FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM GUIDELINES

These guidelines apply to all referrers of the program (Allied Health Professionals and Medical Professionals) and all members of the Redkite Services team.

Should further information be required on the Financial Assistance program, please contact Redkite on 1800 REDKITE (1800 733 548) or at

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose of Redkite’s Financial Assistance Program

Redkiterecognises the financial and emotional stress that child and Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) cancer experience places on individuals and families. The Redkite Financial Assistance program therefore aims to support families throughout the cancer journey by providing them with practical assistance to manage their finances and assist with their everyday expenses.

Financial Assistance is not an entitlement, but is based on the eligibility criteria. In order for a family or young person to access financial assistance, they must meet the following program criteria (see p.4 for further details):

  • The C/YP is aged 0-24 years and has been diagnosed with cancer.
  • The application relates directly to the C/YP cancer and the family/YP’s resulting financial hardship; and is beyond their current capacity to meet (details need to be provided).
  • The diagnosed C/YP resides in Australia (temporarily or permanently).
  • The diagnosed C/YP is no more than 12 months post cancer treatment.
  • The diagnosed C/YP has relapsed with cancer (if applicable).

Levels of Financial Assistance

The Financial Assistance program aims to respond to the varying levels of practical need experienced by children, young people and their families along the cancer journey.

Under Redkite’s Financial Assistance program, there are three levels of tailored assistance; Primary Assistance, Higher Needs Assistance and Exceptional Needs Assistance (PA, HNA and ENA).

Provided a family meets the eligibility criteria as outlined in this document, Primary Assistance will be approved and must be accessed in full before an application for Higher Needs can be made on behalf of the family.

Information about PA and HNA is outlined in this document; however, for information about ENA please see separate ExceptionalNeeds Assistanceguidelines.

  1. Primary Assistance – (up to $1500 of assistance per year)

Primary Assistance is available to support families/YP who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of their cancer diagnosis. All applications for primary assistance need to include details onthe impact the cancer diagnosis has had on the young person or family’s current capacity to meet everyday bills and expenses.

  1. Higher Needs Assistance – (up to $2000 of assistance per year).

If families and young people are experiencing a complex level of financial hardship, they may be eligible for Higher Needs Assistance (HNA). For a family/young person to be eligible for HNA, one or more stressors must be impacting significantly upon their financial hardship (see p.7 for examples of the types of stressors). Additional information must be provided with a HNA application detailing the significant level of financial hardship and associated stressors.

See p.7-9 for more information on each level of financial assistance.

ABBREVIATIONS

AYAAdolescent and Young Adult

C/YPChild/Young Person

PAPrimary Assistance

HNAHigher Needs Assistance

ENAExceptional Needs Assistance

DEFINITIONS

Family / Refers to family members who are residing in the patient’s home. Family may include, but are not limited to, parents, carers, grandparents, siblings, guardians and partners.
Young Person / Refers to the diagnosed young person who is aged 18-24 years of age. They may be living independently of their family or within the family home.

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose of Redkite’s Financial Assistance Program

General Eligibility

Diagnostic Criteria

Other relevant information

Vouchers

Late Fees

Part payments

Other Assistance

Exclusions to Financial Assistance Eligibility

TAILORED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Primary Assistance – (up to $1500 of assistance per year)

Higher Needs Assistance – (up to $2000 of assistance per year)

USE OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS

BEREAVEMENT ASSISTANCE

Funeral Grants (up to $1500)

Bereavement Counselling Grants

REDKITE: HOW WE CAN HELP

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Financial Assistance is not an entitlement, but is based on the eligibility criteria. In order for a family or young person to access financial assistance, they must meet the program criteria as set out below.

General Eligibility

There are a number of general eligibility criteria which the diagnosed C/YP must meet in order to access the financial assistance program. These are as follows:

  • The C/YP is aged 0-24 years and has been diagnosed with cancer.
  • The application relates directly to the C/YP cancer and the family/YP’s resulting financial hardship; and is beyond their current capacity to meet (details need to be provided).
  • The diagnosed C/YP resides in Australia (temporarily or permanently).
  • The diagnosed C/YP is no more than 12 months post cancer treatment.
  • The diagnosed C/YP has relapsed with cancer (if applicable).

Diagnostic Criteria

As per Redkite’s charter, Redkite provides support (practical and emotional) to families and young people aged 0-24 who have been diagnosed with any type of cancer, a brain tumour (malignant and benign), or melanoma (from a stage II and above).

Definition of Treatment Stages

The following treatment stages also determine a family or young person’s eligibility for financial assistance:

  • ‘Active treatment’ – C/YP is currently receiving treatment to cure/remove the cancer including, but not limited to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, maintenance, surgery and transplant*.

* Does not extend to treatments that are ongoing infinitum.

  • ‘Off treatment’ – C/YP is up to 12 months post completion of the treatment phase for the cancer.
  • ‘Palliative care’ – C/YP is receiving treatment to relieve symptoms without trying to cure the disease
  • ‘Early bereavement’ – the first 12 months after the death of a C/YP.

If you are unsure whether a C/YP has begun or completed active treatment, we advise that you liaise with the patient’s multidisciplinary team to confirm their active treatment and off-treatment date/s.

Off Treatment definition

As a guide, Redkite defines off treatment as one of the following:

  • The date of discharge following the final cycle of planned chemotherapy as an in-patient
  • The last date the diagnosed child/young person received chemotherapy (including oral chemotherapy) as an out-patient
  • The last date the diagnosed child/young person received radiation therapy
  • The date of discharge following an admission for a bone marrow transplant
  • The date of discharge following an admission for cancer surgery

Other relevant information

  • Redkite pays the biller directly and does not reimburse families for bills that have already been paid.
  • Redkite does not require families and young people to undergo a detailed ‘means test’ to be considered eligible for Financial Assistance. However, Social Workers must provide details of their assessment of need regardingwhat impact the cancer diagnosis has had on the young person or family’s current capacity to meet everyday bills and expenses.
  • In the event that a family or young person has accessed the total financial assistance available to them, they will be unable to apply for further financial assistance until they have reached their rollover date.

This occurs after one year of financial assistance. The rollover date is calculated from the date the application is entered into the Redkite database and is generally no more than one week from when the application was received. Please note financial assistance does not run on a calendar or financial year.

  • Please note that, due to tax legislation requirements, Redkite is required to withhold tax payments where there is no ABN. This means the payment will be for approx. 53% of the total cost, however 100% will be charged to the family’s financial assistance. One request in particular that may be affected by this is private rental payments.

Vouchers

Families/YP accessing financial assistance through Redkiteare able to apply for bills to be paid, or food and fuel vouchers. To assist with managing the administration of vouchers, please consider the following:

  • As a guide we recommend up to $200 in vouchers be applied for in a single application (this is a total of $200 across food and fuel vouchers).
  • We do understand there may be exceptions, and as such the maximum limit of vouchers that can be applied for in a single application is $300.

Part payments

In the event where there is a part payment / installment option for a bill, we will pay the most recent installment rather than the entirety of the bill. For example, if we are presented with a bill and are asked to pay the entirety which is $800, but there is the option to pay in 4 separate installments of $200 per quarter, we will choose this method as our preference. The rationale for this is:

a)The entire bill is not an immediate expense to the family

b)We feel that this is a better option for families as this leaves them with extra funds remaining should other more urgent (immediate) or large bills arise in the future.

Some examples of bills that present with part payments are council rates, car registration, water levies.

Late Fees

Redkite does not pay late fees on bills. If a young person or family need someone to advocate to the bills providers, they should talk to their social worker or the Redkite support team.

Other Assistance

Families may be eligible for other forms of financial assistance from other organisations. We encourage social workers to talk to families about all the different types of financial supports that may be available to them, such as:

  • Patient travel subsidies are available through each state government for regional and rural families that have to travel to hospital. The subsidies cover the associated fuel costs, accommodation and other travel costs.
  • Financial assistance or financial counselling from other charities, eg. Leukaemia Foundation, Cancer Council.
  • Centrelinkbenefits.
  • Applying for financial hardship to extend bill payment dates or lower bill costs, or to temporarily suspend mortgage repayments.

Exclusions to Financial Assistance Eligibility

Under the Financial Assistance program, there are also some exclusion’s to a family or young person’s eligibility. These are set out below:

Ongoing and Late Effects

At this stage, the Redkite Financial Assistance program ceases at the one year off-treatment stage, given that it is less intensive than the early and active treatment stage. This therefore excludes the financial costs associated with the ongoing and later effects of cancer treatment and the potential costs incurred from this.

Non-Cancer Diagnoses

Under all Redkite program areas, Redkite does not support a non-cancer diagnosis. Where some diagnoses may be treated like a cancer, but are not a cancer, they still do not qualify for assistance under any Redkite program area. Some diagnoses that we do not support are:

  • Aplastic Anaemia
  • Hoyerraal-Hreidarsson Syndrome
  • Amyloidosis
  • Cystic Nephroma
  • HaemophagactyicLymphohistocytosis (HLH)

NB: This is not a comprehensive list of diagnoses we do not support – please contact Redkite if you need to clarify a C/YP’s diagnosis and eligibility.

If you are unsure about whether a family/YP would be eligible for Redkite support, please contact Redkite on 1800 REDKITE (1800 733 548).

TAILORED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The Financial Assistance program aims to respond to the varying levels of practical need experienced by children, young people and their families along the cancer journey. Redkite has therefore developed a tailored system of financial assistance which identifies and categorises these varying levels of need to ensure that families and young people are provided with practical assistance that best meets their need and family situation.

Under Redkite’s Financial Assistance program, there are three levels of tailored assistance.Information about PA and HNA is outlined below. For information about Exceptional Needs Assistance (ENA) please see separate ENA guidelines.

Primary Assistance – (up to $1500 of assistance per year)

Primary Assistance is available to support families/YP who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of their cancer diagnosis.

NB. Families and young people do not have to meet all of the below criteria, but details of what impact the cancer diagnosis has had on the young person or family’s current capacity to meet everyday bills and expenses is required.

If you feel that a family or young person does meet one or more of the criteria for Primary Assistance, please proceed with your application.

  • Reduced income – one parent/guardian has stopped working to look after the diagnosed child which has significantly reduced their income, or one parent/guardian cannot receive any paid leave entitlements (or have used up all paid leave entitlements) or are employed in a position with no such entitlements.
  • Reduced income – young person has a reduced income or is unemployed as a result of their cancer journey. Significant decrease in income and an increase in other ‘out of pocket’ costs associated with treatment.
  • Demonstrable inability to pay for essential needs such as rent / mortgage expenses, fuel to drive to the hospital for treatment / appointments or to pay for food

Higher Needs Assistance – (up to $2000 of assistance per year)

If families and young people are experiencing a complex level of financial hardship, they may be eligible for a further $500 of Higher Needs Assistance (HNA), once they have accessed Primary Assistance.

Families and young people in this complex financial hardship situation are consequently more vulnerable in terms of their financial and emotional well-being, requiring additional assistance to that which is provided under Primary Assistance.Higher Needs Assistance is available to support families and young people who are experiencing a combination of stressors in a number of areas, with these stressors potentially escalating and worsening their situation.

As well as the high need factors, there must be a significant level of financial hardship which accompanies these factors, as this is the premise for the entire program. It is not based on a level of entitlement due to their high need situation, but are starting points which determines their overall eligibility.

For a family/young person to be eligible for Higher Needs Assistance, one or more of the following stressors must be impacting significantly upon their financial hardship (details need to be provided in the application form):

  • Single parent families – the parent has had to reduce work which has had a significant impact on their income.
  • Rural / regional family / young person relocating for treatment and this has had a significant impact on finances due to the need to manage additional accommodation and associated expenses.
  • Temporary residents (Refugee / Asylum Seeker/visa holders) – not eligible for Centrelink benefits.
  • The C/YP has received long term cancer treatment or has relapsed; and where intensive treatment phase extends beyond one year.
  • Large or complex family unit (4+ children) to who direct financial support is provided.

Please note this is not an exhaustive list. If you feel that a family would be eligible for Higher Needs Assistance due to a stressor that is not listed above, please contact Redkite to discuss.

USE OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS

All bills must clearly state the BPAY or direct transfer payment details and be addressed to the Primary Applicant. Redkite checks that names and addresses on bills match our records for auditing purposes.

The table below indicates a range of expenses that Redkitedo and do not cover under financial assistance:

DO COVER / DO NOT COVER
Car Payments
  • Car registration
  • Car Insurance (Greenslip and third party)
  • Car repairs (where deemed appropriate)
*Provided to one car per family only. / Medical Expenses
  • Rehab costs
  • Private health insurance
  • Ambulance fees

Utility Bills
  • Electricity
  • Gas
  • Water
  • Telephone (home and mobile)
  • Internet
  • Council Rates
  • Home and contents insurance
/ Business Expenses
  • Rent
  • Electricity
  • Phone bills
*Redkite checks the address on all bills to ensure that they match with a family’s residential address. Additionally, some bills will specifically indicate they are for a business.
Vouchers
  • Shell Fuel Vouchers
  • Coles Grocery Vouchers
*Recommend up to $200 per application / Nice to haves
  • Foxtel & other paid TV subscriptions

Accommodation/Housing
  • Rent
  • Strata
  • Mortgage
  • Accommodation expenses relating to treatment, or the gap not covered by the government.
/ Other
  • Road tolls
  • Credit card bills
  • Fines
  • Flights
  • White goods

Special Request
  • Wigs
  • Child care fees, or the gap not covered by the government.
/ Government subsidised costs
  • Taxi subsidisation schemes

BEREAVEMENT ASSISTANCE

Redkite is committed to providing emotional support to families/young people throughout their cancer journey. This includes supporting families when a child or young person dies. Under Financial Assistance, Redkiteis able to supportthose families that need it through the provision of Bereavement Assistance grants. There are two grants under Bereavement Assistance – Funeral Grants to assist families who are unable to meet the cost of the child or young person’s funeral; and Bereavement Counselling grants to support families through the loss of their loved one. The Redkite support team can also provide grief counselling toall members of a bereaved family for as long as you need.

Funeral Grants (up to $1500)

Funeral grants are available to families whose child has died from cancer. They are available as a one off $1500 funeral grant and can be used to pay for funeral related costs, as billed by the funeral home.

Please note that funeral grants are not transferable to Financial Assistance. Redkite pays the Funeral Company directly. Redkite does not reimburse families for bills already paid.

Bereavement Counselling Grants

Bereavement counselling grants are separate to funeral grants and tailored Financial Assistance grants. Redkite provides two $500 bereavement grants per family to those affected by the death of a child or young person with cancer. They can be accessed up to 2 years post bereavement by parents, primary carers, partners, children and/or siblings of a child or young person with cancer who has died.