Housing and Support Program (HASP): Final Evaluation Report

Accountability
There was a perception among Supports Facilitators
that there needs to be more accountability and
transparency around the levels of support provided.
Supports Facilitators cited situations where support
shifts/hours were not being fi lled and were asking
who was overseeing the process:
Say someone gets verifi ed for 30 hours a week,
that’s really nice, but they may not need 30 hours
a week ongoing, but there is no mechanism in place
whereby we really look at that regularly, like how
much support is a person using, are they being over
supported, making them more dependant, and are
we entrapping them?
Supports Facilitator
There were also concerns around the transfer of clients
between agencies. It was pointed out that under
‘block’ funding it was much more diffi cult for clients
to move from one agency to another. The agency
transferring the client keeps the funding for that client
so that the receiving agency has to have enough
funding capacity to support the new client. As a result,
it can be diffi cult for clients on large packages to move
between agencies.
Care Planning
Care planning is an important component in the
provision of a coordinated approach to the delivery
of services. A number of stakeholders noted that
some clients can have three care plans — a transition
plan, a plan developed by clinical services and a plan
developed by the support agency:
We have a situation where some of the clients have
three care plans – I know that sounds unusual and
it would be better if we had one… and all used that
as a reference point. It appears that each provider
prefers to have their own plan
Case Manager
It was suggested by a number of the staff interviewed
that it would be much more effective for each individual
to have a single care plan which is developed with input
from all stakeholders including the client. This care plan
should be used to guide interventions with the client
and be reviewed and updated on a regular basis —
at least every three months.
Transport costs
Approximately two-thirds of clients indicated that
their support agency/support workers provide them
with transport. The payment of support agencies/
workers for this service does raise some concerns.
In some situations, it was noted that the client pays
the support worker directly for the transport. In others,
support workers transport clients free of charge and
claim the cost in their annual tax return as a work
related deduction. Finally, some agencies take
funding from the client’s HASP package to fund
transport costs. Clarity needs to be provided on the
most appropriate approach for managing transport
costs/reimbursement.
Housing and Support Program (HASP)
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