Your Guide to Understanding Short Term Accommodation

Short Term Accommodation (STA), including respite, is support when you need to live out of home for a short period.

Short Term Accommodation (STA), including respite, is funding for support and accommodation for a short time away from your usual home. It covers the cost of your care in another place for up to 14 days at a time. You might have a short stay with other people, or by yourself. It's often funded when your usual carers aren't available, or for you to try new things.

WHAT DOES IT INCLUDE?

The cost covers all the below and is paid at a daily rate.

• Accommodation

• Personal care

• Food

• Activities (agreed upon by you and the provider)

HOW IS IT FUNDED?

STA is funded through your Core budget. Funding can be used to pay for STA if it helps you pursue your goals.

WHAT IS IT NOT FOR?

STA is not for housing crisis situations or holidays. It can only be funded when the need relates to your disability.

The NDIA will ask several questions when deciding whether to fund STA. They will need information on each of the following points to clearly understand the participants' situation and whether STA can be funded.

• The need for Short Term Accommodation is related to your disability.

• It helps you pursue your goals.

• It helps you to participate in the community.

• It's value for money.

• How much support your family and other informal supports provide.

These key questions are essential to the NDIA. They paint a full picture of the participant, their needs, and their current informal and formal supports. They help them understand any risks involved, whether current care by informal support is supporting their ability to be independent, and whether more could be done in that space.

Here are the things to think about when considering each point the NDIA want to get a better understanding of.

1. Is it related to your disability?

The NDIA can only fund STA if it relates to your disability support needs, such as for respite or skill building (through activities). STA may be funded if it allows your family or informal supports to support you for longer, reduces your need for support in the future, helps you maintain functional capacity or increases your independence.

STA wouldn't be funded as a medium or long-term accommodation option. It also wouldn't be funded if you were waiting on home modifications to be done.

2. Does it help you pursue your goals?

STA needs to support you to pursue your goals. This could be increasing your independence or building your skills.

3. Does it help you participate in the community?

You will need to provide examples of how STA will help you participate in the community. For example, it might help you meet new people and develop your social skills, which you can take back to your everyday life.

4. Is it value for money?

The STA must show good value for money. The NDIA will consider its cost and potential benefits over time. They also look at whether you can share supports with other people and how many people you can safely do this with. The NDIA rarely funds individual supports in an STA setting. This is something to think about when you are deciding what suits you.

5. Is it expected that your family and informal supports provide care for you?

When deciding what supports the NDIA may fund, they also consider your informal care supports. They may fund STA along with other things that can help support your carers support you in the long term, for example, support to access the community, in-home care and support and capacity building supports. The NDIA will consider the risk to you and your family's wellbeing if they continue to support you without STA, as well as how the support provided by informal carers affects your independence, and compare this to the opportunities STA could bring to your independence.

The NDIA consider a range of different aspects when funding STA for children. The role and responsibility of parents in caring for children is also considered. The child's needs and the whole family situation is taken into account. Other funded supports may also be included in the conversation with the child and their family. These might include support in your home, training to carry out behavioural support plans, community access, help to support positive behaviour strategies and supervise behaviours of concern.

You can find more information here NDIS Short Term Accommodation or Respite Operation Guideline. If you have any questions feel free to call the friendly team on 1300 467 284 or email accounts@pathwaystocare.com.au. We are always here to help you when you need.