DOCUMENT 3
COVID 19 - Payment to Family Members to Maintain Funded Core Supports — Time-limited Response
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has introduced a time limited policy to support participants who have a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 and are not able to receive personal care supports from a provider.
The purpose of this temporary policy is to ensure that participants have access to the support they need that relate to daily personal activities including assistance with or supervision of, personal tasks of daily life, through the ability to pay family members to provide support where other funded support options are unavailable and have been exhausted.
For a family member to be paid under this short term policy, the criteria outlined in this policy need to be met. These are detailed in the frequently asked questions below.
The NDIA will review this time limited policy in November 2020.
Note: for Tier 4 escalation, refer to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tier 4 Referrals Script and Standard Operating Procedure - COVID-19 - Referral for an Unscheduled Plan Review.
1. Frequently Asked Questions
1.1 When can a family member be paid as a support worker?
The NDIA will temporarily pay family members to provide personal care supports (as defined in insert link below) as an exceptional circumstance where the following criteria is met:
- the participant tests positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- the participant was receiving personal care supports, which because of the positive diagnosis are unable to continue, due to provider withdrawal or unavailability
- all alternative options for the provision of paid support have been explored and exhausted
- the family member is engaged with a registered National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider or registered provider of supports (in Western Australia) for the support required
- supports are provided by a family member for a short timeframe until an alternative provider can be found, with a maximum period of eight weeks to cover the period of infection and re-establishment of support
- the support is not ordinarily provided by the family member in an informal capacity
- the support is not funded or provided by other mainstream support services, including health
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plan funds and personal care supports are in alignment with the participant’s plan the funding is expected to be managed within the participants existing core supports budget when the family member is not already receiving a carers payments from Services Australia.
Note: the participant must consent to the support from the family member.
1.2 What constitutes a family member?
A contemporary definition of a family is an interdependent group of people (family members) who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth, adoption or placement.
Some examples of family member relationships include, wife, father, grandmother, stepfather, daughter, grandson, step-daughter, brother, mother-in-law, uncle or niece. This also includes any legally recognised variations to these relationships such as, de facto, adoptive or same sex relationships.
1.3 What requirements does the family member need to provide paid support?
Family members who receive payments to provide personal care supports to participants must:
be engaged with a registered NDIS provider (with the NDIS Commission) or registered provider of supports (in Western Australia) for the support required provide supports maximising the health and wellbeing of the participant adhere to the health information provided by the Australian Government and the State or Territory Government for the location in which the participant resides provide supports related to the participant’s disability not replace or duplicate supports most appropriately provided through the health care system cease providing paid supports once the maximum period (eight weeks) has been reached and transition to formal support arrangements.
1.4 What are the exclusions from this short term policy?
Participants who do not have funded personal care supports within their Core budget Participants who are awaiting results from a COVID-19 test Payments to family members who are already receiving carers payments from Services Australia
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Payment to family members who elect to withdraw paid supports as a precautionary measure against possible infection Payment to family members engaged as a preference to other paid supports where the circumstances under inclusions are not met Support which does not relate to the participant’s disability or is not in line with their NDIS plan Provision of medical or nursing type care for treatment of COVID-19 that should be provided through the health system; or Provision of paid family support for people who receive Supported Independent Living (SIL) funding within a shared residential setting. Refer to COVID - 19 - Positive COVID-19 Cases in Supported Independent Living for relevant guidance.
1.5 What are the personal care supports which can be provided?
Personal care supports relate to daily personal activities including assistance with, or supervision of personal tasks of daily life. Examples include:
personal hygiene, including showering, bathing, oral hygiene, dressing and grooming toileting, bladder, bowel management and menstrual care eating and drinking attending appointments use of aids and appliances, hearing and communication devices mobility and transferring, such as moving in and out of bed or on or off the toilet application of splints, basic first aid and wound care due to injuries sustained as a result of the disability.
Refer to Including Specific Types of Supports in Plans Operational Guideline - Personal care supports (external) for full information.
1.6 How does the participant use their funding for this support?
It is expected participant’s will use the funding from their existing Core supports budget.
As part of the NDIA’s initial COVID-19 response, changes were made to the myplace portal so all participants, no matter how their plan was managed, could use their Core supports budget flexibly to purchase the services and supports they need. This means funds can be used flexibly across the four sub categories within the Core support budget and an unscheduled plan review will not be required.
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1.7 How long can this support continue?
Paid support from a family member is time limited, while an alternative provider can be found.
Eight weeks is the maximum period of time expected to cover the period of infection and re-establishment of alternate supports.
1.8 Does the participant’s plan management arrangements affect this support?
1.8.1 Agency managed
Family members must be engaged with a registered NDIS provider (with the NDIS Commission) or registered provider of supports (in Western Australia) for the support required.
1.8.2 Plan managed and self-managed
The NDIA strongly advises the family member is engaged through a registered provider to ensure appropriate training and quality and safeguards are in place.
Self-managed participants can engage family members to provide support and record and claim their purchases in the usual way. When supports are specifically described in the participant’s plan, the funding must be used in direct accordance with their plan.
1.9 How does the provider pay family members?
Providers can claim funds from the participant’s NDIS plan to pay a family member to provide personal care supports when that the participant and their family member meet all the conditions to this arrangement.
1.10 Does the participant need an unscheduled plan review?
An unscheduled plan review is not required for a family member to be paid as a support worker where the above criteria met. If the participant has available funding in their Core budget, as it can be used flexibly.
Before escalating as a Tier 4 referral consider the following steps:
- ensure all options with the provider have been exhausted. This may require follow up with provider to verify and consider other options first
- understand the policy and determine the participant’s circumstances meets the requirements
- outline the requirements to participant/family member
- if required, help the participant/family member locate Finding support workers on the NDIS website, to engage with a registered provider who can provide the support
- if the participant has no supports available to them, initiate a critical incident response, by referring to the Participant Critical Incidents intranet page for full guidance.
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If other immediate supports are required because the participant is currently or likely to experience a breakdown in funded supports, a Tier 4 referral may be appropriate. Refer to the Standard Operating Procedure - COVID-19 - Referral for an Unscheduled Plan Review for further details.
For further information, refer to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tier 4 Referrals Script.
1.11 How do we support the participant to engage with providers?
To help participants looking for support workers, the participant can be directed to the Finding support workers link on the NDIS website. This page identifies a list of disability support platforms. Participants looking for support workers, new workers looking for jobs and NDIS providers looking for new staff can access these platforms.
The participant’s Local Area Coordinator or support coordinator can also support the participant to locate an alternate provider.
2. Process owner and approver
General Manager Participant Experience Design.
3. Further information
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information and Support (external)
- COVID-19 (coronavirus) Intranet page
- Department of Health (external)
- Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (external)
- COVID-19 — Information and Support Contacts
- COVID-19 — Script — Vulnerable Participants Check-in
- COVID-19 — Script — Victorian Participants — Children 0-17 Years Check-in
- COVID-19 — Script — Victorian Participants - 18 Years and Over Check-in.
4. Version control
| Version | Amended by | Brief Description of Change | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | BIB217 | Class 3 approved. | APPROVED | 2020-09-08 |
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Version Control
| Version | Amended by | Brief Description of Change | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0 | SMO0075 | Class 3 approved. | APPROVED | 2020-09-10 |
| New guidance to support a short term measure for participants diagnosed with COVID-19 to pay family members to provide personal care supports in exceptional circumstances. |
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