Issue 98 8 October 2007
This week Michael Griffith provides more information on Case Based Funding Helpdesk.
If you have any questions for Michael on CBF or FOFMS, Payment Reconciliation on FOFMS, Back-Payment to Business Services and Stretch Capacity, please contact the CBF Helpdesk by calling 1800 034 887, or by emailing helpdesk.cbf@facsia.gov.au
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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 the:
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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The FOFMS Portal will be unavailable from 8:00 am until 12:00 pm on Saturday 13 October for routine maintenance work. We apologise for any inconvenience. For more information please contact the FOFMS Helpdesk on 1800 020 283.
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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 function is available on the FOFMS Literature site. Please note that additional FOFMS access may be required.
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All business services should now have received the indexation back-payment for July and August 2007. All payments are at the agreement schedule level on FOFMS and have been assigned a payment type of ‘Maintenance’, ‘Work Based Personal Assistance’, ‘New Apprenticeship’, and ‘Rural and Remote Service Subsidy’. Please note that ‘Maintenance’ back-payments include ‘Intake’ and ‘Employment Assistance’ fees. If you have any further queries or are unsure about a payment you have received, please contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887.
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Stretch capacity is a 10 per cent allowance on top of your outlet capacity. Stretch capacity places are used when your organisation has no vacancies and an employee who has previously been suspended or exited from your service wishes to return to work. To access stretch capacity you must return the cases from suspension or exit within 12 months of the initial suspension or exit. Stretch capacity places cannot be used for new clients who have not previously been supported by your service.
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The Business Services Marketing and Promotions Strategy continues to unfold, with the testing of two alternative sector names through the NDS Online Poll process (visit the NDS website: www.nds.org.au).
The two alternatives proposed are Australian Disability Employers and Australian Network of Disability Enterprises. Following sector identification of the preferred name, development of a brand identity and a further promotions strategy will commence. Depending on the timeframe for the upcoming general election, work may have to be postponed for duration of the caretaker period.
More information will be included in later editions of disability Enews. For queries about the marketing strategy, please contact fran.cole@facsia.gov.au
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The program information on the FaCSIA website has been considerably overhauled and updated.
The front page can be found at http://www.facsia.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/services-nav.htm, with specific program information (including funding agreements) listed at (http://www.facsia.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/services-disab_employ_assist.htm). We hope you find the new web pages easy to use and informative.
To provide feedback or to give suggestions on additions to the information on the website, please email fran.cole@facsia.gov.au
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The closing date for written submissions on the Disability Supported Accommodation Program is 26 October.
This is a unique opportunity to provide government with ideas for flexible options of accommodation and support which is person centred, cost effective, delivered seamlessly, shows leadership in design and achieves high quality outcomes for people with disability and their older carers.
FaCSIA encourages interested individuals and groups to put forward their ideas. Submissions do not need to be provided in a particular format (an email or letter setting out your ideas will do).
Submissions can be sent to disabilityaccommodation@nationalmailing.com.au or posted to Disability Supported Accommodation, PO Box 7442, Canberra BC ACT 2610.
For more information, visit www.facsia.gov.au/disability
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The review and update of the new Quality Strategy Toolkit, which combines and updates the previous handbooks, is currently underway.
A number of environmental factors (for example, Vocational Rehabilitation Services Purchasing, amendments to KPI 9.1, separate DEWR and FaCSIA Standards) have meant the publication needs to consider a broader range of issues than ever before. It is expected the Handbook will be printed and available in early 2008.
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Monte Lupo is a business service outlet of Multicap, offering a range of employment opportunities to people with disability in the field of creative arts.
Monte Lupo artists recently participated in the SWELL Sculptures by the Sea at Currumbin alongside 49 other artists from around Australia - and won the People’s Choice Award.
Multicap currently offers employment to 27 people with disability through a pottery studio, screen printing, ceramics, retail and dispatch. There are 10 employees with disability working in the pottery studio, with four artists to work and exhibit alongside them. Without training, the artists with disability have developed a very distinct and individual style which is visually inspiring and exciting.
The Monte Lupo machine operates through individual commitment to a team effort called ‘Creative Collaboration’. This involves working together to produce the finished product, from unloading the clay off the truck to the actual selling of an art work.
Monte Lupo now has two retail outlets, one at Eight Mile Plains and the other at Old Petrie Town on Daybora Rd. Monte Lupo also sells work through the Museum of Brisbane, Toowoomba Reginal Art gallery, SWELL Art service at Tugan and Total Art Concepts at Kingscliff.
For more information about Multicap, visit http://www.multicap.asn.au/
Award winning artwork produced by employees with disability at Multicap – SWELL Sculptures by the Sea
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Email disAbility e-news if you'd like more information on a particular issue or program or to let us know what you think of this e-newsletter.
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Your contributions to disAbility e-news are welcome. Do you want to let others know about your successes? Or how you engage with local businesses to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities? Email your story idea to disAbility e-news.
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