Setting up your paid supports

Introduction

Once you have a clear idea about the life you are building and the supports you will need, it is time to create a practical plan for your new living situation. In this chapter, you will focus on three key areas for setting up your paid supports:

• the structure of your paid supports – hiring your own supports vs accessing them from an external agency

• the role(s) of your paid supports – outlining the roles, rules and guidelines

• your plan for communication and ongoing management – communication, team meetings

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This chapter assumes that you have:

• completed Planning your supports (Stage 2, Chapter 4)

• any necessary funding in place – Engaging government and community supports (Stage 1, Chapter 4)

• a clear idea of your new living situation and support needs

• a draft roster of your preferred support scenario – see the ‘Create a draft roster’ worksheet in Getting ready for action (Stage 2, Chapter 10)  

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Note: Now is a good time to update your draft roster if anything has changed since you completed Chapter 2.9.

Structures for your paid support

If you are using government funding for your paid supports, there are certain contracts and rules that govern what support you can access and in what way. These supports fit into two broad categories:

• Support from a contracted service – where you are referred to a specific organisation to receive a specific service  

• Support with a personal budget – where you are allocated a budget and have to buy or manage services to meet your needs within that budget.  

Note: If you are funding your paid supports yourself, your options may be similar to those with a personal budget.

Support from a contracted service

Contracted services have a scope and rules that are set by their relationship with the Government. These rules define:  

• the service that they are required to provide to you

• how much of that service is available to you

• the price that the contracted organisation gets paid for providing your support.  

While there are many elements of these services that are predetermined, it is important to remember that you can still make choices about who, when and how your paid supports are delivered (within the framework of the services you have been allocated).  

For example, you should be able to choose a preferred time for people to come to your home, or opt for your preferred support person from an agency.  

It is also helpful to share your values, goals and priorities with your provider from the beginning, and ask questions about the support that they will provide (see the ‘Using staff from an organisation’ section of Planning your supports – Stage 2, Chapter 4).

Support with a personal budget

If you have been allocated a personal budget, you will have more decisions to make about how you want to proceed. Each method for operating a personal budget (such as Individualised Funding, Enabling Good Lives, or Choice in Community Living) comes with a set of rules that set out what is possible.  

Generally, people use this funding in one of two ways:

• Buying a service or items – this is where you go to an organisation and buy the product or service that they have on offer. This could include paying a taxi service, purchasing items, paying a cleaner or using an agency to provide a support worker. With these services, the price you pay will include the cost of things like management, payroll and taxes.
  

• Designing and managing your own supports – this option is often cheaper and can offer a lot more flexibility and/or freedom to design your supports in a way that is uniquely right for you; however, it can create more stress as you have the ongoing responsibility of planning and managing all aspects of your supports.  

‍Note: When designing and managing your own supports, it is often possible to pay for services to assist you. This could include help with recruitment, planning for your future or a bookkeeper to assist you with payroll and budgeting.

Outlining expectations and requirements

Once you have a clear idea of the structure through which you will access your supports, the next step is to outline your expectations and requirements to your paid supports and any external providers.  

Remember: While the scope of supports available to you can vary (and, at times, this will be outside of your control), your right to make decisions about the way you receive supports should always be at the centre of any partnership (i.e. the who, when and how your paid supports are delivered, within the framework of the services you have been allocated).

Setting clear expectations

It is important that you are able to clearly communicate your expectations and requirements to your paid supports and any external providers.  

This may include:  

• responsibilities and expectations of the role(s) – what you want your paid supports to be responsible for, and required tasks (e.g. a job description or task list)
  

• rules or guidelines for decision-making – how you want your supports to approach decision-making (e.g. do you want to maintain a lot of oversight and control, or encourage initiative and creativity?)
  

• rules or guidelines for professional boundaries – how you want your paid supports to engage with you in respect of your values, and how you will maintain a good working relationship. Depending on what is important to you, that may include things such as not connecting with you through social media, your thoughts on swearing, or how you will introduce them to people you meet when out and about.  

If you are using a contracted service for your paid supports, outlining your support roles is a powerful way to communicate (to both any individual support workers and/or the agencies or providers) what you require from them.  

If you are hiring your own paid supports directly, you might like to create some documents which you can share with them that set out these expectations clearly. Standard document frameworks like Job Descriptions and Codes of Conduct can be helpful, or you can just jot down a list of key points that you want them to know.  

Creating a plan for communications

A valuable part of setting up your paid supports is knowing how you intend to communicate with them going forward. Having a clear plan from the beginning will improve the stability of your new living situation.  

It is important to consider:

• how you will communicate with your paid supports – in addition to your day-to-day communication, when are the other times that they will need to communicate with you directly (e.g. if they are running late, need clarification on a task or have concerns about something)?
  

• who your paid supports are authorised to communicate with – do you want your paid supports to be able to communicate with members of your support team (e.g. if they have any concerns or if there are aspects of their employment you have delegated to others)?
  

• if you have multiple people supporting you, how they will communicate with each other – your supports may not often be in the same place at the same time, so building in a plan for how everyone can stay informed and connected can have a big impact on the quality of support they are able to provide (e.g. shared online notes, team group chats).

Building in flexibility

Often, the roster you design when you first set up your new living situation will change once you settle into a routine. You might discover you need more or less help with certain things once you are there. Having flexibility to make these adjustments can be beneficial.

Flexibility is also necessary when other people’s situations change – for example, if your paid supports call in sick or resign – sometimes unexpectedly.

While planning for the unexpected will never cover all possibilities, it can be useful to create a ‘Plan B’ for your most important supports. This could include things like having an agency or neighbour as ‘back-up’ if your supports call in sick, or a plan for what to do if a power cut means you are unable to access technology.

Where to start

Outline your expectations and preferences

Being able to clearly communicate your expectations and preferences to your paid supports (and any external providers) is important for maintaining a positive and effective partnership.

Having clarity on things such as how you intend to work together, preferred methods of communication and expectations of professional behaviour can provide a secure basis for navigating your ongoing relationships.  

Create a communication plan for your paid supports

A valuable part of setting up your paid supports is knowing how you intend to communicate with them going forward. Ensuring your paid supports have a clear process for asking questions and sharing ideas is an important part of building engagement.  

Next steps

1. Read through the example scenarios below.

2. Use the ‘Outline your expectations and preferences’ worksheet below to brainstorm the principles or values that you would like to use to guide your professional relationships with paid supports.

3. Use the ‘Create a communication plan for your paid supports’ worksheet below to build a set of guidelines for how you would like your paid supports to communicate (with you, with your support team members, and with each other).