Local Area Coordinator Training Guidelines

LOCAL AREA COORDINATOR TRAINING GUIDELINES

Local Area Coordinators (LACs) will require knowledge and skills in a range of Overview areas to support children, adolescents and young adults with disabilities and their families. Training, including induction training and ongoing professional development, mentoring and support will be critical to the success of the LAC workforce. These training guidelines are based on parent, health professional and disability service professional recommendations in conjunction with an expert stakeholder review committee. As the exact qualifications and professional backgrounds of LACs will vary, these five guidelines are broad and incorporate recommendations for training in both basic and specialist skills areas.

These training guidelines have been designed to complement existing training plans Objectives for LACs currently being devised by DisabilityCare Australia to:  Identify and describe basic and specialised training needs for LACs in their general role  Highlight training needs for LACs working with children, young people (0-25 years) and parents.

A guideline is: Definition  “A statement or other indication of policy or procedure by which to determine a course of action” [23]  “Recommended practice that allows some discretion or leeway in its interpretation, implementation or use” [24].

These guidelines were based on the perspectives of health professionals, disability Rationale organisations, parents and carers of children and young people with disabilities. Five focus group discussions and three interviews were held, involving a total of 39 key stakeholders.

Guideline 1: Working in Partnership with Children, Adolescents, Youth and Families

Building strong, respectful relationships with children, young people and their Why families is fundamental to the LAC role. There are a range of training options that can help LACs develop the basic skills required for this work and to extend and refine these skills as part of their ongoing professional development.

Communication skills Components Strong verbal communications skills form the foundation of relationship development and appropriate support of children and families. Clear written communication is needed to document child and family needs, priorities and decisions. Whilst LACs will be expected to have strong verbal and written communication skills, training during induction and ongoing professional development on effective face to face and written communication is essential.

Conflict management skills Working directly with people where they are experiencing stress can be challenging and therefore conflict could occur at some point. For LACs to work both safely and effectively requires that they have good conflict management skills.

Counselling skills Given the challenges and stressors that arise when living with disability and parenting or caring for a child with disability, basic counselling skills are needed to ensure LACs can effectively: develop rapport with children and families; use active listening skills; pose relevant, open-ended questions; respond with sensitivity; work in the present, that is with the stage that the person or family is at; and manage potential strong emotions that may arise from the children and families they are working with and from within themselves. Links with “Parent and Carer Wellbeing”.

Cross cultural skills Australia is home to people speaking over 300 languages, practising over 100 religions and in addition to this diversity, many more cultural groups. LACs cannot have knowledge about all groups and their needs, however cross-cultural or cultural competency training can help them work more respectfully and effectively with a range of populations. This training includes, but is not limited to working with interpreters and people with little or no English or literacy skills. This training provides foundation skills, promotes ongoing self-reflection and refinement of skills in working with people from a range of cultural backgrounds. This training links with “Scoping Community”.

Empowerment skills Many parents and people with disabilities seek to be empowered to exercise choice and control over decisions effecting their lives, goals and wellbeing. Those who do not hold this ambition should be encouraged and supported to exercise greater choice and control over matters that impact them. Empowering children, young people and families is a specialised skill set requiring high quality training.

Parent and carer wellbeing The mental health and physical wellbeing of parents and carers of children with disabilities is easily overlooked given the focus on their children. However, this cohort is known to have heightened health needs that should be considered. In line with DisabilityCare, LACs need to know how to work with parents and carers to identify stress and burnout and to link them to the support they need so they stay strong and healthy and can continue their roles. General training in working sensitively and respectfully with parents to promote their wellbeing and specific training in mental health and grief and loss (around diagnosis and ongoing stress) will assist LACs in working successfully with parents. This links with “Counselling Skills”.

Issues specific for children, adolescents and youth Working effectively with children requires specialised knowledge and experience of different life and developmental stages and transitions during early childhood, pre-school age, primary school age, adolescents, and young adulthood. Training of LACs to develop rapport with children and families; understand developmental and life stages; opportunities for early intervention and transitions (with relevant planning and decision-making); respecting the voice of children; allowing perceptions and relationships to change as the child changes; and working with a strength-based approach are some essential training components.

Guideline 2: Disability Systems and Self-directed Approach

Disability systems are complex and frequently changing. The new DisabilityCare Why reform presents further changes and opportunities that LACs will need to understand and work within.

Disability systems and other key systems outside health Components LACs will require training to have a basic working knowledge of disability systems and those frequently used (health and education for example). Within the disability system in particular, LACs will need knowledge of or the ability to find answers to information needs such as: accessibility, affordability and appropriateness of resources; funding and eligibility; therapeutic services and equipment and how to source these; relevant professionals and organisations; coordinating services; transition points and associated needs; and respite options.

Self-directed approach LACs will need basic training on the principles and values of self-directed approaches underpinning DisabilityCare Australia. In addition they need a good working knowledge of the principles of individualised support and person centred planning and funding packages and how to help families work with these new parameters and take up new opportunities.

Disability-related legislation and laws Basic training to ensure that LACs are familiar with all relevant disability legislation and related policies. A further necessary skill is to know where to find additional information, should it be required.

Guideline 3: Community Capacity Building

Community capacity building is a particular skill-set and includes networking, Why developing and facilitating partnerships, community mapping or profiling, and generally developing strategies to overcome barriers that can prevent or inhibit participation and social inclusion.

Networking and developing partnerships Being trained in how to establish and foster community networks with a range of people, organisations and community groups is central to capacity building efforts. These include key local organisations and groups that work with children and young people with disabilities and their families currently or those that have potential to work with them in the future. Effective networks and strong partnerships that support more inclusive communities will provide greater opportunities for children and young people with disabilities and their families.

Community scoping Working locally to build capacity means that LACs have the need and opportunity to get to know their local communities. Training in Community Scoping or Profiling can provide useful information for LACs to begin understanding the characteristics of their community. Specific training may utilise demographic resources such as the Australia Early Development Index (information on children in the area) or the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Barriers and gatekeepers When working with communities and organisations, it is common to come across barriers including gatekeepers and complex arrangements that prevent, discourage or inhibit access to people with a disability and families. Training can help LACs identify such barriers including the behaviour of gatekeepers and adopt appropriate problem solving strategies.

Linking families and individuals to advocacy services LACs would require ongoing training and support to identify individuals with disability and families who require advocacy, and guide these families and individuals by pointing or connecting them to relevant services in the community.

Guideline 4: Supporting Families to Choose Services

LACs will need access to current research databases and other information sources Why in order to support children and parents to choose services and supports.

Evidence-based practice Components LACs need good research skills and the ability to work with authenticated evidence to support decision-making on a wide range of topics concerning children and families. Training can help LACs learn how to search effectively for evidence based practice, assess its authenticity and apply it.

Problem solving (with creativity) Given the diversity of children and families and their changing needs and preferences, LACs require training in problem solving that encourages a creative approach coupled with assessment of risk so that people can maximise the opportunities available to them in a safe and sustainable way.

Holistic approach Throughout all training, LACs should be encouraged to take a holistic approach to working with children and their families. This should recognise the whole person and the whole family in the context of their community and wider society. This training focus includes recognition of and working with the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of children and their families.

Guideline 5: Self-Care

Preventing LAC turnover and burnout requires appropriate support systems for Why staff. This includes quality training that is shaped around needs as they surface as well as core elements that encourage self-care such as time management, priority setting and maintaining professional boundaries.

Time management Components Training in effective time management is essential for LACs given their workload and the nature of their roles which includes the complexities of working directly with children and families and in developing capacity in the wider community.

Priority setting With managing such a large caseload of families and responsibilities, LACs will need training to know how to prioritise their daily duties.

Maintaining personal and professional boundaries Establishing and maintaining professional boundaries is critical to professional practice and protecting the wellbeing of LACS. Training would include clarity and awareness of boundaries, recognising early signs of dependency as well as respectfully and professionally communicating and maintaining boundaries. This is important not only for LACs’ self-care, but also important when supporting families to build their own capacity and to understand the limits of the LAC role. REFERENCES

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