect you with service providers. This is considered a lower-level of support coordination that may be made available for some participants with lower level care needs.
• Support coordination. Also referred to as coordination of supports, this support helps you to build the skills you need to understand, implement and use your plan. An NDIS Support Coordinator’s role is to help develop your understanding of the NDIS and your own plan so that you can make good decisions about your supports. They will also connect you with service providers and help navigate any issues with those relationships.
• Specialist support coordination. Designed for people with complex needs or difficult circumstances, this specialist type of support coordination assists participants that have barriers to accessing supports. A highly trained Support Coordinator will help to facilitate access to supports by reducing barriers and complexities.

The role of a Support Coordinator

As you can see by these descriptions for each type of NDIS support coordination, the role of a Support Coordinator can be varied and requires skills in relationship building, crisis and issues management experience and a thorough understanding of the NDIS.

Due to the role’s varied and specialised nature, NDIS Support Coordinator qualifications often include fields such as allied health or certifications in disability support, welfare work or similar.

The NDIS support coordination price guide also contains another useful definition of a Support Coordinator’s varied role. In this guide, the NDIS breaks down a Support Coordinator’s role into the following:

• Connection. By connecting participants with service providers within the community, a Support Coordinator plays a critical role in the ongoing success of plan implementation. Because of the knowledge and connections that Support Coordinator’s have with service providers, they’re able to make referrals that best align with their clients’ needs.
• Plan knowledge. Many people struggle to understand every aspect of their NDIS plan or if you’re new to the NDIS, understanding terminology can take some time. This is where a Support Coordinator comes in! Their knowledge of the NDIS and supports is invaluable. It’s also important to know how your plan will affect you so a Support Coordinator will take the time to understand your needs and make appropriate recommendations.
• Provide choice. A Support Coordinator’s role is to show all available and practical options to their clients to ensure they have choice and remain in control of their supports. They will also provide their recommendations based on what options will be best for each individual’s circumstances to assist in decision-making.
• Crisis resolution. If any issues were to arise with service providers, a Support Coordinator is there to help resolve any of these issues or act as a mediator if required. They can also end any provider relationships if the fit isn’t right.
• Reflect and refine. Once you’ve settled into your plan, your Support Coordinator will work with you to reflect on your experiences to date and make any adjustments necessary (where possible) to ensure the ongoing success of your plan.

At the end of the day, a Support Coordinator’s role is to help you achieve your goals and they will do everything in their power to get you there!

At Disability Plan Services, we have a team of trusted Support Coordinators who are passionate about working closely with you and putting your plan into action in a way that works for you. We understand everyone’s goals are different, that’s why we take the time to understand you, your needs and preferences.

We are an experienced team of real people, just like you, and our goal is for you to live a fulfilling and rewarding life!

If you’re looking for a Support Coordinator in South East Queensland, get in touch with the team at Disability Plan Services today.