Update from CRU : Thursday 21st May 2020: Information and Resources

This information was shared via a CRU email on Thursday 21st May 2020.

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NEW RESOURCES

In January the Everyday Practice website was launched. This initiative is conducted by Amergin and QDN, and CRU is a member of the steering group. This week, Everyday Practice added content on: Complaints and Incident Management, Privacy, Consent and Record Keeping, What a Best Practice Provider Looks Like. Click on each link, or go to the Everyday Practice website by clicking on this text.

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

A recording of the FFIE webinar ‘Communication with School – Building a Foundation for Partnerships ‘ on Monday 11^th May, is available on CRU’s YouTube Channel by clicking on this text. A copy of the slides used during the webinar are available by contacting CRU.

CRU FFIE consultants are available for individual consultations to assist people to take the ideas in the webinar or any aspect of Inclusive Education for their child further. Contact the CRU office to connect with a Consultant.

NDIS UPDATE

Last week, the NDIA updated their COVID-19 FAQs to say from May 9 it is allowing greater flexibility in Core for people who are Agency managed or plan managed, meaning you can use all four funding categories flexibly (Assistance with Daily Life, Assistance with Social & Community Participation, Transport and Consumables which includes low cost assistive technology) without needing a plan review.

For participants who do not receive a period transport payment, you are able to using funding flexibly across all Core support categories, including transport. If you receive a period transport payment, the NDIA says this will continue and this funding is not flexible. The NDIA says this change to flexibility is planned to roll out for self-managed participants in June.

The NDIA has released some new COVID-19 related Information Packs available on their website. Click on this text to link to the Information Packs. They bring together NDIA information around particular themes, including Early Childhood & Early Intervention, Fraud, Privacy & Cyber Security, Self-Management, Low Cost Assistive Technology and applying for the NDIS during the pandemic.

DISABILITY ROYAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER

Edition 3 of Connect, the newsletter from the Disability Royal Commission has now been released. Access the newsletter by clicking this text to link to the website.

In this edition, Healthcare experts shed light on issues facing refugees, the experiences of people with disability in employment, meeting Ismail, and information about legal advice for people who want to share their story with the Royal Commission.

AN EASY ENGLISH GUIDE TO THE COVIDSAFE APP

The Council for Intellectual Disability has created an easy English guide to the COVIDsafe app.

Click on this text to link to the information.

THE DISABILITY INFORMATION HELPLINE

The Australian Government established the Disability Information Helpline to provide people with disability accessible information, counselling and outreach services if they are concerned about, or affected by coronavirus (COVID-19). It can help families, carers and support workers, too. The Helpline number is 1800 643 787. You can click on this text or visit the website www.dss.gov.au/disabilityhelp to get more information about, and other ways to contact the Helpline.

Update from CRU : CRUcial Conversations Podcast Series

This information was shared in a CRU Email update on Wednesday 13th May 2020

Last year CRU released a series of podcasts featuring stories of grass roots leadership and change in the disability community in Queensland. With the pace of life slowing for some people during this time, it may be an opportunity to re-visit, or listen for the first time to these ‘CRUcial Conversations’.

There are seven podcasts in the series: five feature leaders from the disability community in Queensland, opening up and sharing their own very personal stories. There is also an introduction podcast, talking about the purpose of these crucial conversations, and reflecting on the stories you will hear. The final podcast is a conversation between Karin Swift and Lesley Chenoweth, discussing the messages of the series with journalist Nance Haxton.

The podcasts are really easy to listen to – the series can be found wherever good podcasts are found – iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and countless others. You can click on this text to access the podcasts. There are more detailed instructions on how to listen below.

Josey McMahon and her twin sister Cathy grew up in a large family in rural Queensland until Cathy moved to live in an institution where she remained for 47 years. This is the story of how Josey reconnected with Cathy and helped her to reconnect with the wider world once again. At its heart this story is about personal change, reconnection and the power of family.
Margaret and Jeremy Ward have been active members of the disability community in Queensland since the 1980’s. In this story they share the personal struggle for their daughter Mena to attend the local school alongside her peers, describing the importance of clarifying their vision; learning about new ways of doing things and getting the right people around the table to help make it happen.
Anne Cross is the founding director of CRU and the recently retired CEO of Uniting Care Qld. Anne’s career coincided with various developments that have come to define our understanding of professional services and their place in people’s lives. Her story is an example of how skilled and committed professionals can partner with people with disability and their families to create change.
Leanne Burke’s leadership has been in quietly and consistently demonstrating what good quality service looks like. Guided by the example of her first teacher, her big sister Maria, Leanne is committed to creating the best life for the people she works with. In sharing what she’s learnt, Leanne challenges many common assumptions of how to serve people well and what leadership looks like.
Kevin Cocks. Since acquiring his disability in his early 20’s, Kevin has engaged in disability advocacy, co-founded an innovative service, won a class action to change the Australian Building Code and served as Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination commissioner. In this podcast, Kevin reflects on his earlier life and some of the ways he was active in cutting new paths for himself and on behalf of all people with disability.

The three main ways to find the podcasts are:

If you have an iPhone, CRUcial Conversations is available through iTunes (just search for the title), or you could click this text and it will do it for you.
If you are not an iPhone user then click here for Spotify, or click here for Google Podcasts.
You can also listen to the episodes on our website if you follow this link to our website. The page also includes more detailed instructions on using iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

These podcasts were funded by the Anne Cross Leadership Initiative, which was established in 2017 to honour the contribution of Anne Cross to Uniting Care Queensland during her years as the Chief Executive Officer.

CRU staff are still available to provide support via phone, email and zoom to people with disability and their families. There are a variety of ways that CRU can provide this – either through one of our particular projects or through a Fee for Service arrangement.

If you need some information, a sounding board, are experiencing issues with NDIS or formal supports, or just want to use this downtime to do some dreaming/planning for you or your family member, please contact us on 3844 2211 or cru@cru.org.au . Our Admin staff will link you with the best person to talk to.

Update from CRU : Wed 6th May : Information and Resources

This information was sent in a CRU Email update on Wednesday 6th May 2020.

With all of the information being circulated at the moment, and in the busy-ness of peoples’ lives we thought it might be helpful to pull some of the information together into one place.

This week we are drawing from a very broad range of interest areas so and hope there is something here for everyone.

WEBINARS AND ONLINE LEARNING

Communication with School – Building a Foundation for Partnerships Webinar, with the CRU Families for Inclusive Education Project Team

Effective parent and school partnerships may be more important now than ever. This webinar will give parents an opportunity to refocus their vision and goals for their son or daughter, and to explore effective communication and collaboration skills that can lead to achieving the best outcomes for their child. Effective advocacy strategies will be explored, including tips specific to email and phone communication.
Registrations closing Friday 8th of May for the LIVE session of the Webinar on Monday 11th of May (11am – 12noon), or the RECORDED Session on the 18th of May.
Please click on this text to register.
Note: For anyone who has not used ZOOM before, please let us know if you require ‘technical instructions’ and we can happily send these out to you.

Becoming a Better Communication Partner for Someone with Communication Needs

Dr Jane Remington-Gurney has developed an online, self-paced communication partner training course.
“Do you interact with someone who has a complex communication need? Are you frustrated by not being able to communicate smoothly with this person? Do you feel that your interaction is just a series of questions and answers rather than a conversation? Chances are that the person you are supporting shares your feelings of communication frustration. Only too often training courses for communication partners deal with one specific product or tool and leave you wondering about the big picture and how you develop their communication partner skills.”
Please click on this text to go to the website for more information or to register.

Universal Design in Housing

The Centre for Universal Design Australia has launched our new FREE e-learning course on universal design in housing.
“Home is the foundation upon which society functions and yet Australia still does not have a mandated minimum standard of universal design for dwellings. The course shows how housing fits into a broad policy context ; digs deep into the statistics to determine ‘need’; and assesses the current compliance context. Home Coming? provides a knowledge and evidence base to understand how housing contributes to economic, social and human rights outcomes in Australia and how a lack of mandated standards are affecting Australia’s productivity and prosperity.” Click on this text to find out more or register.

SURVEY

CYDA Annual Survey

Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) is conducting their annual survey on education issues and we would encourage you to make a contribution.
In the past, the CYDA surveys on education have produced important snapshots of the issues faced by students and their families which is able to inform systemic advocacy issues, highlighting the gap between what students and their families need and should be receiving in line with their human rights, legislation and policy – and what they experience. Obviously in noting good examples of inclusive education and supports, it also points to ways forward for systemic reform.

This annual education survey of young people and families is focusing on the COVID-19 environment this year. Please share widely with your networks as CYDA is keen to hear from as many young people with disability, and families, as possible. Click on this text to go to the online survey.

Disability Royal Commission Newsletter, Edition 2 of CONNECT

Edition 2 of Connect, the newsletter from the Disability Royal Commission has now been released.
You can read the newsletter by clicking this text to link to the website.
This edition looks at the awareness and recognition of the rights of people with disability.
The DRC want to learn more about the level of awareness that people with disability, and the wider community, have about the rights of people with disability. They are also interested in attitudes towards people with disability, and want to know more about how those attitudes develop and what can be done to change them.

We hope you find some, or all, of the this information helpful and that you continue to keep safe during the COVID-19 distancing measures.

Event Update

Dear Friends and Supporters of CRU,

Please find below an updated status on CRU events happening between now and the end of 2019.

While many of the workshops are coming to a close for 2019, we are busy making plans for another full program to start the year in 2020 and will release the new Date Claimer as soon as more details are available.

CRU Workshops

Self-Management : Confident, Connected and In Control

Presented by Catherine Laherty & others

The final Self-Management: Confident Connected & In Control workshop for this year will take place tomorrow at North Lakes.

The aim of these workshops are to build the confidence of people to self-manage their NDIS supports. Repeat workshops are being planned for 2020.

CRU 2019 Annual General Meeting

CRU’s 2019 AGM will take place at 5.30pm on Wednesday 27th November in the CRU Office, Level 2/43 Peel Street, South Brisbane.

Everyone is welcome to attend, however you do need to be a current financial member of CRU to exercise voting rights.

Towards a Better Life: Exploring SRV with regard to People who are marginalised

Presented by Jane Sherwin

2020 dates for Gold Coast and Mackay workshops are currently being planned. We will keep you updated as soon as those are available for registration.

Implementing and Reviewing Your NDIS Plan

Presented by Jen Mouritz

Implementing Your NDIS Plan – from Goals to Action
Brisbane : 3rd December
Register for this event
This workshop will help you better understand your NDIS plan, provide strategies to help you get started to achieve your goals, and consider ways to design and sustain supports to ensure a “good fit” for you and your family. You will look at ways to direct supports for a good life, including recruiting the right staff for the role.
Reviewing Your NDIS Plan – Record, Reflect, Plan
Brisbane : 11th December
Register for this event
The second workshop is for people who want to get prepared for their annual NDIS review and get clear about the goals they would like to see into the future.

Getting to the Heart of What Matters – the Role of a Support Worker (Support Worker Training)

Presented by Suellen Welch
Brisbane : 5th December
Register for this event

The role of a support worker is complex and multi-faceted. Paid staff can make a significant contribution to a person’s life – enabling the person to live a rich life and pursue their own unique goals and dreams.

This full day workshop will be an opportunity for support workers to critically reflect upon the essential purpose of their role, the values that drive “support”, and the sorts of relationships which are core to supporting someone well, particularly in relation to valued roles and community belonging.

Families for Inclusive Education Project workshops

Presented by CRU

CRU has been funded by the Department of Education to deliver workshops across Queensland under the Families for Inclusive Education (FFIE) project.

These workshops are an opportunity for families to reflect on their long-term vision for their family member – and how the school years can become a pathway to that positive, rich, included life.

While the 2019 workshop program has now concluded, the 2020 program of events is currently being planned and details will be soon be available.

In the meantime, if you weren’t able to tune-in to the webinar that took place on 14th October, the presentation slides that were used are available to downloaded here, or you can watch the recording here on our You Tube channel.

For more information on all CRU workshops, see the Events page on the CRU website,
or click on the individual links listed above for each workshop.