Recreational Respiteinformation for Applicants

RECREATIONAL RESPITEINFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS

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• The Recreational Respite Program is an initiative which has the capacity to purchase limited services to support carers’ once-off or short term respite needs.
• Please note that this program is for planned respite, not respite requiring an immediate or urgent response.
• The Recreational Respite Program is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services and targets carers of young people with disabilities who have high support needs.

RECREATIONAL RESPITEINFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS

Page 1 of2 ONCALL FORM

• Is the primary person providing regular and sustained informal care and assistance to a person/s with a disability. The assistance must be ongoing, or likely to be ongoing, for at least six months and be provided for one or more core activities of communication, mobility and self-care to this person;
• Does not receive payment for care provided (other than reimbursements such as the Carer Payment or Carer Allowance etc);
• Resides in the Southern Metropolitan Region, either with or without the care recipient.This includes the councils of Bayside, Cardinia, Casey, Frankston, Glen Eira, Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Mornington Peninsula, Port Phillip, and Stonnington;
• Carers may be parent/s, siblings, grandparents, a guardian or spouse.

• Requires on-going personal, domestic, social or emotional assistance as a result of their disability
• Lives in the community (not in permanent residential accommodation)

• The person with a disability must be between the ages of 6 and 25 years of age and have high care needs relating to:

1. Medical needs, such as oxygen therapy, peg tube feeding or administration of medication requiring specialist training (PR diazepam for example)
2. Physical support needs such as requiring usage of a wheelchair and/or hoists for transfers, and
3. Behavioural needs which place the person at risk to themselves, their support worker or other members of the community. Behaviours could include but not be limited to biting, scratching, hitting, property damage, absconding or injury to self.

• is likely to be permanent and causes a substantially reduced capacity in at least one of the areas of self-care, self-management, mobility or communication; and
• requires significant ongoing or long-term episodic support; and
• is not related to ageing; or

• Applications can be completed by carers, Case Managers, Service Providers or other members of the community.
• Following receipt of the application, the Recreational Respite worker will contact the applicant to discuss the referral.
• If the application is approved, the applicant will be required to provide statistical data and details of the brokered services for the purposes of billing. Carer Services is only able to broker services to service providers that it has a current Service Agreement with.
• The Recreation Respite workerwill provide a purchase order to the provider of the brokered service and arrange to be billed directly for the agreed amount. Where there are differences between the amount invoiced and the amount on a purchase order, billing cannot proceed until this is rectified. Additional hours cannot be granted without approval and retrospective payments will not be processed.
• Upon consent of the carer, relevant information about the care recipient will be sent to the service provider together with the purchase order in order to provide a service.
• The applicant is required to provide any additional information to the service provider about the care recipient and the supports required to ensure that services are arranged to meet their needs.
• If services are not used within the approved time frame, they cannot be used at a later date unless prior approval is given.
• The Applicant is to utilise appropriate service standards equivalent to HACC, when providing services to clients.