What does a typical day in the life of a support coordinator look like?
MP – Checking diary appointments, responding to crises, responding to phone and email messages, forward planning for any upcoming assessments.
VS – First I check my calendar and emails and respond accordingly. Then, I follow up with tasks for clients I have listed in ‘to do’, respond to calls and prioritise tasks.
AT – Always busy visiting participants, constantly following up on support services, ensuring that participants are happy with their support services, managing and monitoring their budget, as well as – more so recently – having to do other people’s work as they’re not doing the work that they’re paid to do. Constant emailing and ongoing phone calls.
SG – No two days are the same. Sometimes my day starts very early in the morning and finishes late in the evening. Meetings, budgets, phone calls, reports, networking, paperwork.
EH – As an independent support coordinator, I have a couple of different types of day in my week. However, the biggest thing that is in every day is communication – communication with my bosses (the NDIS participant and their supports) and communication with the support community.
If my day is based in the office, I will spend a lot of time on the phone and sending emails, there is a lot of work in finding services and then completing referrals. I will always check in with my clients around the decisions they would like to make and do nothing without their express approval.
If my day is out and about, I will be meeting with clients in their home or other comfortable location in the community, supporting the client to meet with providers, or networking with providers so that I am able to foster great communication pathways – both for referral and after clients start working with supports.
HR – There is no typical day really. I am often straight out to participants’ houses, then back to the office to answer some emails. I try to answer the phone often, while more people are trying to call at the same time. Then I will try to write a little bit more on a report.
SH – For me, I have at least two face-to-face meetings with my participants. This is part of Lifestyle Mentor Services’ (LMS) policy, that we must have face-to-face meetings with all of our participants.
When talking to participants on the phone, they mostly paint a picture that everything is OK. It is not until you enter the home that the real picture emerges, and from that we can devise an appropriate plan of action.
I also spend time finding appropriate service providers (i.e. I interview them before sending through their profile to the participant). Inevitably, there are many calls to the NDIA, the NDIS, planners and LACs, as well writing up reports.
ZD – There is no typical day in the life of a support coordinator, as every day is completely different. One day I might be in the office all day, catching up on eight week, mid-plan or pre-review support coordination reports for the NDIA, sorting client paperwork into digital and paper files, filling out paperwork, responding to many emails, and sending plan changes or situation changes into the NDIA on behalf of my clients, all while answering my phone continuously and helping clients with their NDIS requests immediately.
The next day I may barely be in the office at all, but rather out and about meeting new clients to help them with NDIS access applications and evidence gathering, attending pre-plan meetings and plan meetings once my clients meet access, meeting new clients that have contacted me who already have an NDIS plan, going to certain appointments with my clients or introducing them to connecting services or support people, or for support coordination or stakeholder meetings with my clients and their service providers.
No two days are the same in a support coordination role.
SC – Referrals to support capacity building for the participant.
In case you want more, you may be interested in reading this piece that explores a day in the life of a support coordinator - featuring Emma Lloyd, Managing Director of One Tribe Australia.
