The article below was my Mitcham Community News Segment for February 2024
CHSP, DoHAC, MAC, HCP, SA HACC do these acronyms mean anything to you?
Chances are they don’t but they are all related to the incredibly complicated world of aged, disability and services for vulnerable community members.
Council has played an important role in this space for decades, helping facilitate services such as community, transport, social programs, home and garden maintenance and domestic assistance. This was done as part of the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP). This is an area of public policy that is constantly evolving, due to changes at other tiers of Government. A brief history in this space:
In 2018, after a comprehensive internal review CHSP domestic assistance, home and garden maintenance and home modifications were subcontracted to Southern Cross Care after a tender process to achieve efficiencies and maximise funding potential for these services.
One downside to this change was that many residents placed significant value on having the same person turn up on a regular basis to do the work. This personal / social connection was a key part of the service. With sub-contracted workers used for home and garden maintenance, residents tended to see different people turn up each week. Additionally demand for home and garden maintenance from existing clients escalated rapidly as clients’ ability to maintain areas of the garden for safety themselves decreased. As with many other aged care service providers, waiting times grew longer and CHSP funded hours were quickly expended each year.
With an increasing administrative and compliance burden associated with the funding, and Southern Cross Care not wanting to extend their contract, a Council decision was made in June of last year to change Council’s role in relation to provision of in-home services for the best outcome for current clients.
Council consulted with clients and worked with the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) to transfer both CHSP funding and clients to a provider that would better meet their needs and have the scale to offer even more hours of service to Mitcham clients. DoHAC chose Alwyndor Aged Care as the new provider. The good news is that this new provider has employed new in-house workers specifically for Mitcham to join their inhouse team, meaning residents are more likely to get the same person turn up.
Domestic assistance continues to be provided directly by Southern Cross Care, with all clients choosing to do this and happy with their workers and service.
Going forward, Mitcham residents can contact Alwyndor directly to receive home and garden maintenance. Council, with the support of its amazing volunteers, will continue to provide services which nobody else does, such as the Community Bus wellbeing and active ageing activities. Council will also remain an independent, community information and referral service, providing impartial and informed advice to vulnerable residents regarding accessing aged care, disability, health, local service providers, activities and programs or relevant social services. Essentially, someone who can help you through the red tape, jargon and reduce confusion.
Comments