Issue 88 | 21 May 2007
As in the previous years, the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) will conduct the disability services census in order to meet the requirements to collect National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) for the Commonwealth State and Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) and prepare the 2007 Australian Government Disability Services Census report.
This year, FaCSIA will collect data from its supported employment services from FaCS Online Funding Management System (FOFMS) in order to reduce the workload for services. To make sure that we extract accurate information, we request services to update their service and consumer data in FOFMS. We will extract data from FOFMS on 29 June 2007.
In addition, FaCSIA will extract data on carers from Centrelink database in order to reduce burden from services to provide information on carers of their service customers. Data on carers will be also be extracted on 29 June 2007.
While we will be using FOFMS and Centrelink data to the greatest extent possible some further data may be required. To facilitate this, a few additional questions will be sent to service providers to complete only where information is not available from either FOFMS or Centrelink. The required information is for the period from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007. The questionnaire and instructions will be sent to services sometime in July 2007.
We are now working on the 2006 Australian Government Services Census Report and we will send a copy of the report to participating services soon.
Should you require further information you may contact the Census Helpdesk on 1800 550 244.
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During the Business Service audit and compliance pilot we identified a number of exit and suspension reasons recorded in FOFMS were incorrect. It is important for Business Services to record the correct reasons in FOFMS when a client is no longer, or temporarily unable to receive ‘Services’ under Disability Employment Assistance. Feedback received from Business Services indicated that support officers were unclear on when to use the various ‘status change’ reasons defined in FOFMS.
FOFMS was recently updated to include revised status change reasons, to be used when a client’s case is suspended, exited or returned from suspension. The new list of available exit, suspension and return from suspension change reasons is located under the Literature tab on FOFMS and is titled Case Change Status Reasons Tip Sheet. The list provides more relevant choices for a Status Change and a description of when to use each of the new reasons that will help with more accurate reporting and analysis.
If you require more information regarding Status Change to a Case record please contact the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or email Helpdesk.CBF@facsia.gov.au.
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Clients who are not maintaining employment for at least 8 hours a week as defined by the DEA Funding Agreement should be either exited or suspended until they are able to satisfy this requirement.
If you determine in your reasonable opinion that a Client is unable to continue in Employment because of medical or personal reasons or reasons related to the Client's disability then they must be exited or suspended until this requirement can be satisfied. If you have any queries relating to Employment please contact your local FaCSIA Contract Manager.
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FOFMS has reports available to help you identify and reconcile your FaCSIA payments. These reports allow Service Providers to view:
For all reports, you can select a specific period that you're interested in, i.e. one month or a quarter. The Agreement Schedule and Case report will also include the first name and surname of individual Clients for whom payments have been made. All reports have subtotals and totals, are printable, and can be exported to Excel for further manipulation.
You can also use the 'Consolidated Payment Request Line Items' screen view (available under the existing Payment Request view) to help reconcile your payments. From this screen view, you can query FOFMS for payment details using the IMPACT Clearing Number (the reference number which is provided on your bank statement with each deposit from FaCSIA) as well as the IMPACT Invoice Number (the document number contained on your Recipient Created Tax Invoice [RCTI]).
How do I use these reports?
Information to help you use this payment reconciliation functionality is available on the FOFMS Literature site. Copies were also emailed directly to FOFMS users on 15 March 2006, and hard copies posted to the mailing address recorded in FOFMS for your Organisation. If you have not received your information pack please contact the FOFMS helpdesk on 1800 020 283.
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Most Disability Employment Assistance payments are paid in arrears. The following information is provided to help clarify what these payments are for and when they are made.
Intake Fee – A one-off $500 fee paid when a Client’s Intake Assessment is completed and authorised on FOFMS. More information is in Paragraph 20 of the Disability Employment Assistance Services Programme Procedures.
Employment Assistance Fee (EA) – EA or Pre-DMI fees start one month after the Intake Assessment is authorised and are payable for up to twelve months. Payments are made on the anniversary date of when the Client’s Intake Assessment is authorised. For more information please see Paragraph 21 of the Programme Procedures.
Employment Maintenance Fee (Maintenance Payment) – The Employment Maintenance Fee, or Maintenance Payment, is paid one month after a DMI is authorised. Payments are made monthly thereafter on the Client’s anniversary date. For more information please refer to Paragraph 23 of the Programme Procedures.
Work Based Personal Assistance - This payment is made when we receive a claim for an eligible worker. The payment is for Work Based Personal Assistance services provided to a Client, either directly or purchased from another Service. For more information please refer to Paragraph 30 of the Programme Procedures.
New Apprenticeship - This payment is an incentive payment for Services who have placed a Client in a New Apprenticeship and is made when we receive a completed claim form. For more information please see Paragraph 31 of the Programme Procedures.
High Cost Worker Payments (HCW) - The High Cost Worker payment is a ‘grandfathering’ type payment, paid in arrears and is only available to eligible Clients identified as being a high cost worker. The HCW is payed for as long as these Clients continue to remain employed with their current Business Service.
Business Service Funding Subsidy – This is paid to Services to help them with the transition from BGF to CBF. This is an ‘in arrears’ payment made at the beginning of a month. For more information please see Paragraph 39 of the Programme Procedures.
Please allow up to three days from the time a payment is shown as being made on FOFMS for it to reach your bank account.
For any queries relating to DEA payments, please contact the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or email Helpdesk.CBF@facsia.gov.au.
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Following a recent investigation of Client data on FOFMS, it was found that many Client records are missing important information such as Centrelink Reference Number, origin details, date of birth, address, and contact details. It was also noted that in some instances information recorded is incorrect or no longer current such as the correct Case Worker of the Client.
FaCSIA uses the information on FOFMS for a number of purposes, including making decisions about Disability Employment Assistance policy that affects Business Services and Clients. In order to maintain the integrity of this policy process it is important that all records on FOFMS be kept up to date with accurate details.
Information in FOFMS is also used to manage workflow regarding DMI Assessment and Reassessments.
Please ensure that your Client’s case records are updated to reflect their current circumstances and details and that all appropriate fields are completed. Please note that the new Audit and Compliance Strategy considers, amongst other items, the accuracy of Case and Client records.
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887.
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Work Based Personal Assistance (WBPA) is available to supported employment services to help meet the recurrent costs associated with the provision of personal care services to workers with very high support needs. This includes assistance with personal care tasks such as personal hygiene, feeding by mouth, or assistance from a Registered Nurse to administer medical interventions.
An allied health professional assessment and written report is required to confirm the high support needs of individual service users. Section 30 of the DEA Program Procedures outlines what is required to qualify for WBPA.
WBPA is paid to providers in arrears upon receipt of a claim. Providers have three months in which to make a claim from the time services have been provided to the individual. WBPA can be claimed for a maximum of 40 hours over a four week period. Two rates of payment apply:
If you have a worker who qualifies for WBPA and you wish to make a claim, WBPA Claim Forms are available under the “Literature” Tab on FOFMS. These should be completed and sent to The CBF Helpdesk, GPO Box 9820, Brisbane, 4001; or faxed to the CBF Helpdesk on 07 3005 6097.
In order to assist with processing of WBPA Claim Forms you should ensure that:
If you require any further information on WBPA please contact your Contract Manager or the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or Helpdesk.CBF@facsia.gov.au.
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There are currently a large number of clients who are overdue to have a DMI reassessment completed. Reassessments are due on the two-year anniversary of when they were first completed. If the DMI reassessment is not completed, authorised payments will be suspended and the case will ultimately be exited. The following rules are automated in FOFMS:
It is your responsibility to monitor DMI assessment and DMI reassessment dates. If your clients have their payments suspended or their cases exited as a result of DMI assessment or DMI reassessment dates not being met, you will not be back-paid.
You can monitor when your service’s clients are due for a DMI assessment and DMI reassessment by simply using the predefined queries that are built into FOFMS. To access the predefined queries you will need to be in the ‘Cases’ view. Then, from the ‘Queries’ drop down menu you can select either:
You should run these queries each month to help you monitor and plan your services DMI reassessment workload.
If your clients are exited because a DMI assessment or DMI reassessment was not completed and authorised within the due dates, you will need to contact the FOFMS Helpdesk to request that the case status be reset to 'Return from Suspension'. Once the case status is reset you will have one month to complete and authorise the required assessment. If the required assessment is not completed within that one-month period the case will be exited again and you will need to create a new case. You will also need to complete and authorise an Intake Assessment to receive payments for supporting this client.
To help you monitor DMI assessment and re-assessment dates, FOFMS also auto-generates an activity to notify case workers, that a DMI reassessment is due. You need to ensure that you keep the case worker current in FOFMS otherwise the notifying activity will be sent to the wrong person.
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The Client must sign a Client Consent form before you complete and authorise their Intake Assessment. The consent information package, including the Client Consent Form, is on the Literature site in FOFMS.
The $500 Intake Fee and monthly Employment Assistance payments for new Cases are not payable until an Intake Assessment has been completed and authorised on FOFMS. Case Based Funding payments do not begin until the Intake Assessment has been authorised. FaCSIA will not back date Intake Assessments, or make back-payments. If you do not authorise the Intake Assessment your Service risks a reduced funding flow for that Client.
If you create a Client and Case record in FOFMS and do not complete and authorise the Intake Assessment not only are your payments affected, but the total Cases and vacancies of your Service are also affected. When you create a Case record in FOFMS it is considered an active case and included in the count of your total Cases, which reduces your number of vacancies. If you do not complete and authorise an Intake Assessment you will not receive funding for the Client but they are also occupying a place in your Business Service that could otherwise be filled and funded by another Client.
Cases that have been created but do not have an Intake Assessment completed or authorised have a status of 'Draft' in FOFMS. You should review you case list for any cases with a ‘Draft’ status and either complete and authorise an Intake Assessment or exit the record.
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