NDIS planning for children in care

Children aged 0-6 will first access disability support through the NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) approach and may not require an NDIS plan.

Disability support for a child or young person aged over 6 years is documented in an ‘NDIS plan’.

The NDIS plan includes disability supports that are specific to the child’s disability or developmental delay and that are additional to the needs of children of similar ages in similar care arrangements.

Foster and kinship carers play an important role in the NDIS planning process.

How the NDIS plan is developed

Once a child or young person’s access to the NDIS is confirmed, an NDIS planner or Local Area Coordinator (LAC) will contact the child’s representative to schedule a time to develop their NDIS plan. This usually happens at a face-to-face meeting.

When Child Safety is the child’s representative, we may include the following people in the planning meeting:

• the child (where appropriate)
• the child’s parent/s (where appropriate)
• you as the child’s foster/kinship carer
• the Child Safety Officer (CSO) or Team Leader
• a Transition Officer (where appropriate for a child aged 15-18 years).

If the child’s parent is their representative and they do not invite you to the meeting, Child Safety will collect and provide your input.

Following the planning meeting, the NDIA will create an NDIS plan for the child and provide a copy of the plan to the child’s representative.

After the plan is developed, it is implemented, monitored and adjusted over time.

Preparing for planning

As a carer, you can help ensure a child or young person receives the disability supports they need from the NDIS by considering and keeping notes about:

• how the child’s disability or developmental delay affects their:
  • ability to undertake the tasks of daily living (e.g. showering, dressing, eating meals, getting ready to leave the house)
  • communication
  • relationships
  • behaviour.
• the supports and services the child already uses each week and the supports and services that are missing
• the child’s goals and aspirations for the next 12 months
• any disability-specific training or supports that would help you to better understand the child’s needs and be able to better care for the child.

Discuss your notes and ideas with the CSO. They will lead the planning preparations and they can also connect you to useful NDIS information and resources.

More information

• National Disability Insurance Scheme
• Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) (Children aged 0-6)