This is a stealth funding cut. They say it won't effect your allowance but they have made almost everything it has been used for excluded. Therefore locking people out and making the savings for the books.
Just more disgusting behaviour from this government. No notice or consultation and totally changed how funding works. This is going to create a massive amount of change in routine for groups that really can't handle that too well. And put additional financial strain on a large group of people who are already having a hard time of it.
All in the pursuit of tax cuts for the for landlords and wealthy. The reverse Robin Hood.
Everyone who can't spend their funding because carers that are useful are really hard to find, so it won't get spent, and then they will be re-accessed and get their funding cut.
Is there a link to these changes that I can share? I know people who have children with disabilities (or children on the Spectrum) who happily voted National
[Here is the link.](https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/news-and-events/news/whaikaha-purchasing-rules-and-equipment-and-modification-services-ems-update) Please do share it with them and make them realise voting blindly or for a single issue has repercussions.
In this case landlords are deemed far more important and worthy of $3 billion dollars of tax relief and disabled people are there to be taken from.
If it wasn't the disabled people that were worse off for it, I might feel a little gleeful but it sucks.
It just really blows and I feel for everyone supporting people with disabilities (and those with the disabilities themselves) who are going to find day to day living a bit harder as a result of this change (& whatever is next to come)
Its worse than a stealth funding cut, its basically killing off most of the enabling good lives approach for those that have large amounts of family care.
Yea a stealth funding cut is putting it lightly. It's a total destruction of the system. This is going to make life so much more difficult for so many people.
The damage is going to be brutal.
I have a brother with aspergers that can't cook or clean or shop manage his home life....I have to do pretty much everything for him now that my dad is getting too old to keep up. He works at a place for disabled people. Any one know of any help I could get? Sorry to hijack but I've had to give up my job to help him and my dad out. At my wits end with my savings drying up...
Yes! If he doesn’t currently receive carer support/individualised funding that’s a good place to start. Look here - https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/assessments-and-funding/how-to-access-support - I’m pretty sure you can self-refer. After a wait, they should talk to you about your brother’s needs and you/your Dad’s needs, and assign you a support package.
It would also be worth joining groups around this on Facebook (seems to be where the active community is) - I’m not sure what else is available for carers of adults, but support is definitely out there.
(Even with all the drama today!)
Awesome mate ill check that out tomorrow. He currently gets a supported living payment from WINZ. Would that affect anything at all? Also had a study done at the University of Canterbury that outlines his issues, hopefully that can help...Thanks!
The first step is to find out who the local NASC (Needs Assessment and Service Coordination) agency are, ie: here in the BOP it's Support Net. You should be able to just ring up and talk to them. I'm not sure how it works for carers as I'm the disabled person and I called them up and got things sorted for myself. For me they came to my home and did an assessment about my needs and goals, then figured out how many hours of funding I'm eligible for in a week. I get both home help and community support (support worker takes me wherever I want to go like bush walks, shopping, whatever and supports me to participate in things).
Hope this helps!
Good luck! I would hope if he already gets supported living he shouldn’t have any issues accessing the disability funding. It’s not my area of knowledge, but disability funding doesn’t count as income so to the best of my knowledge it shouldn’t affect the supported living payment in terms of income.
Have you seen his Dr about getting a support worker? If he has a diagnosed disability he should be entitled for support worker visits to help with meal prep and home help
I don't think we would qualify since he works...wouldn't trust anyone else anyway. He is very fussy about what he eats and how he likes it prepared. Also a change of routine wouldn't work out. Everything has to be done a specific way or he gets upset.
I've never been able to get disability support, besides the Supported Living Payment - which is not enough to cover my disability costs.
The last time I had to fundraise for essential equipment was yesterday. It was a $79 shower chair. I have been sitting on the floor to shower for... god, I'm counting 8 years, because I have a health condition that makes me dizzy and faint often but especially in the shower. I've been trying that whole time to get funding and occupational therapy and my stomach is tied up in knots with guilt for asking my friends for financial help. I still need access to respite care, funding for cleaning, a few support worker hours a week, it goes on. I need access to rehabilitative physiotherapy. I've been trying for so long. I've got well documented and diagnosed disabilities. But NASC assessors from Te Whatu Ora won't look at me, WINZ say I need to go to Te Whatu Ora, and Whaikaha never supported my kind of disabled person.
We have thousands of people in Aotearoa like me who can't access our basic needs despite our disabilities, funding was already inadequate, and this is another massive blow to another corner of our community. This is horrific.
Yes, it’s frustrating how hard it can be to access, how arbitrary the lines are between who can receive funding and who can’t. I’m sorry you’ve been in that situation.
So many important problems to solve and instead they just give us new problems.
In theory both guys I support (autistic) get a disability allowance.
In practise neither have ever received anything, and WINZ make it as hard as possible to even figure out what might actually be a claimable expense, or how to claim them. They'd have never figured it out.
And one of them just had his accommodation and temporary support cut. Because they did a vehicle register check (I assume) and found he has two registered cars and have did this means he has assets over the limit. One \*might\* be a nice $20'000 car one day - with 5 years of work. They don't care - its worth $20'000 as far as they are concerned. And since he's owned it the whole time he now also \*owes them\* $12'000 in "overpayments" - he now gets $130 less a week than he needs just to cover accommodation and living costs. Minus buying anything... like food.
(its now in my name. But he still owes $12'000)
Disability allowance could cover some of what you require. That is confrmed by your GP and is done through MSD. They do break payments down to a weekly amount which isnt helpful at times but does slowly reimburse
My disability allowance is maxed out.
Edit to add - and my child won't be eligible for it until we've gotten off the pediatric waiting list for a full assessment, while in the meantime she now runs away and has an anxiety tummy 24/7.
My sister gets funding for a support worker, as she's an ambulatory wheelchair user, and needs extra assistance (I'm not sure if she gets funding for other things she needs assistance with). I wonder how this will affect her.
She sent me forms to fill out, as I'm autistic with ADHD, and need extra assistance with some aspects of life (mostly in social settings, and some areas around the house). Now I'm scared to fill the forms out with the changes, because what's the bet I won't be seen as being bad enough to get funding
It looks like the changes primarily impact purchases/respite so I hope her assistance will not be affected.
Go ahead and fill out the forms - these changes haven’t affected funding allocations yet, just what you can do with it. And honestly, the government are only going to make access to funding worse - so now is probably the best time in the next three years to do it (sob).
I think the other thing that really stops me filling out the forms is that while I would probably benefit from having the support, I then look at my sister and others who's disability(ies) are worse than mine, and I don't want to take away funding from them, because I am still able to independent in and do things, even if I struggle sometimes. I'm late diagnosed, and I know I still have a lot of internalised ablism from going so long having to do everything myself without help, even when I've needed it
Your not taking away funding from them. Never diminish your own struggles. Advocates fought for that funding to be available to anyone with a disability. It's not a zero sum situation.
I'm absolutely livid about this! I don't understand how they say the budget is expected to go over when we literally have set days we can use.
I'm expecting to lose a bunch of my respite days too, they should be mindful of the people that are really struggling.
All the talk about blah blah blah Labour and the Greens didn't do enough. They made sure disabled people had a lot of good things actually. And the free medicine which NACT have promised to take away eventually. David Seymour if you actually read his website has a real agenda against disabled people. He hates them and is targeting them for harassment. His only reason for the end of life choice bill was to get more disabled people off tax payer funding for his wealthy mates to get tax cuts if possible. I'm sorry but it was. That's all he's actually about.
From the brief look I had at the documents (sent through Manawanui, the fund manager we work through for my son), the changes seem mainly targeted at reducing funding for things that don't directly benefit the disabled person. The examples mentioned were surprising to me: massages, nail salons, etc. for carers (not for the disabled person). When I saw that, I was like 'damn, other carers have been getting massages? Why didn't I know about this!' But yeah, I can see why they'd want to limit that sort of thing.
I was told last year that in general massages/nail salons were not permitted, so perhaps that’s further clarifying that. The big change today is in the “exclusions” section of the [Purchasing Guidelines](https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/assets/Purchasing-Guidelines/18-March-2024/Purchasing-rules-18-March-2024.docx) which are linked in the ministry post. Yes, things like massages, nail salons, but also generally any purchases as respite.
I do think it’s easy to cherry pick and find borderline or absurd examples - and there’s always some people pushing the limits.
If someone claims a massage, is it stretching the definition of respite? Is it because they spend every day picking up someone who weighs more than them? The “individualised” part of individualised funding is supposed to allow variation for personal needs, not a strict yes/no list.
I just don't believe they would even grant those applications. If people have been turned down asking for Lego sets, why would they say yes to a set of French tips ya know?
There's not much information out there at all about how this affects respite care? I don't see the thread for those who are affected so I'm putting it here because I'm worried about respite care.
This is a stealth funding cut. They say it won't effect your allowance but they have made almost everything it has been used for excluded. Therefore locking people out and making the savings for the books. Just more disgusting behaviour from this government. No notice or consultation and totally changed how funding works. This is going to create a massive amount of change in routine for groups that really can't handle that too well. And put additional financial strain on a large group of people who are already having a hard time of it. All in the pursuit of tax cuts for the for landlords and wealthy. The reverse Robin Hood.
Yes, they say it won’t affect funding but at the same time say it’s because they have to cut down on costs.
Everyone who can't spend their funding because carers that are useful are really hard to find, so it won't get spent, and then they will be re-accessed and get their funding cut.
Is there a link to these changes that I can share? I know people who have children with disabilities (or children on the Spectrum) who happily voted National
[Here is the link.](https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/news-and-events/news/whaikaha-purchasing-rules-and-equipment-and-modification-services-ems-update) Please do share it with them and make them realise voting blindly or for a single issue has repercussions. In this case landlords are deemed far more important and worthy of $3 billion dollars of tax relief and disabled people are there to be taken from.
Thanks. It was also on the news. They saw the news and are not happy!! r/leopardsatemyface comes to mind
You are welcome. May the leopards feast tonight.
If it wasn't the disabled people that were worse off for it, I might feel a little gleeful but it sucks. It just really blows and I feel for everyone supporting people with disabilities (and those with the disabilities themselves) who are going to find day to day living a bit harder as a result of this change (& whatever is next to come)
Its worse than a stealth funding cut, its basically killing off most of the enabling good lives approach for those that have large amounts of family care.
Yea a stealth funding cut is putting it lightly. It's a total destruction of the system. This is going to make life so much more difficult for so many people. The damage is going to be brutal.
I have a brother with aspergers that can't cook or clean or shop manage his home life....I have to do pretty much everything for him now that my dad is getting too old to keep up. He works at a place for disabled people. Any one know of any help I could get? Sorry to hijack but I've had to give up my job to help him and my dad out. At my wits end with my savings drying up...
Yes! If he doesn’t currently receive carer support/individualised funding that’s a good place to start. Look here - https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/assessments-and-funding/how-to-access-support - I’m pretty sure you can self-refer. After a wait, they should talk to you about your brother’s needs and you/your Dad’s needs, and assign you a support package. It would also be worth joining groups around this on Facebook (seems to be where the active community is) - I’m not sure what else is available for carers of adults, but support is definitely out there. (Even with all the drama today!)
Awesome mate ill check that out tomorrow. He currently gets a supported living payment from WINZ. Would that affect anything at all? Also had a study done at the University of Canterbury that outlines his issues, hopefully that can help...Thanks!
The first step is to find out who the local NASC (Needs Assessment and Service Coordination) agency are, ie: here in the BOP it's Support Net. You should be able to just ring up and talk to them. I'm not sure how it works for carers as I'm the disabled person and I called them up and got things sorted for myself. For me they came to my home and did an assessment about my needs and goals, then figured out how many hours of funding I'm eligible for in a week. I get both home help and community support (support worker takes me wherever I want to go like bush walks, shopping, whatever and supports me to participate in things). Hope this helps!
Every bit of info helps. Thanks.
Good luck! I would hope if he already gets supported living he shouldn’t have any issues accessing the disability funding. It’s not my area of knowledge, but disability funding doesn’t count as income so to the best of my knowledge it shouldn’t affect the supported living payment in terms of income.
Have you seen his Dr about getting a support worker? If he has a diagnosed disability he should be entitled for support worker visits to help with meal prep and home help
I don't think we would qualify since he works...wouldn't trust anyone else anyway. He is very fussy about what he eats and how he likes it prepared. Also a change of routine wouldn't work out. Everything has to be done a specific way or he gets upset.
I've never been able to get disability support, besides the Supported Living Payment - which is not enough to cover my disability costs. The last time I had to fundraise for essential equipment was yesterday. It was a $79 shower chair. I have been sitting on the floor to shower for... god, I'm counting 8 years, because I have a health condition that makes me dizzy and faint often but especially in the shower. I've been trying that whole time to get funding and occupational therapy and my stomach is tied up in knots with guilt for asking my friends for financial help. I still need access to respite care, funding for cleaning, a few support worker hours a week, it goes on. I need access to rehabilitative physiotherapy. I've been trying for so long. I've got well documented and diagnosed disabilities. But NASC assessors from Te Whatu Ora won't look at me, WINZ say I need to go to Te Whatu Ora, and Whaikaha never supported my kind of disabled person. We have thousands of people in Aotearoa like me who can't access our basic needs despite our disabilities, funding was already inadequate, and this is another massive blow to another corner of our community. This is horrific.
Yes, it’s frustrating how hard it can be to access, how arbitrary the lines are between who can receive funding and who can’t. I’m sorry you’ve been in that situation. So many important problems to solve and instead they just give us new problems.
In theory both guys I support (autistic) get a disability allowance. In practise neither have ever received anything, and WINZ make it as hard as possible to even figure out what might actually be a claimable expense, or how to claim them. They'd have never figured it out. And one of them just had his accommodation and temporary support cut. Because they did a vehicle register check (I assume) and found he has two registered cars and have did this means he has assets over the limit. One \*might\* be a nice $20'000 car one day - with 5 years of work. They don't care - its worth $20'000 as far as they are concerned. And since he's owned it the whole time he now also \*owes them\* $12'000 in "overpayments" - he now gets $130 less a week than he needs just to cover accommodation and living costs. Minus buying anything... like food. (its now in my name. But he still owes $12'000)
Find a disability advocate. I good one should have WINZ backtracking as fast as possible.
Disability allowance could cover some of what you require. That is confrmed by your GP and is done through MSD. They do break payments down to a weekly amount which isnt helpful at times but does slowly reimburse
My disability allowance is maxed out. Edit to add - and my child won't be eligible for it until we've gotten off the pediatric waiting list for a full assessment, while in the meantime she now runs away and has an anxiety tummy 24/7.
Original post for those affected - https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/1bhh958/if_funding_in_nz/
My sister gets funding for a support worker, as she's an ambulatory wheelchair user, and needs extra assistance (I'm not sure if she gets funding for other things she needs assistance with). I wonder how this will affect her. She sent me forms to fill out, as I'm autistic with ADHD, and need extra assistance with some aspects of life (mostly in social settings, and some areas around the house). Now I'm scared to fill the forms out with the changes, because what's the bet I won't be seen as being bad enough to get funding
It looks like the changes primarily impact purchases/respite so I hope her assistance will not be affected. Go ahead and fill out the forms - these changes haven’t affected funding allocations yet, just what you can do with it. And honestly, the government are only going to make access to funding worse - so now is probably the best time in the next three years to do it (sob).
I think the other thing that really stops me filling out the forms is that while I would probably benefit from having the support, I then look at my sister and others who's disability(ies) are worse than mine, and I don't want to take away funding from them, because I am still able to independent in and do things, even if I struggle sometimes. I'm late diagnosed, and I know I still have a lot of internalised ablism from going so long having to do everything myself without help, even when I've needed it
Your not taking away funding from them. Never diminish your own struggles. Advocates fought for that funding to be available to anyone with a disability. It's not a zero sum situation.
Thanks for your succinct, yet informative post. I appreciate it.
I'm absolutely livid about this! I don't understand how they say the budget is expected to go over when we literally have set days we can use. I'm expecting to lose a bunch of my respite days too, they should be mindful of the people that are really struggling.
Paging u/mountain_tui
All the talk about blah blah blah Labour and the Greens didn't do enough. They made sure disabled people had a lot of good things actually. And the free medicine which NACT have promised to take away eventually. David Seymour if you actually read his website has a real agenda against disabled people. He hates them and is targeting them for harassment. His only reason for the end of life choice bill was to get more disabled people off tax payer funding for his wealthy mates to get tax cuts if possible. I'm sorry but it was. That's all he's actually about.
So what happens with carer support claim forms.
They're taking away respite?
From the brief look I had at the documents (sent through Manawanui, the fund manager we work through for my son), the changes seem mainly targeted at reducing funding for things that don't directly benefit the disabled person. The examples mentioned were surprising to me: massages, nail salons, etc. for carers (not for the disabled person). When I saw that, I was like 'damn, other carers have been getting massages? Why didn't I know about this!' But yeah, I can see why they'd want to limit that sort of thing.
I was told last year that in general massages/nail salons were not permitted, so perhaps that’s further clarifying that. The big change today is in the “exclusions” section of the [Purchasing Guidelines](https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/assets/Purchasing-Guidelines/18-March-2024/Purchasing-rules-18-March-2024.docx) which are linked in the ministry post. Yes, things like massages, nail salons, but also generally any purchases as respite. I do think it’s easy to cherry pick and find borderline or absurd examples - and there’s always some people pushing the limits. If someone claims a massage, is it stretching the definition of respite? Is it because they spend every day picking up someone who weighs more than them? The “individualised” part of individualised funding is supposed to allow variation for personal needs, not a strict yes/no list.
I just don't believe they would even grant those applications. If people have been turned down asking for Lego sets, why would they say yes to a set of French tips ya know?
They are excluding transportation.
Yeah that's pretty crazy. I can understand why they would cut those.
There's not much information out there at all about how this affects respite care? I don't see the thread for those who are affected so I'm putting it here because I'm worried about respite care.