SIL Growth at MAP

Wendy, a MAP SIL client and Charlotte, General Manager

As My Ability Pathway continues along the exciting path of introducing the first Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) homes in the Barossa Valley through collaboration with New Dawn Housing, we are also focusing our attention on another NDIS funded support that often complements SDA – SIL.

SIL, or Supported Independent Living, is a type of funding offered to people who meet the relevant NDIS criteria. What SIL funding looks like is individualised to each person’s needs. SIL is not the home itself, but the support provided to those in the home.

SIL Team Growth at MAP

With the first two SDA properties in Nuriootpa nearing completion, MAP is expanding SIL services to new participants. This expansion means growth in other areas – specifically, our team of frontline staff: Support Workers and Key Workers. As our SIL provision increases, we’re recruiting skilled, compassionate and adaptable workers to blend with our existing team members, resulting in dynamic support teams who uphold the quality MAP is known for and ensuring our SIL clients experience a smooth transition into their new homes.

Quality SIL provision relies on the people providing the direct support to each client. As we explored in January, recruitment for providers in the Disability sector face many challenges and it is essential for everyone involved to have a good fit.

MAP’s SIL and associated SDA supports have been described as “boutique”, “luxury” and “bespoke”, words highlighting the importance we place on ensuring the best quality of care to our participants.

Challenges and Steps towards SIL

For many participants, securing SIL funding in their NDIS plans can be a lengthy and in-depth process. However, getting the funding needed to engage SIL supports is only one challenge. Finding a home that meets individual needs with support ratios to match the funding provided, identifying potential housemates and securing a good-fit SIL provider are all considerations for a person once they are ready to begin using their SIL funding.

Again, this process is highly individualised and looks different for everyone. Some participants know who they want to live with from the outset, others have a relationship with a provider who can offer the SIL. But for a lot of participants, these pose serious questions: Can you choose your housemates? Will you lose your accommodation if you change SIL providers? What happens if someone moves out?

As MAP’s SIL expands, these are questions we are asking and answering right alongside our participants. Unexpected hurdles can change the landscape from one day to another, meaning adaptable approaches and forward-thinking are necessary to ensure clients have the best possible outcomes, along with managing expectations from all sides while making certain people have choice and control over the decisions that impact them.

It's important to remain goal focused during times of challenge so that solutions can be found to any barriers encountered. Having a strong support network to lean on during confusing times also helps, whether this is family, a service provider or friends.

Benefits and successes of SIL

For the people who access SIL supports, the outcomes can be remarkable and transformative. The right fit with housemates, providers and support networks can make a world of difference to the people receiving SIL.

Alternative housing and support options to SIL can vary depending on the person, but may include remaining in the family home well into adulthood, or a residential setting, including aged care homes for younger people with limited other options.

In these cases, SIL opens doors.

It provides choice.

Offering security and support to those who need it, SIL ensures they can live the way they want to. There are endless examples of SIL success stories, as varied and interesting as the person they belong to. They exist in the people we meet in our communities, living full and fascinating lives. This vital support creates change and opportunity.

For MAP, being part of these stories is a pure joy and we look forward to the next steps as our SIL space continues to evolve.