The aim of the P.S Project is for VALID to connect with people who lived in institutional care in Victoria, have minimal or no active family support, to take a snapshot of their supports and needs in order to identity gaps and ways to improve their quality of life.
On 7 April 2020, Peter James Scott passed away. Peter had lived in an institution for many years and later moved into a group home. However, he had no family or unpaid people in his life to speak up for him. So, when he became unwell and was admitted to hospital and then moved into a nursing home no one was sticking up for his needs in these decisions. . Subsequently a support coordinator sought VALID involvement and it was discovered that he had adequate funds to purchase appropriate supports. His death soon after had a significant impact on the VALID community. Peter is one of hundreds of people with intellectual disability who have been separated from their families and largely forgotten in institutions, residential services, and aged care.
VALID feels that the NDIS needs to be included in the work too, so that people get the right funding for the supports they need, like:
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- Support coordination
- Supported Decision-Making agreements
- Person-Centred plans
- Community Circles of Support plans
- Advocacy
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In-line with the recommendations VALID has developed a range of tip sheets and easy and plain English posters to support and build on residents’ skills. These are free for services to use and you can find them here. You can also read our report on the project here.