What is support coordination?

Support coordination is support funding that can be included in your NDIS Plan to help you get the most from your budgets and supports.

Today we’ll take a look at the benefits of support coordination and how to get it in your NDIS Plan.

The role of a support coordinator.

A support coordinator is a person who connects NDIS participants to organisations that provide supports and services including community, mainstream and government services.

Their job is to help you get access to the right supports and find the right mix of activities to achieve the goals set in your NDIS Plan.

Benefits of support coordination.

• Help to negotiate service agreements with providers, including pricing
• Someone who can set up appointment bookings on your behalf
• Coaching and support to help you determine the best way to utilise funds in your NDIS Plan
• Support to manage service disruptions and find alternative options when regular services are unavailable (like during coronavirus)
• Assistance to prepare for your Plan Review meeting (reports, assessments etc if required).

Support coordination and your NDIS Plan.

Support coordination comes under the Capacity Building budget in your NDIS Plan and it can be included in your first NDIS Plan or subsequent plans.

If support coordination is considered “reasonable and necessary” for you, your plan will include one of three different levels of support coordination.

1. Support connection: Helps you build your ability to connect with supports to get the most from your NDIS Plan.
2. Support coordination: coordination of supports: Assists you to build skills to understand and implement your NDIS Plan. This includes getting the combination of supports right so you can manage relationships, get the services you need and live more independently.
3. Specialist support coordination: Helps people with more complex needs to manage challenges and gain access to allied health professionals such as occupational therapists, psychologists or other similar services.

New Core budget flexibility.

If support coordination is already included in your NDIS Plan, a recent change allows you to access funds from the Core supports budget for additional hours of support coordination if required due to coronavirus.

If you do not currently have support coordination in your NDIS Plan, providing you have funding available in your Core supports budget, you can now choose to use it towards support coordination.

If you do not have enough funding available in your Core supports and would like coordination during the current circumstances, call the NDIS on 1800 800 110 and select the option for ‘Plan enquiries related to COVID-19’.

This change will be reviewed in June but is expected to be in place until September 2020.

Support coordination and plan management.

How you choose to manage your NDIS Plan does not impact funding for support coordination. This means you can be NDIA managed, have a plan manager or self manage and still receive funding for support coordination, providing it is considered reasonable and necessary for your needs.

Leap in! can help.

If you are interested in finding out more about how support coordination can work for you or if you would like to be connected to a support coordinator in your local area, we can help. Call the Leap in! Crew on 1300 05 78 78 or chat with us online.

Further reading:

What is “reasonable and necessary”?

Latest NDIS updates: Everything you need to know.

Capacity Building Budgets: A closer look