WARRINGAH DISABILITY NEWSLETTER No 274 - 9 February 2012

Hello!

Many programs have begun now so the newsletter starts with another discobility, Abba in Mona Vale, sports for kids, cooking and craft and drama, as well as sailing and powerchair football.  There are also activity programs for adults with Aspergers / autism or mental health issues, and a dating seminar for anyone.  Youth with cerebral palsy can have mentoring, and male carers can enjoy cooking.  Families are invited to attend parenting sessions, family support courses, information session on the Supported Living Fund.  Carer programs exist in many places, and range from parent-to-parent support to regular groups to one-off educative sessions.  There is a group for people experiencing anxiety and depression, and a consultation with carers about the Mental Health Commission’s priorities.

Financial matters include a reminder for HACC services to reply regarding transition arrangements between state and Commonwealth, and a number of vacancies in disability services.  Resources include a recent publication on probity in employment, a website with publications in many languages, and a virtual clinic offering help regarding depression.  Your participation is invited in the “Walk around the World Challenge” in Lane Cove, helping at a Christian camp for adults with disabilities, participating in a schizophrenia drug trial, or submitting entries to an art exhibition for International Women’s Day.

Workshops address rent (affordable housing), preventing falls, family violence, advocacy training, young carers, mediation and conflict, facilitation, challenging behaviour by Years 5 to 10 students, improving access to sex, drugs and crime, self-abuse, community gardens, school inclusion.  The inaugural Trevor Parmenter lecture focuses on risk and intellectual disability.  Forums address mental health services on the Northern Beaches, implications of Individualised Funding, and community health in the Ryde area.  The quarterly Under 5’s forum and the NDS Regional forum will occur.  Training is offered by the RIDBC, HACC, IFP and Northern Sydney Carer Support.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome, as always!  The next newsletter will be sent on 23 February 2012.

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

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

HELP WANTED - URGENT

UPDATE... PROBLEM SOLVED - THANKS

Can a volunteer help Desre Nikolich move a sofa bed from Terrey Hills (Duffys Forest actually) to the Sunnyfield house at WHite Cedar Ave, Castle Hill.

Needs to be collected before Mon 13th as donor is moving house the next day.

Please call Desre (Mob: 0422 453 563) or email her at d.nikolich@sunnyfield.org.au

WARRINGAH DISABILITY NEWSLETTER No 273 - 27 January 2012

Hello!

This newsletter starts with details of the year’s first discobility, a reminder of indoor cricket, microwave cooking and drama classes at Recreation Rendezvous, drama on the Northern Beaches, gymnastics for kids with special needs, and the Camp Willing and Able.  There are programs for carers at Bradfield Park, teen and children Triple P programs, and morning tea for young mums.

Financial matters include the important Respite Intake and Allocation Process deadline, seminars on parenting payments, reminder of the 2011-12 garden grants, the rebate for assistive technology and other student expenses, and two positions.  Resources include a delivery service by a young man with a disability, a legal guide to applying for Section 32, a brainyApp, the new AIHW report, and a MDAA siblings project.  You are invited to check if your MP has posted his/her photo on the Every Australian Counts website.  You can contribute to a student mental health Wiki, and participate in research on living in SydneyCity.

Workshops include a body / brain fitness program, inclusive lives with individualised support, carer support group facilitation, supporting young carers, suicide bereavement support, the Women & Leadership program, engaging men, men’s health, financial implications of individualised funding, and professional courses at IFP.  Interagency meetings are held in Hornsby Ku-ring-gai and Manly Warringah Pittwater. 

Your comments and suggestions are welcome, as always!  The next newsletter will be sent on 9 February 2012.

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

SUNNYFIELD FUTURE - MEMBER/USER INPUT

Hello everybody,

This is an important announcement.

A special meeting has been called for all people on the Central coast involved with Sunnyfield services. A special invitation has been posted to all members by the Sunnyfield Management team.

This email is supplementary to that announcement and is addressed to the members of the Central Coast auxiliary. The attachment herewith is a duplicate of the invitation referred to above.

The importance of this meeting, particularly the focus group referred to, cannot be ignored. Sunnyfield is looking for guidance in establishing its future service emphasis in light of the major changes being planned by Goverments in future funding and distribution policies. There are complex issues involved here, and the more aware we can become, the greater is the likelihood of better oucomes for our family members.

Will you please try to be present at this meeting. The Central Coast needs to have its voice heard.

You will note that the meeting notice (attached) has a request for RSVP. We have booked the large hall at Club Tuggerah, but it will be of great help if we know how many people are attending 

Kind Regards

Allan Holswich     (Secretary - Central Coast Auxiliary)

Vulnerability & Risk

Di Cook suggests this may be of interest to some families.

Trevor Parmenter Annual Lecture  - delivered by Professor Tony Holland (Cambridge University)

Vulnerability and risk: managing tensions inherent in the support of people with intellectual disabilities

March 7^th 2012 at 6.00 pm

Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney

Please see attached flyer for full details.

Westwood Spice & Focus Group

WESTWOOD SPICE

On Sat. 18th Feb, 2012 in the Sunnyfield Canteen there will be a special agenda item as part of the meeting of the Auxiliary to listen to a presentation by Sunnyfield management on the findings from and progress since completion of the Westwood Spice review of Sunnyfield's Housing & Accommodation services.  There will be ample time allocated for parents & families to ask questions.  Details are here and have been mailed to all families.

FOCUS GROUP FUTURE NEEDS & WANTS

Also there will be a further chance for parents & families to provide further personal input to Sunnyfield's future service strategy by confirming their views of the future needs and wants of families for their disabled relatives.  

These should consider the whole-of-life cycle of needs and wants and should be particular to each family not a guess at where the industry may move.  Each family ought consider and confirm its present and future needs so that Sunnyfield can prepare itself to best satisfy as many families as possible and also lobby for new or enhanced support from both State and Federal Governments.

A letter of invitation about the Focus Group has been sent to all families and a copy is here.

Human Services: The Case for Change

Urgent Need for System-Wide Change, say Ministers ( Link) in their super smoke and mirrors address

[An interesting email about the disability situation in Victoria]

All Victorians should be able to access the care and support they need, when they need it. This is particularly important for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our community, their carers and their families.

The Victorian human services system largely works in rigid silos where case managers are often unable to link individuals and families to the full range of services they require. This results in poor outcomes for the clients and the Victorian taxpayer.

The Coalition Government has pledged to change this and provide better leadership and coordination of community services via holistic case
management.

This document, 'Human Services: The case for change' outlines the urgent need for system-wide change.

It explains how we can, and should be, building on the strengths of the existing system to make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable Victorians and their families.

Elements of the current system work very well and community sector agencies have helped governments to provide a range of vital supports over many years, improving quality of life for Victoria's most excluded families and individuals.

But despite our common purpose of supporting people out of disadvantage, major improvements can still be made to connect individual efforts and achieve better life outcomes for vulnerable people.

The structural challenges highlighted in this document show the need for a 'joined-up' service model, where there are no wrong doors for clients and any entry point ensures that individuals and families are efficiently and effectively assisted to access whatever range of services and support they need. This is the Victorian Coalition Government's vision for human services in Victoria.

From early 2012, the Department of Human Services will begin reforming case management in two lead sites, Dandenong and Geelong/South West Coast.

The capabilities and dedication of our staff and partners will be embraced and client pathways wilt be streamlined. Workforce participation, skills acquisition and community connectedness will be placed squarely in service planning alongside traditional person supports.

In a similar time frame, we will be reorganising the internal workings of the Department of Human Services to remove service silos while retaining specialisation.

Longer-term, this new system, characterised by personalised, holistic, family-centred approaches, could be used to connect with more and more State Government services.  The reforms are much needed and exciting.

We commend the following 'case for change 'to the community and look forward  to continuing to work with all stakeholders towards a system that delivers better outcomes for vulnerable Victorians and their families, said Minister Wooldridge and Minister Lovel.

There are many dedicated and highly skilled people and organisations within the human services system in Victoria, and many examples of their good practice. The challenge ahead is to make these examples the general rule, not the exception.

The frustration for many DHS staff and service partners is the inability to turn successful trials and pilots into mainstream practice.

Existing pockets of great practice provide a model for the improvements needed system-wide. The key question is how this can be done: what would a more effective and efficient human services system look like?

DHS will be talking with staff and the sector in future months about how to take innovation to scale. This is critical and will require broad buy-in.

The starting point for future discussions is five core principals that will guide our approach.

The Government has begun to put these core principles into practice through the Families Statement and the DHS Client Charter, as well as area-specific policy
reforms like the Homelessness Action Plan and the Victorian Government's commitment to a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Five principles for an integrated human services system

1     People are at the centre of everything we do. We take all of our clients' life
       circumstances into account, and work with individuals and families to improve
       their outcomes. We recognise the diversity of our clients and are guided by
       their needs and choices.

2    People in need should have access to the right support, provided in a cost-
      effective way. Supporting clients to lead independent and meaningful lives by
      building their capabilities is the long-term goal.

3   All parts of the human services system should work together. By aligning and
     integrating the human services system we can reduce duplication and focus on
     shared outcomes for our clients.

4   A skilled workforce is key to a more integrated system and to better client
     outcomes.  Our workforce should have the skills, tools and the right
     accountabilities to support clients to improve their lives.

5    Victorians who access our services will be valued, respected and treated fairly
      at all times.LISA Comment:  The 'case for change' document provides little indication of government intention to maintain its direct care services - its supported accommodation services for people with intellectual or multiple disabilities.

People with disabilities, their carers and their families have heard similar wonderful words, principles and intentions, as contained in this document, time after time after time.  Such good intentions are not generally the forte of the traditional public
service.

The traditional public service, especially the Department of Human Services, Victoria, is a captive market service with reactive management, staff lore, no reason for customers or customer service, no one has, or accepts direct responsibility for any aspect of service delivery and consumers who dare to complain are treated with contempt and told the problems they perceive are just their opinion.

With such a restrictive-practice culture, both direct and indirect services are adversely affected.

This government department is everything to everybody - it funds, regulates or owns some aspect of almost all services for people with intellectual or multiple disabilities throughout the State of Victoria.  No one breathes without permission of this out-of-control juganaught!

There is certainly an overwhelming case for change.  The million dollar question is - "Has this Liberal Government got what it takes, to take-on the out-of-control juganaught, or is their 'case for change' just traditional government smoke and mirrors?"  
 Extra 1:  Dr Paul Brock's Personal Support for the NDISExtra 2:  DHS Lashed by a Melbourne Magistrate -Thumbs its Nose!  Extra 3:  Restrictive Practices - DHS Victoria :  People Speak Out! Extra 4:  Gag/Hush Money - DHS VictoriaExtra 5:  " Yes Prime Minister" - West End Show in Australia now!Extra 6:  Values and Attitudes Workshop by 'field' (Victoria)Extra 7: Check-out some interesting aspects of questionable service provision on the "LISA Forum".  Feel free to post to the forum page by registering, under a covert user name, on the left side of the forum page, under "Create an account".  There will then be a short delay whilst we approve your registration (Please contact us if you don't have access within two days).

LIFESTYLE IN SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION (LISA) INC.
Tel:  03-9434-3810:  Email: info@lisainc.com.au or vk3qq@optusnet.com.au 
Web:  www.lisainc.com.au :  www.lisa-aus.blogspot.comNOTE:  We are always interested in feedback and information; general, specific, good or bad.
If you wish anonymously: Our mail address is, 73 Nepean Street, Watsonia, 3087