Capacity building fully focuses on you. The combination of supports, services, and resources you will require to develop your decision-making skills and become more independent is as unique as you are.
It could be about small but significant things like teaching yourself to cook. However, it is also about breaking down barriers, overcoming obstacles, and developing your own strengths in order to contribute to the world in a way that feels fulfilling to you.
What is Capacity Building Support?
Your NDIS plan may feature capacity-building support as one of its three potential support budgets. This section elucidates what this support encompasses and how it operates.
The capacity-building budget spans nine distinct support categories, all designed to aid you in achieving a higher degree of independence and leading a fulfilling life. It operates alongside the other two budget types: core supports and capital supports, which respectively cover daily care necessities and equipment or modification expenses. Together, these budgets facilitate the realization of your NDIS plan’s objectives.
In your planning or review meetings, the NDIA will evaluate your needs to identify the capacity-building supports that are both reasonable and necessary for you. Utilizing the short and long-term goals outlined in your NDIS plan, your planner or LAC will allocate funds to supports that align with your objectives, promoting a more autonomous lifestyle. For instance, if enhancing your culinary skills and adopting a healthier diet is a goal, you might allocate funds from the ‘increased social and community support’ budget to enrol in cooking classes.
Capacity-building supports encompass services and aids designed to bolster individuals’ skills and independence. This category includes assistance with support coordination, such as NDIS plan management, accommodation upgrades to group homes or large residential settings, respite and programs to foster community engagement, help with securing and retaining employment and educational opportunities, and assessments and therapeutic interventions through allied health services.
What does NDIS capacity-building support entail?
Capacity-building support is those that assist you in maintaining your independence while also developing your skills.
They are in addition to Core Supports, which ensure that you can carry out daily living tasks. If you take nutrition as an example, then Core Support might be having your daily meals prepared and delivered to you, whereas Capacity Building support will teach you how to prepare nutritionally balanced meals on your own.
There are nine different types of Capacity Building support. You will not be automatically funded for all nine; rather, funding for these will be determined by your NDIS plan goals.
So, if one of your goals is to become more involved in your community, you may receive Capacity Building assistance in the form of learning skills to manage your behaviour or having a support worker accompany you to social activities until you are confident and have the skills to attend on your own.
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Understanding the Benefits of Capacity Building
Capacity building offers a versatile range of activities and objectives that you can pursue using the funds allocated to your NDIS plan. This specialized support item is designed to provide you with adaptable, empathetic, and individualized assistance, helping you to realize your personal goals. Below, we outline some of the potential objectives and activities that you might consider utilizing your capacity-building funds for:
- Securing employment in the open job market
- Utilizing public transportation or taxi services
- Maintaining a clean living environment
- Preparing meals
- Managing finances effectively
- Overseeing personal care routines
- Engaging in shopping activities
- Taking part in leisure activities such as sports or arts
- Enhancing social abilities and fostering self-confidence through group engagements with peers
- Participating in work or other daytime engagements
Given the extensive array of support options available, pinpointing your focus areas might seem challenging. This is why it is crucial to identify and prioritize your requirements early on during your plan application or review process. Doing so will facilitate the appropriate allocation of your funding across the nine distinct categories that delineate the specific uses of your funds.
Categories of NDIS Support
The NDIS plan funding is divided into three categories of assistance: Core Support, Capacity Building Support, and Capital Support.
Core Support
The main support category that can assist you with daily activities and support access to and participation opportunities in your community is core support. Your core support category funding is adaptable.
Core support is the fundamental support required to perform daily living tasks and achieve the individual’s goals. This can include assistance with household chores and activities (e.g., domestic tasks, meal delivery, and lodging), transportation, funding for obtaining everyday items (e.g., translation services, enteral nutrition products, or incontinence pads), and encouraging greater community involvement (e.g., attending camps, mentoring programmes or art classes).
Capital Support
Capital Support is primarily focused on assistive technology and home modifications. This support category’s funding is not flexible, and funds must be used for their intended purpose.
Capital support helps participants purchase necessary equipment and technology such as home or vehicle modifications, grab rails, personal care equipment (e.g., wheelchairs), or other structural additions to the home, such as an elevator or ramp.
Capacity Building Supports
Capacity Building Supports are intended to assist you in developing skills and independence in your daily life, as well as in pursuing your goals. Budgets for capacity-building assistance are somewhat flexible. Participants can use their capacity-building funding in any way they want within the capacity-building subcategories, but they cannot use it to pay for support in other capacity-building subcategories.
Any service listed in your NDIS plan as a ‘stated support’ is not flexible. If an item is listed as a ‘stated support,’ it means that the funding must be used for the purpose intended.
SUPPORT CATEGORIES FOR CAPACITY BUILDING NDIS
There are nine different types of Capacity Building support. You will not be automatically funded for all nine; the goals outlined in your National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) plan will determine which categories you are funded for.
Capacity-building supports are classified into nine subcategories:
- Coordination of Supports
- Improved Living Arrangements
- Increased Social and Community Participation
- Finding and Keeping a Job
- Improved Relationships
- Improved Health and Wellbeing
- Improved Daily Living
- Improved Life Choices
- Improved Learning
Coordination of supports
This support of Capacity Building support helps connect you with informal, mainstream, and funded support so you can make the most of your NDIS plan and ensure your support is delivered as promised. In your planning meeting, if you ask for Support Coordination, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will determine the appropriate level of assistance based on the information gathered during your meeting.
This budget allows you to claim support coordination services. Support coordinators assist you in putting your plan into action and organising your support. They can assist you in connecting with the community and larger systems of support, developing and designing support options to assist you in working towards your goals and working with you to prepare for review and reporting on what you’ve accomplished.
Coordination of Supports is divided into three sub-categories:
Support connection
This provides you with short-term assistance in learning how to connect with and maintain relationships with your service providers.
Support coordination
Support coordination provides ongoing assistance in strengthening your ability to connect with support, including service delivery issue resolution and support service monitoring. This basically means that if you want to find a new provider, you will be able to reach out and connect with one – and you will be able to identify whether or not they are providing you with quality service. If not, you will have the necessary support and skills to file a complaint and have your issues resolved.
Specialist support coordination
This service coordinates support for people who are in complex and high-risk situations. It is a one-time event rather than an ongoing one.
Improved Living Arrangements
This funding is intended to assist you in finding suitable housing so that you can live more independently, and it may cover someone to assist you in inspecting properties or negotiating your contract. The support includes assistance with applying for a rental property, meeting tenancy obligations, and ensuring the home is appropriate for your needs may be provided.
Whether you live with someone else or want to live independently, this assistance will help you develop the skills needed to manage rental agreements, tenancy obligations, and other housing-related responsibilities.
Increased Social and Community Participation
Short-term or ongoing assistance to improve your ability to manage your life on your own and participate in your community. Support for participation in community access programmes or group activities can be included. If you want to improve your social skills and make new friends, you could get funding to go to a community camp or vacation group, for example, where you can meet new people and build relationships. Transportation based on activity is also included.
This is to pay for support in developing your skills in accessing the community. This could include paying for a mentor or therapist to help with learning skills for community independence.
This type of funding can be used to pay for tuition, art classes, sports coaching, and other activities that promote independence and skill development.
These resources will assist you in improving your ability to participate in your community. It includes peer support, life choices, active ageing, community access programmes, vacation care, Out of School Hours Care (OOSH), weekend programmes, flexible respite, centre-based respite, and group fitness activities. That’s quite a lot!
Improved Relationships
Relationships are valuable, but they can be difficult to keep! These services include funding for a behaviour support plan, the development of positive behaviour management strategies, the development of social skills, and behaviour intervention.
Supports to help you develop your ability to connect and build relationships in your community. This could include funding to pay for someone to help you improve your social skills or behavioural therapy services.
Included are social skill development and behaviour intervention support as needed. This could include funding for a behaviour support plan, which aims to reduce the likelihood of problematic behaviours developing or worsening.
Improved Health and Wellbeing
Personal training sessions and nutrition advice are examples of physical well-being activities that can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. The NDIS may fund this support if your disability is causing health, physical, or mental health issues. If you are eligible for this funding, you could, for example, consult with a nutritionist to develop an individualised healthy-eating meal plan.
Personal trainers, exercise physiologists, and dietitians are examples of services that can help you maintain your own health and well-being.
These supports may fund activities that help you maintain a healthy lifestyle, such as exercise physiology, personal training, dietician consultation, and an exercise and nutrition plan. You can learn how to stay active through exercise, eat healthily, and prepare delicious meals with these!
Improved daily living
This assistance is financial assistance to cover your therapies and other programmes designed to help you reduce the impact of your disability. It could be speech pathology, occupational therapy, or any other therapy that helps you become more self-sufficient in your daily living activities.
Improved daily living support services fund therapy (assessment or ongoing) and training to help people develop or improve their skills for independence and community participation. This service is most likely to be provided by physiotherapists, occupational therapists, or registered nurses.
Assessment, therapy, and/or training provided by a professional such as an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, or registered nurse are all covered. Early Childhood Intervention is included. If you receive funding for this category, you may choose to spend it on occupational therapy and speech therapy assessment and intervention for 30 hours per year.
Improved Life Choices
This budget covers the cost of your plan manager. To obtain funding for a plan manager, simply request it during your planning or review meeting. Your plan manager will handle all of your NDIS plan’s financial and administrative work, and if they are a good plan manager, they will have useful technology and a team of NDIS experts to assist you in getting the most out of your NDIS plan.
These resources will help you manage your finances and spend your money wisely. It may include the costs of financial intermediary setup, training in planning and plan management, developing financial and organizational skills, and improving your ability to direct their support and/or develop self-management capabilities. These abilities will enable you to manage your NDIS plan on your own or find someone to assist you by doing so.
Plan management assistance, financial assistance, and training to improve organizational and self-management skills are all possibilities. You could hire a plan management service provider to help you manage the money in your NDIS plan. They can pay providers, assist in the development of service agreements, create monthly statements, and file NDIA claims.
Improved Learning
Have you ever considered extending your education or attending TAFE or university? Improved learning supports will assist you in making the transition from school to further education. You may be assisted in applying for a study programme or course, planning your study schedule, purchasing textbooks, or having a support worker accompany you to classes. To be clear, NDIS funding will not cover any of your school or tuition fees.
This support will help in researching and applying for study or training opportunities. If you receive funding in this category, you could, for example, hire a service provider to assist you with the transition from high school to university. This could include assistance with scheduling and budgeting for textbooks, as well as having a support worker accompany you to class. Improved Learning funding will only cover support costs, not course or tuition fees that anyone else without a disability would be expected to pay.
Access to services that will assist you in making the transition from school to higher education. This budget could pay for a support worker to assist you in attending university or TAFE.
Five reasons to choose NDIS Capacity Building Support
NDIS capacity building is the process by which individuals develop their skills and abilities to perform functions, set and achieve goals, solve problems, and understand and address their development needs in a broader context and over time. This approach empowers the NDIS participants to facilitate their own personal development, transforming them from the person whose capacity is being developed to the person who builds capacity.
Here are five reasons why we support NDIS capacity development.
#1 It focuses on the individual’s strength
The narrative surrounding disability services shifts from a deficit, needs-based model to an abundance, strength-building model. This enables participants, their parents and caregivers, and disability service providers to approach disability services with an open mind. Building on participants’ strengths, rather than their disabilities, empowers them to become life-long learners.
#2 It provides services in a comprehensive manner
At Auspire Care, we understand that people require time and ongoing, long-term support to achieve their goals. We also understand that assisting participants in reaching their full potential necessitates the collaboration of a multidisciplinary team.
The NDIS capacity-building framework employs a number of strategies and tactics at the individual, organizational, and systemic levels to ensure its long-term viability and effectiveness. Capacity building overcomes multi-dimensional barriers to achieving goals and wraps a variety of services around an individual, from teaching life skills like cooking to developing vocational skills in the workplace.
#3 It’s empowering
The fact that the NDIS capacity-building programmes empower participants is one of their best features. The goal of capacity building is to demonstrate to participants that with proper planning, execution, and support, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. This demonstrates to participants that they have control over their surroundings and can actively shape their own future.
#4 It teaches problem-solving abilities
Problem-solving abilities are required for NDIS capacity-building programmes. They use a problem-solving approach that recognizes participants as life-long learners who will constantly learn new skills as they face new challenges. Participants take an active role in setting their own goals, selecting appropriate development strategies, and reflecting on their own progress.
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#5 It prepares NDIS participants for real-life situations
Participants are better prepared for real life as NDIS capacity-building programmes help them develop their skills and capabilities. The capacity building focuses on developing self-care skills, communication, and contributing to the household and community to help participants lead independent lives and better participate in society.
Wrapping Up!
The NDIS was created to give people with disabilities more options for how they live, and more say over decisions that affect their lives.
As you can see, the NDIS includes a significant capacity-building component. The NDIS Capacity Building budgets are intended to help you learn, participate, and become more self-sufficient.
