The abilityNEWS Daily
The Big Story
Cheryl Soafkin searches for a suitable home for son Jeremy [photo courtesy The Age/Chris Hopkins]
Disability Homes on the Brink as Funding Cliff Looms
Almost 2000 Victorians with profound disabilities could lose their group homes when state subsidies end later this year. On Sunday The Age newspaper reported exclusively on the families and providers warning of evictions, closures, and collapse of care for residents.
Jeremy Soafkin lived in his Camberwell group home for 17 years. Now, at 37, his mother Cheryl is being told he may have to leave. The operator, Scope, says the house will shut within months. Jeremy doesn’t know the magnitude of what’s coming.
The Age reported on the human face of a looming collapse. Almost 2000 residents in Victoria’s supported independent living homes - people with severe autism, epilepsy, and other complex conditions - are on the edge of eviction. The reason? A funding stand-off between Canberra and Spring Street.
When the NDIS began Victoria agreed to hand over control of its group homes to five large not-for-profit providers: Aruma, Scope, Life Without Barriers, Melba Support Services and Possability. To smooth the transition, the state pumped in $2.1 billion to keep wages and conditions in line with the old government system. But those subsidies end on December 31.
Providers say they’re already cutting back with sixty homes closing in the past two years. The sector now has, on average, only a month’s cash in reserve. “There have been dozens of closures already,” Aruma’s Martin Laverty says. “There are tragically more to come.”
The Health and Community Services Union is blunt: “Five thousand of Victoria’s most vulnerable people will potentially be left homeless,” Victorian branch secretary Paul Healey warns.
The governments insist they’re working together, but time is running out. Families like the Soafkin’s need certainty and a roof over their heads now.
Editor’s Note
The Health Department is calling for written submissions and community feedback for Thriving Kids initiative. But with a closing date of Friday, 3 October there’s less than a month to submit.
Further information about how to make a submission to the parliamentary committee can be found here.
The Briefing
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[image courtesy Spinal Cord Injuries Australia]
The Wrap
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by ABC
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A University of Sydney study has found 60 per cent of people living with a disability don't have an emergency plan. The findings have led Victoria's Country Fire Authority to create a pilot program that targets "higher risk" households to help create emergency plans.
The Diary
