NDIS Registered Provider
NDIS Registered Provider/Lifelong Pathways
NDIS Registered Provider|Lifelong Pathways is delighted to announce that we are an NDIS registered provider. We provide Support Coordination and Plan Management, and we are the only organisation in South Australia we are aware of that does this (and does not provide therapeutic support as well).
NDIS Registration Process
The process to become an NDIS registered provider is lengthy for those of us who are not providing therapy services. First you must become a member of the Disability Services Provider Panel (DSPP). This involved over nine months of preparing around one hundred procedures, policies and associated documents. Then once the membership to the DSPP was approved which was a four month process for us, the approval letter, and other necessary documents were able to be submitted to the NDIA.
However, as most of you are well aware, the introduction and implementation of the MyPlace portal has not been smooth. This caused a delay in the NDIA approval process, and was another wait of almost four months.
The wait is now over and Lifelong Pathways can provide services to any participant that requires Plan Management and Support Coordination from an NDIS registered provider.
Plan Management
So what is Plan Management? This is where you engage a Service Provider to handle all financial aspects of the plan. It gives you the choicee and control to choose a provider that is not an NDIS registered Provider to provide supports. It is very similar to self-managed plans, but you don’t have the burden of all the payment processing.
Plan Management is a great choice when you are first entering the NDIS. It allows you to have the choice and control of selecting any service provider but without having to navigate the payment process.
Support Coordination
This support is specifically designed to help you to bring the NDIS plan to life. Specifically, it is to assist you to engage with service providers. Support Coordination is also there to support you to determine who is going to provide the services, but not by making decisions for you. It can be particularly helpful if you need to change service providers during the plan, but do not know how to do this.
Support Coordination is specifically designed to increase the community participation of the person with disability. It is also centred around capacity building so that the person with disability, or the people caring for them, develop skills to access supports.
It is also there if a crisis should arise. This is of particular comfort because you never know what may be around the corner.
Coordination of Supports
This is very similar to Support Coordination, but is for participants with a higher need. Otherwise the assistance is the same as for Support Coordination.
Hours of Support
The NDIA determine the number of hours of Support Coordination or Coordination of Support provided in the plan, and this can vary significantly. Some participants receive Support Coordination for around 6 hours, others receive Coordination of Support for the duration of the plan. It is highly dependent on individual circumstances. Lifelong Pathways understands what a significant difference it can make to the engagement and access of supports.
For example, one participants family were able to have Support Coordination added in the last quarter of the plan. This enabled them to prepare for the plan review and to access supports which they had not previously been able to.
Families living in regional areas tend to have a higher amount of hours provided for Coordination of Supports. This makes sense, because it can be much harder to access supports in regional areas compared to living in the metropolitan area.
For Further Information
For more information about these supports and how Lifelong Pathways can provide them, please contact us. We can assist you to help bring the NDIS plan of the person you care for to life.