Our vision at Community Living is “Disabled People Thriving in the Community”. This means putting power in the hands of people to live the life they choose in their communities. We call this Nou Te Mana – “the power is within you”.
We are working on a pilot programme with a small group of people who are currently supported in our residential services. This programme will transform the services we provide so they and their whaanau are in control. This is the Nou Te Mana pilot.
The problem we're trying to solve
Community Living is a significant provider of community residential services for disabled people in Waikato and Bay of Plenty. We know that sometimes, traditional residential services don't work well for anyone:
People supported often don’t have the power to make decisions about services that impact their lives – decisions like where they live, who with, who supports them, and how. Services are often not designed to be responsive to people's needs and wishes. Feedback from people we support and their whaanau reinforces that these are common frustrations.
Several major reviews [1][1b][1c] have confirmed the shortcomings of residential services and there have been many calls for an end to group homes used to deliver them.
Common criticisms are that group homes can operate like small institutions; people's rights can be compromised; and safeguards are sometimes not adequate.Residential services are expensive to operate and costs are increasing. Funding has not kept pace with costs of service delivery even though funding per person has increased disproportionately over recent years when compared to other forms of disability support. [2]
We believe there is a better way that gives disabled people choice and control while being cost effective and providing all the support a person needs to live a good life in the community, whatever their circumstances.
Basic design principles
These are the principles we are working with as we design Nou Te Mana:
Person directed, consistent with Enabling Good Lives principles and co-designed with the people we support and their whaanau.
Based around a scheduled 12-month transition from residential support.
Decisions impacting on the person are made at the point of support, with accountability of the support team shifting to the person supported.
The overall funding cost should not increase and should decline over time.
A robust quality assurance framework focussed on the experience of the supported person ensures a high standard of support.
Housing and support are unbundled so that people can make different choices over their support and living arrangements.
Outcomes (satisfaction, quality and cost) are tracked against a control to assess the success of the pilot.
Whatever we learn from the pilot is available to disabled people and to the wider sector.
Implementation
People supported
As of September 2024, we are working with 8 people across 4 households on the transition from residential support. With each person and their whaanau we develop a plan for what they want their support and living arrangements to look like and turn this into a personalised budget. We can host their funding, or people can manage it themselves if they prefer.
As part of the transition, we offer personal development opportunities aimed at growing social capital, connection and confidence.
It doesn’t matter how complex a person’s support needs are or what family or other support they have around them.
Personal advocacy and safeguarding distinct from service delivery are addressed for pilot participants so there is always someone to look out for them who is not part of their paid support team.
Support Teams
Staff groups working autonomously are more responsive to support needs, as they can make decisions “on the spot” when needed. Upskilling our staff for this new way to work is an intensive but worthwhile investment.
We now define the “team” as including the people we support, their whaanau and natural supports, paid staff and others who have significant involvement in the person’s life. It is vital that everyone is on the same page.
Housing
Housing is unbundled from support so people can mix and match support and housing. We want to make sure people can choose their support provider without putting their living arrangements at risk. We make sure the person has a suitable home that meets their needs and arrange a lease. In parallel with the pilot we are planning to develop new fit for purpose housing both to grow the housing stock and to transform our portfolio from predominantly group homes to homes that better reflect how disabled people want to live. We also want people to have the option of part or full ownership of their home if they are interested.
The pilot period and beyond
The pilot will run for up to two years with each participant supported through a 12 month transition from our residential services.
Over time we want to make the Nou te Mana opportunity available to everyone living in a residential service and to others transitioning from other forms of support, where traditionally residential services would have been the only option.
How can I express my interest or follow along?
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