From the Consultations of the Community Affairs Inquiry into Ageing with Disability

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR (Compliments of Estelle Shields)

Philip Farrow is from Bedford, one of South Australia's best known and most diverse service providers. It is 65 years old. They have 800 people in supported employment, 1900 in open employment, 160 in supported accommodation and 100 in day programs. 80 people live in group homes and another 80 - nearly 90 - live in a congregate setting that Phillip refuses to call an institution. They have MEMBERS of whom 80 or 90 turn up to meetings every month or so. Farrow says the members "provide us with some useful insight into what is going on in the disability field".

Bedford has done research among the older people in supported employment. This research has indicated that there is "an expectation among them that they would still be able to come to work to meet their friends because of the social interaction." Even the ones who have retired "still gravitate back to work". 

The congregate care complex is known as Balyana. One quarter of the residents are in their 50's and a "handful" are older. Phillip speaks about the place:

"Our people find it useful to be at the centre because they have social interaction with the various staff and people as they come and go from the centre. We are fortunate that the centre is not only an accommodation complex. We also run a conference facility out of it. So there is quite a bit of movement of people, with people from the general community coming to and fro. There are activities like that. We also have a network of various recreational types of pursuits. People in our accommodation services are also able to go off on a camp or to the pictures or whatever else in small groups or larger...

"I was particularly impressed by the comment made earlier about the fact that buildings alone do not make an institution or whatever the setting is. It is the policy constructs. It is the way people interact. It is the support the organization provides. It is the way the community embraces it. We have people from schools walking across the grounds of our complex as they are going to and from school. Those sorts of things create a little bit of a sense of community engagement.

"In the congregate setting for eighty we have fifty living in single independent motel type apartments and then another thirty or so around the perimetre of the property with several hectares, living in group homes. There are three of four people on average living in each of those. Everyone has their own bedroom and ensuite type facility. One of the reasons we have been looking at different options is the need for us to upgrade the property. It has been around for a number of decades and needs to be upgraded. At the front we have a very large oval, for want of a better word, and we are looking at ways of creating different configurations. One of the things we have been looking at is whether or not there are opportunities to have some form of accommodation for people with disability and their families living in close proximity, so that there can be longer term relationship and networks set up that way.

"We have also debated how far we should go in terms of moving into community based accommodation. We currently have a number of houses being built around metropolitan and regional Adelaide. One of the things that has emerged as part of that process and through feedback from family members is that sometimes when people leave our larger setting and move into the community, they do not necessarily interact with their neighbours and do not do some things they wish to do as often as they would like, and there have been occasions when people have wanted to go back to our larger setting for those reasons and for greater security. Basically, there are very few constraints on people in that setting; it does not fit the typical institutional model, if I can put it that way. People can come and go as they like; they can have friends over.

The interview ends with Phillip Farrow pointing out that they have a relationship of trust with the families and that the families monitor the proceedings very closely. Also that they work in a setting of careful checks and balances, audits and the like, with the funding bodies.

Estelle's comment : there are still some service providers who listen to the wishes of their families and respond accordingly.

WARRINGAH DISABILITY NEWSLETTER No 242 - 19/11/10

Hello!

The newsletter starts with the Junior Wheelies Christmas Camp, and several celebrations of International Day for People with Disability.  Programs for carers include some fathers’ meetings, self-managed Community Participation Programs, information on circles of support.

Financial issues include fundraising through Christmas cards, wine, challenges and a calendar.  There is also a grant, useful website on energy, seminar on income and retirement.  Resources include Transition care for youth with chronic health issues, resources for kids with special needs, a CD to teach piano playing, software to create alternate formats, several useful guides (life of child with disability, setting up a carer group, carer), the Global Network for Entrepreneurs with Disabilities.    Your participation is invited in research on memory development for preschoolers with Down Syndrome, management of Manly Dam, donating shoes, joining the Arts audience reference group.

Workshops and meetings address using plants to improve health, youth’s health, carer group training, cleft awareness, macular degeneration, parenting groups, emergency readiness, employment, CALD communities, carer strategy, empowering youth.  There is another AGM and also conferences on education, spine care, changing needs of carers, as well as details of two jobs.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome, as always!  The next newsletter will appear on Friday 3 December.

Regards, Marjorie Janz, Disability Information Officer, Warringah Council.

Phone 9942 2686, fax 9942 2371.  Also janzm@warringah.nsw.gov.au.  

Christmas is coming...

Some important news arising from talks at the last Auxiliary meeting.

Christmas Shutdown
Full details are on this document.

Sunnyfield corporate Xmas Party
In case you have not yet received an invitation a copy is here. Should be a good family day - please make the effort and come along.

Sunnyfield Enterprises 2010 Christmas Party site dates/times:
- Allambie - Friday 10 December, 1pm to 4pm.
- St.Marys - Tuesday 14 December, 1pm to 4pm.
- Chatswood - Wednesday 15 December, 1pm to 4pm.
Please note all Supported Employee Family members are welcome, but need to RSVP to the Site Manager or Site Employment Support Officer please (for catering purposes).
Please also refer page 4, of attached most recent circulated Enterprising Times.

A Crucial Time for the Leaders of Disability Services

[Another email extract from NDS showing the importance for families to become more active in encouraging both service organisations and political parties to push hard for change that will improve the accommodation and employment opportunities for their disabled family members. Carefully read the Italic pieces below.]

5 November 2010

NDS members will hear from the three major parties at this year's CEO Meeting, the ALP, the Coalition and the Greens. With power in the Federal Parliament so finely balanced, progress of major disability policy will depend on support across political parties. Senator Jan McLucas, the new Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers; Senator Mitch Fifield, Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector; and Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens Whip have all agreed to speak about their policy priorities.
Also at the CEO Meeting John Della Bosca, National Campaign Director for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, will describe and launch the national campaign that he will drive over the critical year ahead.  The Productivity Commission is on track to release its draft report on disability services reform at the end of February and the final report to Government by the end of July 2011.
In her opening address to the Federal Parliament at the end of September, which outlines the Government's agenda, the Governor-General said: "The long-term care and support needs of people with disability is a national priority that demands a national response. The Government therefore looks forward to giving careful consideration to the Productivity Commission's forthcoming report on a national disability insurance scheme." Minister Jenny Macklin has since reiterated that disability reform will be a social policy priority for the Gillard Government.
In a related development, all State and Territory governments have now agreed to the draft National Disability Strategy. Once it is formally endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments, an implementation plan - including indicators of progress - will be developed. The Strategy will shift the focus of disability service providers and they need to be engaged in working out how the Strategy can best be given practical effect.
The direction of employment services - both open and supported - is currently also a live discussion within Government.
Disability services are potentially facing significant changes over the next couple of years. 

Service rationing limits planning options

[This email from NDS is very encouraging for families who are aiming to avoid Crisis Accommodation decision making for their disabled family member.  The ageing profile and the accommodation needs are, not surprisingly, similar to those we see in Sunnyfield's Member families.]

9 November 2010

This week NDS appeared at a Senate hearing into planning options and services for people ageing with a disability.

To avoid overlap with the Productivity Commission's inquiry into a national disability scheme, the Senate inquiry's terms of reference focus on assistance to people with disability and their carers to plan for the future, rather than on service planning. But in practice the two are inseparable. Carers and people with disability cannot confidently plan for the future unless they have assured access to services and choice about service provision.
Anglicare recently published a study of almost 300 ageing carers who were supporting sons and daughters with severe (mainly intellectual) disability. Two-thirds of the carers were aged over 70 years. Despite expressing anxiety about future care arrangements and recognising the importance of 'transition planning', only one in four carers in the study had any plan for the future care and support of their son or daughter.
In their approach to planning, these carers reflect the limits of the current service system, which is not built around long-term planning but around stretching the capacity of carers to near breaking point and then responding to the impending crisis.
People with disability and their carers need access to a range of services to assist with:

• transition planning, which involves not just being able to organise disability support services, but also access to legal, financial and guardianship advice
• in-home support with personal care and domestic assistance
• respite services for intermittent short-term breaks
• access to long-term accommodation support
• better information about what's available and where to find it.  Navigating the disability services and community care systems is complex.

The Senate Committee also questioned NDS about the dilemma of ageing supported employees, most of whom have no viable retirement options. Three FaHCSIA-funded ADE retirement pilots have now commenced in Victoria, NSW and the ACT, but the lack of retirement options is a national problem which requires a national program. Under the current division of administrative and funding responsibilities, this would entail cooperative effort by Federal and State departments. 
The Senate inquiry is chaired by Rachel Siewert, who will speak at the CEO Meeting on 6-7 December in Canberra.

Contact Information:
Ken Baker, Chief Executive, NDS National, Ph 02 6283 3200, ken.baker@nds.org.au

© This publication is copyright.

WARRINGAH DISABILITY NEWSLETTER No 241 - 4/11/10

Hello!

The newsletter starts with free movie tickets for disadvantaged kids and their carers, several Christmas parties, the Sculpture by the Sea, kids sports club, boccia finals and midnight basketball.  Programs for carers include parenting workshops, carer support groups, a handbook for carers, a workshop on self managed funding, another on anti-bullying, and Siblings Australia.

Financial issues include information about electricity and gas prices and savings, funding from St George Foundation and Sidney Myer Fund, information about Disability Trusts, and Individual Funding approaches.  Resources include health fact sheets, travelling overseas with medicine, tools for person centred review, support for apprentices with learning disability, anxiety self help groups, several meetings for CALD carers, an ultra light wheelchair.  Note that all sections of the Department of Human Services will change their email address in the next few weeks.  Your participation is invited in the International Day of People with Disability, Supported Employment, Supported Living Fund campaign, Australia Day awards.  Placements are required for 50 Third Year Social Work students.

Workshops and meetings empowerment, learning, depression and anxiety, volunteering, parenting education, suicide intervention skills, adolescent mental health, dementia, law, board development, computer assistive technology, inclusive church practices.  There are also conferences on leadership, strength and assets, as well as AGMs of Northside Enterprise and the centre for Disability Studies.  Note that it is Post Polio Awareness Week.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome, as always!  The next newsletter will appear on Friday 19 November.

Regards, Marjorie Janz, Disability Information Officer, Warringah Council.

Located at Dee Why Library, Pittwater Road and St Davids Avenue, Dee Why NSW 2099.

Phone 9942 2686, fax 9942 2371.  Also janzm@warringah.nsw.gov.au.  

Evening about Self Managed Funding Options for your Teen/Adult with a Disability

Hello!

I’m emailing you about this because you attended the evening on Disability Trusts in August 2009, and might be want to become informed about this innovative program.  Two years ago Ageing Disability and Home Care funded two organisations to trial this throughout NSW;   currently both organisations support families with school leavers (aged 18-25) on the Community Participation Program, and one organisation also supports people with a disability for Lifestyle Choices (aged 26-54) or Active Ageing (aged 54-64).

Melise Bourne of Ability Options and Claire Galvin of Lifestyle Solutions, and two persons / families whom they support, will discuss how the program works.  If you were interested, a staff would meet with your family to make decisions about your goals and support needs, and to shape the support rather than having only access to defined service options.  Resource handouts will be available.

When?        Thursday 18 November, 6.30pm to 8.30pm.  Light refreshment on arrival.

Where?       Meeting room, Warringah Mall Library, same level as Hoyts Cinema, Brookvale.  Same room as last time.

RSVP?       Phone me on 9942 2686 or email janzm@warringah.nsw.gov.au to leave your details.

Regards, Marjorie Janz, Disability Information Officer, Warringah Council.

Located at Dee Why Library, Pittwater Road and St Davids Avenue, Dee Why NSW 2099.

Phone 9942 2686, fax 9942 2371.  Also janzm@warringah.nsw.gov.au.  

GIFT WRAPPING HELP

Hi everyone

Sunnyfield have once again been selected as the benefiting charity of Christmas Gift Wrapping at St Ives Shopping Village.  Since our relationship commenced two years ago we have raised $3,500.  It is hoped we can get this figure to reach $5,000 at the conclusion of 2010 Wrapping period. 

This year will see the Wrapping Stall in operation from Monday 13 December until Christmas Eve.  Two rostered shifts will be available between 11.00am - 2.00pm and 2.00pm - 5.00pm. 

I am writing to find out if any members are able to spare a couple of hours in support of Sunnyfield?  If you are, please review and the attached roster and let me know what shift(s) you would like to do.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to give me a call.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Cheers, Lisa

Fundraising Manager
Corporate Services

S u n n y f i e l d
i n d e p e n d e n c e
Tel: +61 2 8977 8823 X8823
Mob: +61 401 998 966
Fax: (02) 8977 2926
Email: l.mcmurtrie@sunnyfield.org.au

We won! All major political parties endorsed the Supported living Fund We won!!!

All major political parties have endorsed the Supported Living Fund and committed to its implementation Last night [28 October 2010?], before a meeting room crammed with over 200 families, the NSW Minister for Disability Services, Peter Primrose, the Shadow Minister Andrew Constance and Greens spokesperson Ian Cohen, unanimously endorsed the 4 key elements of the Supported Living Fund, namely:
     Providing new money
     Extending the target group to include families not in crisis
     Enabling people with disability to have a home of their own, using a combination of paid and unpaid/informal support Enabling families and people with disability to direct their own support

This signals a fundamental shift in the way support will be provided to people with disability and their families in NSW.

We want to thank all who have supported this campaign. Your personal letters, emails and meetings have brought our aspirations and challenges alive.

A verbal commitment is one thing...implementation is another. We will continue to work with both major parties in the lead up to the state election to bed down the next steps.

Finally, we need to build on the momentum generated by the campaign. For us at Family Advocacy, the priority is moving NSW to a self directed approach so that people with disability and their families have the opportunity and support to direct their own support, whatever the source of funding.

We will be in touch soon!!

Belinda Epstein-Frisch AM
Family Advocacy

PO Box 502 Epping NSW 1710, Suite 305 16-18 Cambridge St Epping 2121

ph: 02 9869 0866, Freecall: 1800 620 588, Fax: 02 9869 0722

web:  

For more information about the Supported Living campaign click http://www.family-advocacy.com/supported-living-fund-for-nsw.html

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