How the NDIS can help you move out of home

Goals are a big part of NDIS plans, and a really common one is to move out of the family home.

There are often a lot of steps involved in moving out of home when you have a disability.

In this blog we’ll take a look at how two participants – Milly and Bob - used their NDIS funding to smash their goals!

Remember, your goals are very personal and based on what is important to YOU. But looking at how other people achieved their goals can help you too.

I want help with the NDIS

I want to see accommodation that’s available

Milly'story

“Hi, I’m Milly and I’m 19. I live at home with my Mum Rose and my two younger brothers Jake and Scott. They’re pretty annoying! I love my Mum a lot but I want to move out of home like other people my age. I’ll definitely come back and visit Mum though!”

Milly’s goal: “I’d like to move out of Mum’s house this year and into my own place with people of similar age and in a way I can still keep connected to my family.”

These are the steps Milly took to achieve her goal:

• Milly asked her support coordinator to look at housing options for her. She talked with her about what she was looking for, like the areas she was looking at so she could still be close to Mum’s house.
  What you could use from your plan:Coordination of supports
• Milly’s support coordinator found some options that she thought would be suitable for Milly.
• Milly went with her Mum to visit a couple of houses and to meet potential house mates to see how she got on with them. Her Mum said it was really important to live with people you like when you live with them all the time.
• After the visits, Milly talked it over with Mum and decided on the house with two other girls, Kristy and Sarah.
• Milly let her support coordinator know which house she preferred, and it was still available – yay!
• The support coordinator then arranged for an occupational therapist to do a functional assessment to check if the place was suitable for Milly and the types of things she’d need help with in the house.
  What you could use from your plan:Individual Assessment, Therapy And/Or Training (Includes Assistive Technology)
• The support coordinator suggested a trial weekend together with Kristy and Sarah at the house to get to know each other better. They do fun stuff like shopping and lunch as well as hanging out at home, with a support worker accompanying them. All three girls agree it would be a good idea for Milly to move in.
  What you could use from your plan:Assistance with self care activities or Short Term Accommodation.
• Milly’s support coordinatorrequested a quote from the SIL provider(in the house with Kristy and Sarah). The quote included things Milly needed like help with shopping and showering, and to learn new things like cooking, keeping the house clean and handling money. Once they decided it was a good fit, Milly’s service provider submitted a quote to the NDIA.
  What you could use from your plan:Assistance With Daily Life Tasks In A Group Or Shared Living Arrangement/Supported Independent Living *
• Once the quote was approved, a date was set for Milly to move in. She was very excited – her first place! But because she has anxiety she needed a bit of help with managing worries about the changes in her life with the move. Milly had funding in her plan for Individual Counselling that she used to see a psychologist who helped her to work out a plan.
  What you could use from your plan:Individual Counselling
• Milly needed to pack all her stuff up from Mum’s house and was able to use funding from her plan for a support worker to help her do the packing and planning for the move.
  What you could use from your plan:Assistance With Self-Care Activities
• Finally, the big day was here!! Milly moved into her new house with Kristy and Sarah. Her support worker was able to help her unpack her stuff and make her room feel like home. They went shopping to find a bedside lamp and bed covers to match the new colours in the room.
  What you could use from your plan:Access Community, Social And Rec Activities
• Milly had been having travel training so that she’d be able to catch the bus to Mum’s place by herself to go for family dinners or stay over sometimes.
  What you could use from your plan:Individual Skill Development and Training
• In the meantime, Mum and her brothers were the first guests Milly had over to her new place. They all played board games together and ate dinner with her housemates. Even her little brothers thought the new digs were cool!

Bob's story

“Hello, I’m Bob. I work at Endeavour Industries and I’m 45. I live with my Mum and Dad. We’ve talked about me moving out as they want to sell the family home and downsize. I’m quite nervous as I’ve only ever lived at home and don’t know how to cook or live with other people.”.

Bob’s goal: “I need to start planning to move out of the family home into alternative living arrangements, and to learn the skills I need to help me prepare to live more independently.”

These are the steps Bob took to achieve his goal

• Bob knew he wanted to move out of home in the next year or two and he spoke with his support coordinator about meeting this goal.
  What you could use from your plan: Coordination of supports
• Bob was pretty used to Mum doing a lot of things for him like helping him with showering and cooking for him. Bob needed to learn to do some of these things himself. The support coordinator suggested an occupational therapist’s assessment to work out the skills he’d need to build before moving out.
  What you could use from your plan:Individual Assessment, Therapy And/Or Training (Includes Assistive Technology)
• The support coordinator arranged for Bob to have training to help manage money, and to help him learn to do things his Mum usually helped him with like showering and brushing his teeth. He picked these up quickly which surprised Mum!
  What you could use from your plan: Assistance with Decision Making, Daily Planning and Budgeting, Individual Skill Development and Training, Public Transport Training.
• Bob also sometimes got quite angry with people, which he knew other people found a bit scary. The support coordinatorarranged for specialist behaviour support which helped Bob learn ways to manage his emotions that would help him live more easily with other people.
  What you could use from your plan:Specialist Behavioural Intervention Support
• After six months Bob was starting to feel more confident about what he could do by himself, when one of his workmates Roger mentioned he had a room going spare at his place. Bob liked this idea as he found change and new people a bit difficult and he’d known Roger for a long time and liked him. It seemed like a good solution.
• Bob went to have a look at Roger’s place with Mum and Dad and thought it was great. It had a massive TV for them to play computer games together and it was much closer to work, but still quite close to Mum and Dad.
• Bob’s support coordinatorarranged for an occupational therapist to visit the property to do an assessment and make sure it was suitable for Bob.
  What you could use from your plan:Individual Assessment, Therapy And/Or Training (Includes Assistive Technology)
• Bob was able to use ‘assistance with accommodation and tenancy obligations’ from his plan to organise all the paperwork that was needed to move into the property from the service provider.
  What you could use from your plan:Assistance with Accommodation and Tenancy obligations, Assistance With Daily Life Tasks In A Group Or Shared Living Arrangement/Supported Independent Living
• Bob’s SIL quote was sent to the NDIS for approval. Once this was approved, the paperwork was completed for his tenancy and Bob was also able to receive Rental Assistance to pay for his rent.
• Bob’s whole family helped him move his things into his new house with Roger and support workers helped him make his room comfortable for him. They also took him out to explore, so he was able to get familiar with the neighbourhood.
  What you could use from your plan:Access Community, Social And Rec Activities
• Supported Independent Living had been arranged for support workers to be home when Roger and Bob weren’t at work. They helped with preparing meals, teaching Bob and Roger to cook and to wash their clothes - and were good company too during their epic Star Wars movie binges!!!
  What you could use from your plan:Assistance With Daily Life Tasks In A Group Or Shared Living Arrangement/Supported Independent Living
• Bob agreed with Mum and Dad that he would come back to stay in his old room on Saturday nights, and if ever he needed a break from Roger. Sometimes Bob would get nightmares and he would call his Mum if he needed to, which made him feel better, and Mum didn’t mind.
• It took a bit of time to settle-in but Bob quickly grew his independence in ways that none of them could imagined. He’d even learnt to cook a couple of dishes on his own which he was really proud of. He became much more social and confident, and felt safe knowing Mum and Dad weren’t far if ever he needed them.
  What you could use from your plan:Dietician Consultation And Diet Plan Development

* It’s worth noting here that Shared Living Arrangements/Supported Independent living is not included in a person’s plan until the Supported Independent Living quote has been submitted.