Customer Update – Rights and Responsibilities

Your Rights and Responsibilities

Each month, Aspire Customer Information provides updates and information on different policies and procedures, and services that you need to know as an Aspire customer. This month we are focusing on your Rights and Responsibilities.

As a customer of Aspire, you have certain rights and responsibilities to ensure that all people are treated fairly.

Rights

To be treated with dignity and respect and in a manner that is sensitive to your social and cultural beliefs
To access a staff member of your own gender
To have access to an independent advocate or support person and an interpreter, if required
To have your privacy and confidential information respected and protected
To decide who can see your information
To access any information about you that Aspire has recorded
To be protected and free from physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or financial abuse and exploitation
To have access to a responsive and fair complaints process and to provide feedback in confidence
To choose who else (other than an Aspire support worker) you want to have involved in your support, as long as your choice poses no risk to yourself or others
To have an individual support plan which documents your relevant history, assessment, support needs, progress towards goals and other outcomes
To be involved in every facet of the development of your individual support plan, including exit from Aspire
To decline any support, as long as your choice poses no risk to yourself or others

Responsibilities

As well as the rights listed above, as a customer of Aspire, you also have certain responsibilities. These responsibilities are:

To respect the rights and needs of others at Aspire
To respect the rights of staff at Aspire
To provide all information that may assist Aspire to identify and access the support you require
Provide Aspire with a copy of your goals as detailed in your NDIS plan
Agree to comply with Aspire’s cancellation policy
To co-operate with Aspire assessment, review and support processes
To attend and be punctual for pre-arranged appointments and programs
To act in a lawful manner whilst using Aspire programs, activities and supports
Let Aspire know immediately if the customer’s NDIS plan is suspended or replaced by a new NDIS plan, or a customer stops being a customer in the NDIS

If, at any time, you have questions about the services Aspire offers, or your Rights and Responsibilities, please feel free to contact our friendly Customer Service Team, email customerservice@aspiress.com.au, or phone 02 6058 4000.

Updated 1 April 2019

Intake, Service Delivery and Exit

Aspire Customer Information

Intake, Service Delivery and Exit

Keeping our customers informed and updated with all things Aspire and NDIS is important. Therefore, throughout 2019 we will be sharing updates and information on different policies and procedures that you need to know, as an Aspire Customer. We will also highlight some of the services available to you.

This information aims to help you understand how Aspire works alongside people with disabilities and their families to achieve their goals and aspirations.

This month we share at Customer Intake, Service Delivery and Exit.

Customer Intake

When choosing Aspire to provide your services there are several ways you may contact us.

Phone: 02 60584000

Email: customerservice@aspiress.com.au

Visit our Office: 220 Borella Road East Albury

Once you have made contact with a Customer Service Team member they will then discuss with you your goals and how we can best support you to achieve your desired outcomes as detailed in your NDIS plan.

The Customer Service Team will then assist you to complete your required paperwork, answer any questions you may have regarding opportunities at Aspire and work with you to ensure the transition into your Aspire Service is as smooth as possible.

Service Delivery

We have a large number of people who will be involved in providing the services you require.

Our staff have access to a broad range of training and development opportunities which aims to continually improve their ability to deliver high quality, professional service.

If at any time you feel your needs are not being met, we ask that you please let us know, so that we can address your concerns.

Service Exit

Customers have the right to terminate their services and their association with Aspire as per their service agreement.

You have the responsibility to notify Aspire if you no longer require a service.

Files will be archived according to legislation and Aspire’s policies and procedures.

Reasons for customer Exit

When participants leave our services, this is referred to as exiting and can happen for a number of reasons, such as:

Relocation to an area outside Aspire’s area of service delivery
When Aspire’s support schedule and service is no longer able to meet the participant’s needs or assist in achieving chosen goals
Transfer to another service provider
A lack of available resources or funding
The death of a participant using Aspire’s services
The participant is unwilling to meet the reasonable conditions required in their support plan affecting the safe delivery of services and the health and safety of Aspire’s staff
There are changes in the participant’s condition resulting in support needs above what Aspire can deliver
The participant and/or family member/carer engages in behaviour which is unacceptable towards Aspire’s staff, such as violence, abuse, aggression, theft or property damage
There is continued non-payment of service delivery fees incurred from supports and services provided.

If, at any time, you have questions about the services Aspire offers, please feel free to contact our friendly Customer Service Team, email customerservice@aspiress.com.au, or phone 02 6058 4000.

Sensory Workshop

Early Childhood Intervention Workshops
Sensory Workshop
Are you having trouble understanding why your child is having a meltdown or more meltdowns than expected?
Is your child sensitive to noise, touch or loves to move more than same-aged children?
Your child may be having some sensory difficulties.
Come along to our workshop to find out what sensory processing is, how to recognise a child who may be struggling and where to get help for your child
Workshop details
When: This workshop has been postponed. Date to be advised.
Price: $100
You can use your child’s NDIS funding to access the workshop under Improved Daily Living. If you currently have a service agreement with Aspire with Improved Daily Living, please indicate this when booking. If you don’t, please indicate this also and one of our Customer Service Team will contact you to organise a service agreement.
Location: Aspire Support Services, 220 Borella Road, Albury

It Takes Two to Talk – Hanen Program

It Takes Two to Talk – Hanen Program
Language delay is the most common developmental disorder in young children.

Approximately 5-8% of preschool children experience a delay in their language development that continues into adulthood.

As such, training parents and guardians to be more responsive to their children’s communicative attempts and helping them fine-tune their language input so that it facilitates expressive and receptive language development, represents a critical component of any intervention offered for young children with language delay.

As a family-centred intervention, It Takes Two to Talk empowers caregivers to act as primary language facilitators, as well as promoting their competence and confidence to assume this role.

It Takes Two to Talk reflects the following aspects of family-centred practice:
Recognises the family as the constant in child’s life
Promotes family-professional collaboration/partnership versus clinician-directed intervention
Provides resources and supports in ways that strengthen families’ capabilities
Respects families’ diversity, strengths and individuality
Encourages family-to-family support
Workshop details
When: Dependent upon majority – 10:30am to 12:30pm Mondays or 4:00pm to 6:00pm Wednesdays. Commencing the week of 21 January 2019

Price: $2,117.00 plus travel to home, includes six centre-based parent/guardian groups and four home-based individual sessions). This can be charged to your child’s NDIS plan under Improved Daily Living.

Location: Centre-based groups – Aspire Support Services, Early Childhood Intervention Centre, Building 711, Charles Sturt University, Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona

Bookings essential.
Bookings close 19 December 2018. Contact Reception at Aspire to reserve your spot. T 02 6058 4000. E reception@aspiress.com.au.

Aspire Community Grants Scheme 2018

Applications for the Aspire Community Grants Scheme 2018 are currently open.

The Aspire Community Grants Scheme 2018 aims to support the needs of the local community by making grants available to eligible people for undertakings that seek to improve the quality of their life or that of a family member or Community group.

Aspire sees the Community Grants Scheme as a way to further support people with a disability, families and community groups:

in times of additional need
in areas such as education, community access, sport, technology and mobility.

Applications are invited from community members within the cities of Albury and Wodonga, as well as Corowa and Greater Hume Shires.

Aspire strives to provide a confidential, effective and timely means of dealing with applications. Aspire can only provide this service as a result of our sole fundraiser, Aspire’s annual Oaks Day Ladies Luncheon, working in partnership with Community Groups, and with an annual donation from the Albury Commercial Club.

Apply today

Apply today if you are seeking funding for:

An activity that has ongoing benefit to individuals and the community
Innovative undertakings that may not meet the requirements of other funding sources
Projects undertaken by or through small groups
Projects that are in keeping with the Mission and Values of Aspire

For further information about the Aspire Community Grants Scheme, click here

Aspire Oaks Day Luncheon 2018 – Ten Years On!

Aspire Oaks Day 2018

Thursday, 8 November 2018 marks ten years of Oaks Day Luncheons at the Albury Race Club!

To celebrate this special event the décor will signify ten successful years with a theme of “Tin and Tiara’s”.

Over the last ten years, we have assisted hundreds of people in our regional area. In conjunction with an annual contribution from the Albury Commercial Club, we have raised over $123,000 in the last four years alone.

All money raised goes into Aspire’s unique Community Grants Scheme, which invites two rounds of Application Submissions each year.

You can make a difference

You can be a part of this very special occasion by making a donation. Your donation will be gratefully accepted and appreciated by so many. The goodwill and generosity of our community is what makes the Aspire Oaks Day Luncheon a success.

Your donation can be financial or for the Aspire Oaks Day fundraising auction Items.

Financial donations

Financial donations can be made by direct deposit.

Hume Bank

BSB 640-000.

Account name: Aspire Support Services Ltd.

Account number: 590274-59 (S9 if within Hume or in a branch).

Reference: Your business/name and donation.

Any donation above $2 is tax deductible and if you require a receipt, please email: reception@aspiress.com.au.

Auction donations

Auction donations can be made by contacting Lizzie Pogson, Aspire Oaks Day Event Manager, T 0407263361, E lizziepogson1@bigpond.com.

If you have further questions, please contact Lizzie Pogson, Aspire Board Director.

New process for rescheduling or cancelling Specialist Services appointments

New process for rescheduling or cancelling appointments

rescheduling or cancelling appointments

Changes to appointments with Specialist Services

To improve the response times of booking appointments, we are introducing a new process been for cancellations and changing appointments for all Specialist Services. Specialist Services include:

early childhood intervention
key workers
therapists
education groups
behaviour support
psychology

This new process will apply when you need to change or cancel your appointments with:

key workers
therapists
education groups
behaviour support specialists
psychologists

What has changed?

Instead of speaking to the team member directly, you now call and speak to our admin team, Katherine or Leanne, T 02 6058 4000. They will be able to make a new time and day for you straight away.

Alternatively, you can email the team on ssadmin@aspiress.com.au

If you need to speak to your key worker, therapist, behaviour support specialist or psychologist directly about something else, your call or email will be put straight through to them as normal.

Please contact us if you have any concerns or questions about this new process.

The 2018 / 2019 NDIS Price Guide

Important

Every year the NDIA updates their prices and publishes these in an NDIS Price Guide. The changes commence on 1 July every year.

Changes in the 2018 / 2019 Price Guide have included different rules around Cancellations and Travel charges.

A summary of the changes and what this means for you follows.

Cancellations

If a participant makes a short-notice cancellation, which is after 3:00pm the day before the service, the provider may charge up to 90% of the agreed price for the canceled appointment. A fee may be charged against a participant plan up to 12 times per year for personal care and community access supports. Beyond this threshold, the NDIA will require the provider to demonstrate they are taking steps to actively manage cancellations.

For other cancellations, where the participant has provided notice of cancellation prior to 3:00pm the day before the scheduled service, providers may not charge a cancellation fee.

Where participants make short-notice cancellations for therapy services, the therapist can charge a cancellation fee up to 90% of the agreed price for the canceled appointment. Within the period of any Service Booking between a provider and participant, the total of canceled appointments charged by the provider must not exceed six hours.

No fee is payable by the NDIA or the participant, for cancellation by a provider or due to the provider’s failure to deliver the agreed supports, unless previously agreed to and documented in the Service Agreement with the participant.

Source – excerpt from the NDIS Price Guide Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania Valid from: 1 July 2018

What does this mean for you?

It means you need to contact us before 3:00pm the day before your service if you need to cancel your service.

Otherwise, you will be charged 90% of the overall cost that would have been charged if you attended the service. This applies up to 12 times per year for personal care and community access supports and up to 6 hours for therapy services within the period of any service booking.

Transport

Travel to provide personal care and community access

Providers may not claim travel costs for the time that a support worker spends traveling from home to the workplace (or first participant) and from the workplace (or last participant).

Where a support worker travels from one participant appointment to another, up to 20 minutes of time can be claimed against the next appointment at the hourly rate for the relevant support item.

Where a worker travels from one participant appointment to another in an MMM4 or MMM5 area, up to 45 minutes of time can be claimed against the next appointment at the hourly rate for the relevant support item.

Travel to provide therapy supports

Therapy providers may claim travel costs when traveling to and from appointments:

For travel to a first participant appointment each day, or for travel from one participant appointment to another, therapy providers can claim up to 20 minutes of time against the appointment they are traveling to, at the hourly rate for the relevant support item. If the appointment is in an MMM4 or MMM5 area, therapy providers can claim up to 45 minutes of travel time against the appointment they are traveling to, at the hourly rate for the relevant support item.
Therapy providers can also claim for return travel from the final appointment in a day.

Source – excerpt from the NDIS Price Guide Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania Valid from: 1 July 2018

What does this mean for you?

Due to the changes in some of the travel rules, this may mean changes if you have Travel listed within your Schedule of Supports. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this if you feel this applies to you.

What to do if you require more information?

All changes can be found in the NDIS Price Guide which is on the NDIS website in the Provider section.

If you have any questions regarding the Price Guide, please contact the NDIA on 1800 800 110

If you would like any more information around your Schedule of Supports with Aspire, please contact our Customer Service Team, T 02 6058 4000, E customerservice@aspiress.com.au

What is Supported Independent Living?

Example of door to supported accommodation house

Under the NDIS Supported Accommodation is referred to as Supported Independent Living (SIL). SIL delivers onsite disability and daily living services.

Supported Independent Living provides housing within the community for people with disability. It includes the provision of support services.

What does Supported Independent Living do?

Supported Independent Living can help people with disability to:

Find independence
Get involved in the community
Make choices about their life
Build skills and learn new things

At Aspire, Supported Independent Living is provided through a shared living environment.

Living in a group home means you get to care for yourself while having support available. A person living in SIL does things like:

Cleaning and looking after the home
Shopping, for groceries for the home and for yourself
Sharing home responsibilities like preparing food
Being part of the local community, like going to social activities

How do you know if you are eligible for Supported Independent Living?

You may be eligible if you:

Have a disability under the Disability Act 2006
Have to change the way you live because it does not meet your needs anymore.

Current vacancy

An accommodation placement with Aspire Support Service has become available in North Albury.

This house has one vacancy and was leased for the purpose of providing services to 18+ year-old NDIS participants eligible for 1:2 SIL funding.

The residence is located only 2km from Lavington square and 2.5km from the center of Albury City, which makes accessing the community a breeze.

Aspire Support Service work with all residents to achieve their goals and further enhance their quality of life. The property is currently occupied with one other resident, who receives personalized support for all daily needs. This property is ready to be occupied by a second resident ASAP.

To enquire or for further information contact your Aspire Customer Service Team, T 02 6058 4000, E customerservice@aspiress.com.au

For information about other accommodation services, click here.

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Important Information

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is a new independent agency established to improve the quality and safety of NDIS supports and services.

The Commission will work with NDIS participants, service providers, workers and the community to introduce a new nationally consistent approach so participants can access services and supports that promote choice, control and dignity.

The Commission will progressively start operating around Australia on the following dates:

1 July 2018: New South Wales and South Australia
1 July 2019: Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory
1 July 2020: Western Australia

The Commission will:

respond to concerns, complaints and reportable incidents, including abuse and neglect of NDIS participants
promote the NDIS principles of choice and control, and work to empower participants to exercise their rights to access good quality services as informed, protected consumers
require NDIS providers to uphold participants’ rights to be free from harm
register and regulate NDIS providers and oversee the new NDIS Code of Conduct and Practice Standards
provide guidance and best practice information to NDIS providers on how to comply with their registration responsibilities including how to provide culturally responsive and appropriate disability supports
monitor compliance against the NDIS Code of Conduct and Practice Standards including undertaking investigations and taking enforcement action
monitor the use of restrictive practices within the NDIS with the aim of reducing and eliminating such practices
lead collaboration with states and territories to design and implement nationally consistent NDIS worker screening
focus on education, capacity building and development for people with disability, NDIS providers and workers
facilitate information sharing with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), state and territory authorities and other Commonwealth regulatory bodies.

To find out more about the Commission, please visit their website, https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/about

Download an Easy Read update here, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission PDF 845KB

Customer Update – Rights and Responsibilities

Your Rights and Responsibilities

Rights

Responsibilities

Intake, Service Delivery and Exit

Aspire Customer Information