What is a self directed approach?
A self directed approach gives people with disability and their families more choice and control over both informal support and government funding which is directed at their support. It is designed to enable people to direct their own supports rather than attempting to fit within pre-existing service systems.
As a concept, a self directed approach places the individual at the centre of decision making and treats family members as partners. The process focuses on discovering the person’s skills and capacities, and identifying the priorities of the person in terms of their hopes, goals and lifestyle choices. The individual and their family are then able to design the supports that will meet their own needs and goals, rather than being limited to choosing only from a predetermined list of service options.
A self directed approach is underpinned by the values of independence, choice and social inclusion. Some of the current opportunities for this approach do not yet cover the full range of these values. While they represent encouraging signs of an emerging trend towards giving more choice and control to people with disability and their families, there is still some way to go before it can be said that they include all the elements of a truly self directed approach.
What does it mean in practice?
A self directed approach aims to give people with disability and their family (or support network):
- control over the what, when, where and by whom of support;
- assistance to plan, implement and change the nature of supports provided by another person. The person providing the support remains accountable to the person with disability;
- the option to delegate financial, legal and administrative responsibilities to an intermediary service;
- the ability to build their knowledge and skills to direct their own support.
What does a self directed approach involve?
There are three essential elements of a self directed approach:
- self directed planning: planning that is truly about the person receiving support. This means it must be directed by the person and their family/support network;
- self directed funding: funding that is allocated to the individual and their family/support network early in the process to enable them to identify and design supports. The supports are both flexible and responsive to the individual's needs;
- self directed support: a combination of both formal and informal supports that are tailored to deliver the best outcomes in response to the individual’s priorities.
How does the funding work?
Consistent with a self directed approach, government funding that is allocated to a person with disability can be held by:
- them and/or their representative (such as the person’s family);
- a financial intermediary. These are organisations that are responsible for managing financial, legal and administrative obligations; or
- a service provider. Importantly though, the person with disability and/or their family/support network remain in control over how the funds are spent.
