Tips for choosing a support coordinator

A support coordinator can play an important part in your National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) journey, and that's because their role is to help you to make the best use of the supports in your NDIS plan.

Whether you've got access to plenty or few in your area, you'll want to know how to choose the right support coordinator for you and your circumstances.

Let's dive in to how funding for support coordination works, what makes a good support coordinator, and where you can find one.

How funding for a support coordinator gets included in your plan

Not every participant will benefit from or need to work with a support coordinator. In determining whether to include funding for a support coordinator in your plan, the NDIS will consider if support coordination is reasonable and necessary for you to pursue your goals, as well as the support you receive from family, friends, and other community and government services.

If funding for a support coordinator is approved, you'll find it in your Capacity Building Supports budget.

There are three levels of support coordination that can be included in your plan:

• Support connection – a support to build your ability to connect with informal, community and funded supports enabling you to get the most out of your plan and pursue your goals.
• Support coordination – coordination of supports: a support to assist you to build the skills you need to understand and use your plan. A support coordinator will work with you to ensure a mix of supports are used to increase your capacity to maintain relationships, manage service delivery tasks, live more independently and be included in your community.
• Specialist support coordination – a higher level of support coordination. It is for people whose situations are more complex and who need specialist support. A specialist support coordinator will assist you to manage challenges in your support environment and ensuring consistent delivery of service.

What price should your support coordinator charge?

Support coordinators need to be NDIS-registered providers, so they can’t charge more for the type of support coordination included in your plan than the rate specified in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.

The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits lists the maximum amount a provider can charge you for a service under the Scheme. If you’re able to negotiate a cheaper price with your provider, you can - and this means you'll be able to get more out of your allocated funding.

What makes a good support coordinator?

Everyone has different needs and requires different levels of support, so finding a support coordinator who works well with you is an entirely personal decision. Here are a few key questions to ask when choosing a support coordinator:

• Are they independent? Support coordinators play a crucial role in your journey, so think about choosing an independent business that only provides support coordination. Specialist support coordination services are ones that don’t provide any other services such as plan management, therapy or support work, so they are fully focused on your needs.
• Are they innovative? You are unique, so what works well for another client may not be the best option for you. A good support coordinator should be innovative, thinking outside the box when they need to.
• Are they reliable? Your support coordinator should be reliable and able to help you when you need them. You can look at reviews on MyCareSpace, Clickability or Karista to see what their other clients think.

Where can I find a support coordinator?

At My Plan Manager, we like to keep the choice and control firmly in the hands of our clients, so we don’t recommend providers directly. But we can certainly help you find the information you need to make you own decisions about providers.

Try looking at our list of the top NDIS provider search directories to help you find service providers in your local area. Or, check out our free online community, Kinora, where you can source wisdom from the crowd by asking for recommendations.