Issue 35 | 28 February 2005
Services that have moved clients to Case Based Funding (CBF) at 1 July 2004 and/or 1 January 2005 will receive an additional payment in the last week of February if their CBF funding level is higher than their Average Block Grant Price (ABGP). This additional Gap payment makes up the shortfall between what services should be getting under CBF for transitioned clients and what they are currently getting paid, based on their ABGP.
The February Gap payment is for January. Services will receive two further Gap payments in March (for February) and April (for March). Once the FaCS Online Funding Management System (FOFMS) is rolled out in April, CBF payments will be automatically increased and no further Gap payments will be necessary. If you have any questions about your Gap payment, or did not get a Gap payment but feel that you should have, please do not hesitate to contact your Contract Manager.
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In the lead-up to T2 on 1 July 2005, services need to make sure they have completed the required number of DMIs on the Interim Disability Maintenance Instrument System (IDMIS) to allow 50 per cent of their clients to be moved to CBF (small services with outlet capacity of less than 20 are exempt).
More than 10 500 DMIs have been authorised on IDMIS since services began the transition to CBF on 1 July 2004. However, some services are falling behind in their preparation for T2. Around 140 outlets have yet to complete enough DMIs to meet the T2 targets.
Under your Disability Employment Assistance (DEA) funding agreement, you are required to have transitioned 50 per cent of your service's Block Grant Outlet Capacity to CBF at 1 July 2005. This means that you must complete the necessary amount of authorised DMIs by 31 May 2005 and select the clients for transition.
Small services (outlets with an outlet capacity of 20 or less), are exempt from this requirement and can move to CBF at any time up to 1 July 2006. However, it is to their advantage to complete DMIs for their clients as soon as possible to will allow them to get an early picture of their future funding levels.
Any services having difficulty selecting their clients or loading their DMIs onto IDMIS, should speak to their FaCS Contract Manager to ensure a smooth transition to CBF.
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Some service providers are assisting more clients then those for which they have been funded. While services can of course continue to assist unfunded clients, there will be no provision for these 'above outlet capacity clients' to be listed on FOFMS.
Services with above outlet capacity clients listed in IDMIS will need to identify which are to be included within their Block Grant Outlet Capacity so that the correct funding calculations can be made. Services should use the check box facility in IDMIS called 'Within Block Grant Outlet Capacity' to identify those clients to be included within the services, so that their information will be transferred into FOFMS.
Don't forget that in accordance with your funding agreement you must notify FaCS within 10 business days of any client exit or suspension. Please make sure all Block Grant and CBF clients that exit your service are exited from IDMIS.
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The release of FOFMS is now only weeks away. From 4 April 2005 when FOFMS is implemented, you will be paid at either the CBF amount or the ABGP for each client.
At the end of each month FOFMS will calculate the payments you have received and will top them up to ensure you get at least the same amount of funding as your outlet would have had if your service had not transitioned to CBF. This is called the Business Service Funding Subsidy. This subsidy will continue at 100 per cent of the Block Grant amount until 30 June 2006 and then at 75 per cent of the Block Grant until 30 June 2007. This will give providers time to become familiar with the impact of CBF on the cash flow of their organisations, including aspects like the importance of filling vacancies quickly.
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In issue 34 of disability e-news we gave you some details about FOFMS training, how the training will be delivered and the opportunity to nominate for regional follow-up training sessions
You would have received or will be receiving a CD-ROM, which demonstrates general navigation and the key features of FOFMS to help you become familiar with the new system.
You will be receiving a second CD-ROM in the week commencing 7 March. This CD-ROM will contain training exercises that will help demonstrate scenarios that you will complete using FOFMS such as managing your CBF clients, completing DMIs and viewing your payment history.
It is important that you familiarise yourself with both CD-ROMs provided, as this is a pre-requisite for the follow-up training session. You will also be provided with a suite of information to support your introduction to FOFMS, including user guides, task cards and access to a dedicated FOFMS support helpdesk.
We encourage each of your staff members that will use FOFMS to complete the Computer Based Training and, if necessary, nominate for a position at a regional follow-up training session. Follow-up sessions will be conducted nationally between 21 March and 4 April 2005. Your local State or Territory Office representative will contact you about your progress with FOFMS training.
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FOFMS stands for the FaCS Online Funding Management System. It is an IT system that will be used by service providers to input data about their clients online, allowing easy monitoring of client progress and automatic generation of payments to providers as payment milestones are reached.
FaCS administers over 80 different funding programs, some of which are very large and complex, and which currently operate on a number of different computer systems. The introduction of FOFMS will:
FOFMS will be delivered through a series of releases designed to support the needs of both case based funding (CBF) for Disability Employment Assistance (DEA) and Block-Grant funding programs. The first four FOFMS releases will progressively build the functionality of the new system.
FOFMS Release 1 was installed within the department on 20 December 2004. This release provides the foundation for later releases.
FOFMS Release 2 is scheduled for 4 April 2005. DEA business services will be able to input information on their clients and view their details and payment history online through a Service Provider Portal.
FOFMS Release 3 in July 2005 will enhance existing functions and allow for some non-case based programs funded by FaCS to start using FOFMS, for example, Advocacy and Print Disability.
FOFMS Release 4 in October 2005 will provide further functionality to help FaCS to manage funding agreements.
Phone: 1800 020 283
Fax: 02 6244 8913
Email: FOFMS@facsia.gov.au
Hours: 9am - 5pm EDST
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The Quality Assurance (QA) System, which was introduced on 1 July 2002, allowed for a transition period of 18 months for organisations to become certified under the new system.
All disability employment organisations have now been certified against the 2002 Disability Services Standards by independent certification bodies, and all met the 31 December 2004 deadline. This is a significant achievement for all concerned: the consumers, staff and management of disability employment services, the certification bodies, the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) and FaCS staff. All stakeholders have contributed to this important result, which gives people with disabilities and the department confidence in the quality of disability employment services.
Now the transition period has finished, all organisations will continue to have regular surveillance audits and triennial certification audits to ensure that the Disability Services Standards are maintained.
For more information on certification of disability employment organisations, please contact National Disability Operations on (07) 3005 6094 or toll-free on 1300 653 227.
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On 9 & 10 February a Consumer Representatives Best Practice Forum was held in Brisbane. Funded through the Continuous Improvement Initiatives in Disability Employment Services, the purpose of the forum was to "identify, develop and support consumers who are involved in boards of management". It also aimed to stimulate services to be open to this involvement.
The forum was hosted by Community Employment Options Inc. and was attended by 20 consumers. It included sessions about consumer rights and obligations, marketing and communication, training in the operation of boards of management and a range of workshops including writing of a 'job description' for consumer representatives.
On day two a panel discussion included presentations from FaCS and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR). The panel wanted to know how the machinery of government (MOG) changes effect consumer representation, and the CBF and QA reforms within open employment services.
At the end of the forum a Consumer Statement was presented, endorsing the role of Consumer Representative as:
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