Are caseloads realistic and do support coordinators have the clinical support and supervision necessary to undertake their roles effectively?
KR – It’s a Catch 22 situation. Our caseloads are manageable because of the support the team has in the background. There should always be someone to supervise and mentor any level of support coordinator. You never know everything.
RA – Again, I am lucky in the fact that I work for myself and can manage my own caseload. However, given that about 45 per cent of NDIS-registered support coordination companies in Adelaide have ceased providing this service, I have increased my caseload quite significantly over the past 4-6 months, as many participants are finding it increasingly harder to find a suitable/experienced and reliable support coordinator.
ZD – I believe caseloads for support coordinators are realistic because, at the beginning of a participant’s first plan, a support coordinator will use more hours, but then it will slow down to maybe one hour a month once all supports are in place for the client. Then the next new client will come along, and this process repeats itself. Therefore, there is always room for a new client to come onboard and it is manageable.
I am not sure about other support coordinators, but I do not attend any clinical support or supervision being a Specialist Support Coordinator/Team Leader.
KW – As an organisation, we set caseloads with our support coordinators, as well as ensure we have a clear understanding as to participants they wish to work with, where their strengths are, and where they aren’t comfortable – and we allocate accordingly.
SM – In short, yes and no. Me as a team leader, I do supervision with all of the people that I employ. However, I myself do not have supervision as such.
Caseload wise, within our company in particular caseloads are capped to ensure quality of work and to lessen the instance of burnout. I do however know of some organisations where support coordinators have up to 50 participants. This is where gaps end up showing because the support coordinator can’t keep up with the workload.
VS – I am sure every organisation is different. I have a large caseload, along with my team mates. However, we manage to get our tasks completed and ensure our clients are well supported.
We have a supportive manager who checks in regularly.
SH – I'm very lucky that with Lifestyle Mentor Services there is a constant review of our caseloads, so for me the caseload is realistic.
Over the years, I have built very strong relationships with allied health professionals, and this allows me to check in with them if there are any concerns. They in turn also call me directly if they have concerns. They also give me the guidance on what to do to ensure that the participant is looked after appropriately.
AT – If you’re working for a provider that looks after their staff through support, ongoing training and supervision, absolutely the caseload is not too much.
In my experience, I have not had this, and have been overworked, burnt out and dealing with unreasonable caseloads. This is one of the many reasons why I have decided to become an independent. This has allowed me to manage my own work and put in the needed time to work with participants with efficient and effective services.
EH – I have watched many support coordinators come and go over the last few years and many of them are full time employees. I personally cannot, will not, and am not currently working full time paid hours as a support coordinator. This is just not possible – both as a sole trader (I have many other jobs to complete) and also because my mental health suffers too much if I go over MY magic number (the number of paid hours I can work with clients).
Watching the industry at the moment, I can see people are starting to identify that support coordinators are not staying in the role, they burn out quick. The main reason for burning out is the balance of billable hours and client load, added on top of an already hard caring role.
One of the biggest impacts from my perspective is the requirement many organisations have for how many billable hours a support coordinator has to work as part of maintaining a viable financial situation. I have been seeing some discussion on how unsustainable the current model is, however at this stage, I don’t think anyone has a good answer as to how to better balance billable hours and sustainable working situations.
The second major issue I see that is starting to change is supervision – be that peer supervision, mentoring and clinical supervision – for support coordinators.
It is a requirement for counsellors to participate in supervision on a regular basis. The role of a support coordinator is very similar in that we deal with some pretty distressing and upsetting situations and, until recently, the only place to get support was with a manager or around a break table.
Without appropriate support, ongoing training, personal development, and care, the ability for support coordinators to maintain their roles is not possible. I am absolutely certain that the support coordinators who are around for more than 1-2 years have great networks, participate in peer mentoring/supervision and potentially have participated/are participating in clinical supervision.
St H – I believe that caseloads are usually not realistic when they are determined and driven by business profit margins, and the support coordinator is employed under KPI standards and doesn’t have control over their hours of work or caseload numbers.
(DB) – At ARC, we are invested in our team having manageable caseloads, where they feel they have the time to do the best for their participants. Our caseloads for a full time recovery coach/support coordinator are capped at 20 people. I have heard of support coordinators in other organisations having caseloads of 50. This is really tough and I don’t believe it is possible to do the role effectively with a caseload this high.
Supervision is absolutely critical to do the role well and prevent burnout. At ARC, we provide both one-on-one and group supervision on a regular basis. They are important opportunities to connect, reflect, debrief, feel supported, share ideas and be offered guidance by our supervisors and colleagues.
