Individual Living Options

Marita Walker

March 2019

Branch Manager Scheme Innovation Branch

The United Nations Convention

2

The United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states the importance of living independently and being included in the community.

The most important housing and support requirements being able to:• choose where to live• choose who to live with and, • access a range of services and supports.

Individual Living Options: what are they?

• Living alone: lives in own home with a support package which is flexible to meet changing needs

• Co-residency: Lives in own home with one or more people who provide an agreed level of personal support

• Host arrangement: Lives in the home of a non- related person/s who provide support in a family environment

• Living together: A participant lives in their own home with 1 – 2 people ( with or without disabilities) that they have chosen through existing relationships

3

What do we know?

• ILOs can deliver improved outcomes for participants and can be delivered at a lower cost compared to traditional models

• The benefits include greater stability and consistency of supports natural capacity building and community connection

• Group homes are often expensive options that have limited capacity to meet the individual needs of all residents

• Many group home residents have profiles similar to participants living in less restricted, lower cost options

4

Key elements of ILO’s

• Planning and design: Focus on the needs and preferences of the individual and design a package of supports

• Primary support model: The main support mechanism e.g. host, co-residents, high level of visiting supports around which supplementary support are built

• Supplementary supports: May include second host, on-call, good neighbour, structured informal support

• Monitoring and redesign: Ongoing oversight, adjustment and redesign in response to changes

5

Frank’s storyFrank elected to self manage his funding when he joined the NDIS to have more control to better meet his needs.Frank’s Goals included:• Staying in his own home without full time support • Participating in meaningful activities in the community• Continuing to increase his independence with daily living tasks

Significant capacity building input and hard work from Frank has resulted in overnight staffing not being required.

He has a flexible self-directed team, with back up support available as required.

Frank says that he really enjoys living in his own home and is the happiest he has ever been in his life.

6

NDIS next steps

• Describe and define Individual Living Options

• Maintain ILO’s already operating in all jurisdictions

• Develop Policy and Pricing within the NDIS parameters

• Facilitate increased availability of ILO’s nationally

• Deliver both scheme and participant benefits in line with the values of the NDIS

7

Further information

WA’s Individualised Services http://waindividualisedservices.org.au

Belonging Mattershttps://www.belongingmatters.org/

Purple Orangehttps://www.purpleorange.org.au/

https://www.selfmanagedsupports.org.au/

8