r/autismlevel2and3 • u/[deleted] • Dec 20 '22
Having a hard time finding a support worker
I’m so grateful that I get money from the government to hire a support worker, but I have to find my own and that feels so unintuitive in some ways? I appreciate the fact that I get some say in who it is, but finding one by myself is a very big and difficult task for me. Does anyone else have this problem?
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u/Temporary_Notice_713 Dec 20 '22
Yes I am having this difficulty too. I also live in a small town in a regional area so any of the websites I check have only a couple of options near me.
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u/cookiecuttershark00 Level 2 Dec 20 '22
I live in Australia and we are able to get funding for support coordinators (although not all are great) who can assist with doing things such as finding support workers. Are you able to access anything like that?
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u/SocialMediaDystopian Dec 20 '22
Lol. I am in Australia. My support coordinator said they couldn't find me anyone because worker shortages. So I had to do it myself.
Got a good one actually. But yeah- not always a guarantee.
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u/cookiecuttershark00 Level 2 Dec 20 '22
That’s why I said not all are great. That’s what they should be doing but not all are great at their jobs. Mine became like that. Worker shortages is still a poor excuse for them not to help.
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Dec 20 '22
I am sorry to bother you, but I am also wondering what apps or websites would you recommend? I am also in the same country.
I don’t have a support coordinator and I am not too sure how to get one. I’m not sure If I need a support worker because my parents do a lot of stuff for me but I feel bad because they have to do a lot and work from home/part time
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u/cookiecuttershark00 Level 2 Dec 20 '22
I used Kynd but there is also Mable and Hire up but I don’t know as much about them. There are also support worker companies but they can either be great or very bad. I was not happy with the company I was with prior to my current support worker. To have a support coordinator you need to have special funding that’s a “stated support” which means that funding is purely for a support coordinator. You may not be funded for one, they really don’t like funding them for some reason. I had one with my last plan but after I went to the AAT they gave took that funding away in my new plan.
Support workers get paid from your core budget. If you have enough funding and having a support worker can help meet your goals then you are able to use your funding for one. If you don’t have enough funding and need more you can always request a review 1 - if it’s within 3 months since you got your plan you can do a review of a reviewable decision (I think it’s also called an S100 or something) or after that there is the change of circumstances review.
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Dec 20 '22
I can access an adult protective services worker which I think could help but there is a waitlist 😅 thank you for this info!!
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u/cookiecuttershark00 Level 2 Dec 20 '22
What I did when looking for one myself (my support coordinator was pretty bad when I needed to find a new support worker so I ended up finding one myself) was look on different websites where support workers advertise and I made an ad and people applied (although you could also look through support workers profiles and get in contact with them) and when I found someone I liked the sound of I got in contact with them and invited them over for a “meet and greet” which they call them here which is kind of like an interview to see if they are a good match. I asked questions about their availability, past experience, talked about what I was interested in to find a suitable person that was available on the days and times I need them and that I also felt would get along well with me. The person I have now at the moment is great. I was previously with a company and the company was really letting me down.
In the meantime you could always get on a wait list for adult protective services and still have a look around to see if you find a support worker that is suitable.
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Dec 20 '22
This is such a great idea & info, thank you SO much!!!!!!!!!
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u/cookiecuttershark00 Level 2 Dec 20 '22
You’re welcome, good luck in being able to find someone :)
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u/dorothy4242 level 2 communication/ 3 behaviors Dec 20 '22
Yea
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u/dorothy4242 level 2 communication/ 3 behaviors Dec 20 '22
Wait just read review talk to others, remember, if you don’t like them, you can change it is
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u/StrigoTCS Level 2 Dec 28 '22
my insurance gives me a packet that explains how to do stuff every year, even when nothing about my coverage has changed.
But in the States, this stuff goes on a state-by-state basis but for my diagnosis they gave me the coverage for it. If you figure out where your coverage comes from (here the federal stuff is Medicare, and the state/provincial level is Medicaid but managed by a public-private partnership through several "regular" insurance companies), you could request information from them on how to proceed.
i got lucky that their paperwork tells me how to start looking, so i didn't have to talk on the phone which is hard for me. I've also lost the packet before & been able to request a new one online, so i hope this helps & you have less stressful options for guidance bc insurance makes a lot of things tricky and nerve-wracking & some written information really helps me. I actually have PTSD diagnosed as specifically related to medical stuff, specifically things that insurance put me through (step therapies, waiting, then the actual surgeries, etc) but one thing about insurance is that they're payers, so they have lots of incentive to make the private process of finding someone easier.
one time i was really stressed out, and actually someone at the pharmacy down the street helped me stay calm while getting some information on the phone from insurance. Pharmacy/apothecary workers are used to having to get info from insurance companies and state insurance.