Carers2U Newsletter

                       UNDERSTANDING YOUR NDIS PLAN

You may notice funding in your NDIS Plan allocated towards Capacity Building. So, what does capacity building mean, and how do you make the most of it?
 

NDIS Capacity Building funding covers supports that help improve your skills, independence and confidence so you can participate more fully in everyday life. It can help you reach your goals at home, in the community, at work, or in education.

Here, we explain what capacity building is and take a closer look at the capacity-building budget.

What is capacity building?

Capacity building means developing the skills, confidence and independence to do more for yourself over time. The focus is on building long-term capacity and achieving your personal goals.

This might include things like:

• Learning to cook healthy meals

• Improving social skills

• Managing money

• Preparing for work

• Gaining confidence to get out in the community.

Budgets for Capacity Building and your NDIS Plan. 
 

There are several budgets within the Capacity Building support. Their names may differ depending on whether you’re on a legacy NDIS Plan or a PACE Plan. You may receive funding in one or more of the following categories in your NDIS Plan.
 

Support coordination and psychosocial recovery coaches (Support coordination):
Supports to help you understand and use your NDIS Plan. A support coordinator can connect you with providers, negotiate services and link you with community or government supports.

Improved living arrangements: Supports to help you find, apply for and maintain appropriate housing that suits your needs. You can use this funding to get support applying for a rental, exploring housing options or managing a tenancy.
 

Increased social and community participation: Supports you in building confidence, making friends, and getting involved in community life. You could use this to support your social skills development or to participate in local events and activities. However, the cost of activities themselves is not covered.
 

Finding and keeping a job: Helps you prepare for and stay in work. This might include job search support, allied health assessment or advice, or training to build on-the-job skills.

Relationships (Improved relationships): Supports you to develop and maintain positive relationships. This may include social skill development. For PACE plans, Behaviour Supports is a separate category.
 

Behaviour supports (for PACE plans only): Provides specialist behavioural intervention supports and behaviour support plans where required. These services are included in the Improved Relationships budget in Legacy plans.
 

Health and well-being (Improved health and well-being): Supports health-related goals. You might use this funding for a dietitian, exercise physiology or a personal trainer.
 

Lifelong learning (Improved learning): This budget helps you achieve education and training goals and is usually funded for participants transitioning from school to further education, like university or TAFE. This can include help applying for a course, managing your study schedule or having a support worker attend classes with you.
 

Choice and control (Improved life choices): This is where your budget for plan management will be located. A plan manager like Leap in! Provides support to manage your budget, pay invoices and stay on top of your funding.
 

Improved daily living skills: Covers therapy services like occupational therapy, speech therapy or physiotherapy to build everyday skills and independence.
 

Maximising the value of your Capacity Building budgets.
 

You may not receive funding for all of these categories, so it’s essential to think about what’s most important to you before your next plan meeting or reassessment.

For example, if your goal is to live independently:
 

• Use Improved Living Arrangements to find housing that suits your needs.

• Use Health and Wellbeing funding to find a service provider that provides advice on diet management.

      We can help!

Here at Carers2U HQ, we want to help you achieve the most out of your NDIS Plan. If you’re still unsure whether the funds in your Capacity Building budgets are doing the best they can for you, have a chat with our crew.

Call us on (02) 8001 6268, email us at support@carers2u.net, or sign up to the Carers2U plan management today.

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