NDIS Behaviour Support in Lake Macquarie

Close to the clinic, and out around the lake

Lake Macquarie is large and spread out, and getting consistent behaviour support across it is hard. For families in the northern suburbs, the Charlestown clinic on the corner of Frederick and Pearson Streets is a short trip, and some people find a quiet, neutral room is exactly what they need. Everywhere else, the practitioner comes to the person.

Our clinicians live locally, in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, and work face to face. That matters for behaviour support: the practitioner needs to see what happens in the places it happens, and the people using the plan need to be shown it, not just sent it.

How it starts

Anyone can refer: the person, a family member, a support coordinator, a school or another professional.

1. A behaviour support practitioner calls within one business day of referral, contacting both the person referring and the participant
2. A functional behaviour assessment works out what each behaviour of concern is communicating
3. An interim plan comes first where there is an immediate risk or a restrictive practice already in use
4. The comprehensive behaviour support plan follows within six months, with training for everyone who will use it

What a good plan looks like

A behaviour support plan should change what happens day to day, not sit in a drawer. That means proactive strategies that stop things building up, skills that give the person another way to meet the same need, clear steps for when things do escalate, and a plan to reduce any restrictive practice over time. Our guide on how to read a behaviour support plan sets out what to look for.

Where a plan includes regulated restrictive practices, we are registered under Module 2a to develop and implement it, and the practice needs authorisation in NSW. See restrictive practices explained.

Part of a psychologist-led team

Care Alliance is owned and operated by psychologists, and every practitioner is supervised internally, including by a registered psychologist, so complex situations get a second clinical opinion before decisions are made. When someone needs more than behaviour support, our psychologists, occupational therapists and registered nurses work in the same team.

For getting to activities and appointments around the lake, our fleet of wheelchair-accessible vans covers Lake Macquarie too.

Funding

Behaviour support is funded through the NDIS Capacity Building budget, commonly the Improved Relationships category. When the funding in a plan is being reviewed, we can write letters of support explaining the support needed.

Questions