How a Level 3 Support Coordinator Can Help Parents of Young Kids
Not many young children get funding for SSC, or even regular support coordination, but if your child does, and you are wondering how to make the most of their SC/SSC budget, this might help.
🌟 Here’s how a good one might help, as well as the standard work of finding you the best providers to choose from:
🛠 Help with Equipment and Reports: They can get the reports you need for reassessments and help you secure funding for any equipment your child might need.
📋 Care Plans & Flexible Spending: They’ll explain how you can use your NDIS funding in different ways (including self managing if you’re keen), help you plan for your child’s care and crises, and get you ready for any tough times ahead.
🌈 Inclusion & Disability Awareness: A good SSC will help you understand the value of inclusion and the social model of disability. They’ll also guide you as you make big decisions, like picking a school or choosing therapies.
🤝 Getting Everyone on the Same Page: They can organise meetings (case conferences) with your medical team, therapists and support team and family so everyone knows what’s going on and works together for your child.
🏛 Dealing with Systems: Your SSC can handle tricky talks with health and education systems to make sure your child gets the support they need.
📝 Support Worker Briefs: They’ll help you know what you want and write clear instructions for your support workers so you get the most out of the hours you’ve got funded.
👨👩👧 Support for Your Whole Family: They can help find parent or carer training for you and even support for siblings, so everyone in the family is included and supported.
💡 Government and Organisation Payments and Grants: A good SSC can connect you to other supports, like the Carer Adjustment Payment (for under-7s), Carer Allowance, and Carer Payment, utility rebates and priorities, or grants from places like Variety if you’re eligible.
💰 Using Your Funding Wisely: They’ll help you stick to your NDIS budget, make sure you don’t overspend or underuse your funding, and avoid spending on things that aren’t allowed.
👍 The key is to find an SSC with the skills, experience, personality and backup support who you click with, can trust, is reliable and really gets your family and can help make life smoother for you and your child. I know that’s not easy, so I wish you Good luck!
pic desc: A former (still loved) TGS Team Member who became an SSC with us, sitting on the ground outside with a young child working on creating a volcano science science experiment together. Support Coordination can look like many different things. In my time as an SC/SSC I’ve happily played with children on the floor, folded socks on a sofa while working with a family, dried a dish or two, or hung out washing together while building rapport, making it easier to talk about the hard stuff that families are often managing.
