Inaugural Year
Inaugural Year|Lifelong Pathways
Starting Lifelong Pathways was a risk; a new business. It has been a year, our inaugural year, so I would like to reflect on the year that was.
Without a doubt the biggest highlight has been becoming a member of the Disability Services Provider Panel. This was a massive piece of work to achieve in the inaugural year, preparing more than 40 policies and procedures (more than 90 different documents in total) covering Risk Management to Client Safety. This was all done to demonstrate the suitability of Lifelong Pathways as a Specialist Disability Services Provider.
This enabled Lifelong Pathways to apply for registration as an NDIS service Provider for coordination of supports and plan management. It is so pleasing to achieve this in the first year. If someone had told me three years ago that I would be an NDIS provider I would not have believed them.
The networking has been amazing. I have met so many wonderful service providers who share the same values and vision around building the capacity of people with disability. It has been a pleasure to work with them so far and we look forward to the possibilities of future collaborations.
I have also been honoured to be elected to two boards during this year, including as a Deputy Chair for one. It is very humbling to be viewed as having something to contribute to these organisations. I also look forward to learning a lot more about how such organisations are governed and being involved with decisions that help move them towards a future with the full roll-out of the NDIS.
Lifelong Pathways has had the opportunity to present at conferences and travel to different places. I presented at the Belonging Matters conference in August 2015 and at the Autism in Education conference in April 2016, both in Melbourne, on the Circles@School initiative that my sons are involved with. I also attended the Community Resource Unit Inc. ‘New Opportunities for a Good Life’ workshop in Rockhampton in April 2016, where I spoke about our experiences with NDIA.
There are many families that we have had the pleasure to meet and assist in our inaugural year. We have observed many children being transitioned onto their NDIS plans with successful pre-planning from Lifelong Pathways. One of the most rewarding aspects of this is meeting with the parents who are often completely confused about what the NDIS is, and after we have spoken about their goals and visions for the next 12 months, they feel empowered and ready for the transition.
A big part of Lifelong Pathways’ work is assisting families with the internal review process, or more specifically, a Review of a Reviewable Decision. We are often contacted when the deadline is almost up because it is something that the family has put off and been unable to commence. This is where Lifelong Pathways can assist. The internal review process is very daunting, and we have assisted several families with successfully appealing a decision made by the NDIA. In one case a child was subsequently seemed eligible for NDIS support. this is life-changing for this child and their family. We also have many more internal reviews awaiting an outcome and others currently in preparation.
I have also assisted families at the very beginning of their journey regarding the education of their child. This is gorgeous, because it enables the family to explore all options available and to make an informed choice. Too often a family is presented with only one option and doesn’t know what else is available. Choices made at the start of a child’s education can have a significant impact upon their education journey so it is important to weigh up all of the options.
Significantly, we have just started to provide Coordination of Support services to several families as NDIS service providers.
I have also learnt so much in our inaugural year. There is an immense amount of work that occurs behind the scenes. We have designed our logo, business cards and brochures, which are in the process of being updated due to the NDIS provider registration. Not to mention the website – that was a steep learning curve.
Lifelong Pathways would like to thank the families who have trusted us to support and guide them during our inaugural year. Without you we would not have been able to achieve what we have in such a short time span. We look forward to what the next year brings.