NDIA Accountability Project

Submission 33 — Stepping Stone Clubhouse — The provision of services under the NDIS for people with psychosocial disabilities related to a mental health condition

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Committee Secretary

Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Department of the Senate

PO Box 6100

Parliament House

CANBERRA ACT 2600

AUSTRALIA

The Provision of Services Under the NDIS for People with Psychosocial Disabilities

Stepping Stone Clubhouse is a Membership-based community of people with a mental illness dedicated to rebuilding their lives. Members share ownership and responsibility for the success of the organization. Through participation in the Clubhouse Members are given the opportunities to re-join the worlds of friendships, family, important work, employment and education. A Clubhouse is an environment for people who have had their lives drastically disrupted and need the support of others who believe that recovery from mental illness is possible for all.

The Clubhouse model, was established in 1948 in New York and currently there are over 55,000 adults with a mental illness in over 400 Clubhouses in 32 countries. Clubhouse International (www.iccd.org) is a global network that promotes the development and success of Clubhouses through its training and accreditation programs.

Stepping Stone Clubhouse commenced in 1994 and is situated on the southside of Brisbane. Stepping Stone Clubhouse has over 2500 Members and is the only Clubhouse in Brisbane, Members come from all Brisbane and surrounding suburbs. Stepping Stone Clubhouse currently receive DOH Day to Day

Living and PIR funding, Queensland Health Community Mental Health funding and Disability Services

Accommodation and Individual Support packages.

Below is our feedback and recommendations for consideration into the Joint Standing Committee Inquiry into NDIS and Mental Health.

a. the eligibility criteria for the NDIS for people with a psychosocial disability; The eligibility for NDIS talks about disability and permanency. These are not terms that are part of the mental health sector. There have been advances to move towards using terms such as mental health and recovery. As mental illness is often cyclic, a person may need support are various stages throughout their life and this support is dependent on their needs at any given time. There needs to be some flexibility in NDIS to allow for people with a mental illness to change their supports as required. Recommendations:

  1. Change the current language to include mental health.

  2. Have flexibility in NDIS funding for people with mental illness to access the funding as required and not lose the funding at times when they do not require services.

  3. Provide mental health training to NDIA assessors and LACs. Phone +61 (07) 3847 1058 M 0423889711 Clubhouse Mail Stepping Stone

    Fax +61 (07) 3847 1044 Address PO Box 249 Clubhouse Inc.

    Email melanie@steppingstoneclubhouse.org.au 9/61 Coorparoo ABN: 65 874 279

    Web www.steppingstoneclubhouse.org.au Holdsworth QLD 4151 055

Street

Coorparoo

QLD 4151

b. the transition to the NDIS of all current long and short term mental health Commonwealth Government funded services, including the Personal Helpers and Mentors services (PHaMs) and Partners in Recovery (PIR) programs, and in particular;

i. whether these services will continue to be provided for people deemed ineligible for the NDIS; There is going to be a number of people with a mental illness who are not eligible for NDIS. Stepping Stone has estimated that as many as 42% of its existing Members may not be eligible for individual NDIS funding. There is a great need for continuing funding for programs such as Day to Day Living and PIR in order to assist those that are not eligible for NDIS funding.

From an organisation perspective, the lack of knowledge of the future funding of the PIR program makes it difficult to forecast future income streams. Clear communication needs to be provided as to the future funding of PIR. Recommendation:

  1. Provide clear communication directly to funded services on the future of funding streams.
  2. Continue to fund Day to Day Living and Partners in Recovery. c. the transition to the NDIS of all current long and short term mental health state and territory government funded services, and in particular;

i. whether these services will continue to be provided for people deemed ineligible for the NDIS; As with Commonwealth funded services, the continuation of state funding is crucial for individuals who are not eligible for NDIS funding. It is understood that Disability Services funding will transition to NDIS, however, there has not been clear communication on the future of Queensland Health, Mental Health Funding. Recommendation:

  1. Clear communication needs to be provided as to the future funding of state mental health funding. d. the scope and level of funding for mental health services under the Information, Linkages and Capacity building framework; Information, Linkages and Capacity funding appears to be the funding to assist those that will not be eligible for NDIS individual packages. While we are hopeful that this funding will address the gap, there has been little information about this funding to date and it is difficult to plan for this funding with the current level of information provided. In addition as Stepping Stone is in the last region for NDIS funding to commence, there is concern that all ILC funding will be allocated by the time our region has a chance to apply for the funding. Recommendation:

  2. Provide information about ILC funding to all states now and include details of how this funding can be used and the amount of funding.

Stepping Stone Clubhouse Inc. Page 2 of 3

e. the planning process for people with a psychosocial disability, and the role of primary health networks in that process;

Preparation for NDIS

There is little information about the details of the planning and assessment process. At numerous NDIA meetings there has been inconsistent information about the exact assessment process and how someone can plan. For example some NDIA staff say that information for the assessment needs to be dated three to 12 months of the assessment date. Some have said six months. There needs to be clear information on the NDIA website of NDIS assessment including the tools that are used for assessment and the supporting documentation that is required. Recommendation:

  1. Include the Assessment Tool on the NDIA website. Not just a checklist, but the tool that is used for assessment.

In addition it is crucial that a support person is able to attend assessment and planning meetings. To date we have heard that individuals have had to repeatedly ask to have a support person present.

Recommendation:

  1. NDIA to invite the person to bring a support person with them to the assessment meeting.

Primary Health Networks

We are concerned that primary health networks will not have the resources, such as time or the knowledge of NDIS to assist individuals to prepare for NDIS assessment. GPs have limited time to spend with individuals to prepare for NDIS. In addition as there are few bulk billing GPs several people with a mental illness will not be able to afford the GP appointments in order to collect the necessary information required for NDIS assessment.

Also many people with a mental illness are part of the State Health Mental Health system. Psychiatrists and case workers currently do not have the time to assist people with mental health treatment. The additional requirements from this sector to provide the necessary information for NDIS assessment will be an added strain on the system.

Stepping Stone will play a major role in supporting our existing Members to prepare for NDIS assessment. This will require to liaise with Allied Health and other key stakeholders that can provide the necessary information for NDIS assessment. Recommendation:

  1. There needs to be financial contributions for services that will be committing resources to this stage.

Overall we are excited about the prospects of NDIS funding for people with a mental illness. Never before has there been such funding for people with disabilities. However, the NDIA needs to ensure that people with a mental illness are not missing out on much need funds due to the NDIS process.

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