Our Roadmap Back

While we will try and be as fluid as possible in our return to more normal supports there will be a number of factors that impact on this roadmap now and into the future, these include: 

Not being able to exceed the conditions of the State Government Road map.

Being required to comply with Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and NDIS requirements for disability supports where these are issued.

Responding directly to changes and new rules set by government.

Staffing

Due to the impacts of the past years, some staff have moved on  and others have changed direction or priorities. We are conducting an analysis of our human resources to identify needs and targets and will undertake a recruitment drive in the immediate future.

Please be aware that when we start to reintroduce services it is possible that we will have a lot of people wanting to come back at the same time. While  we will start to plan for this in advance there is likely to be a process of the gradual re-establishment of supports  as we get back to normal. While we will go as fast as we can not everything can or will happen at once.

Housing Participants

This group of participants and families have continued to be supported with supports and planning throughout the past 2 years, despite lockdowns, as the nature of the work and support both required and allowed for this. This support will continue and consideration of the impacts of changes in  Covid19 restrictions will be considered with individuals and families on a case by case basis.

WHAT WILL STAY THE SAME AT 80%      

Temperature/health checks are still required until further advice.

Maintain the 4 square metres of space per person in all program rooms

Maintain the current level of environmental cleaning, including building and vehicles until at least the end of the year. This includes the provision of hand sanitiser.

Service Victoria QR codes will continue to be used in accordance with government requirements

A preference for personal crockery and cutlery remains in place on our sites. We can  return to an option of shared cutlery and crockery where a dishwasher is in place with heat regulation.

Continue to avoid physical greetings such as handshaking, hugs and kisses.

We will maintain the Kerferd St annexe to reduce crowding at Brunswick and for people who prefer this.

Working from home will continue to be encouraged however will be voluntary with mandated attendance on site for some periods  of each week.

WHAT WILL CHANGE AT 80%

Participants can return to all services. There will no longer be any restrictions because of overlapping supports from different agencies.

Milparinka staff supporting individual participants  in the community and centres  will be able to work with multiple clients across a range of services and places. There will be no separation from this point.

We will close down the Coburg site and ask participants to return to Brunswick or Kerferd St

The barrier door at the Brunswick site corridor will be open and the separation of supports at Richmond will cease. 

Masks will continue to be worn indoors and in vehicles, with passengers on board.

Attendance at community and sports venues will be re-established. This will continue to be at a maximum of 1 to 2 level of support.

Groups on site, taking into account a range of factors including participant capacity and staff workload, can return to a ratio of 1 to 3 supports.

Seeds  garden club can be restarted with a maximum  number  of 10. Community members will need to be fully vaccinated and provide evidence of this.

Community Supported Access – participants being  driven to and from our centres: will return to a model based on location rather than program groups.

Visitors will be permitted at Milparinka sites to a maximum of 3 per day. This is a maximum of two therapists per day. Up to a maximum of 4 therapists per week at each site. (This is more due to disruption rather than safety). All visitors will need to show evidence that they are fully vaccinated.

There are a number of community places that have requirements for people to be fully vaccinated. There is no exemption because of disability. For example pubs, cafes, gyms, entertainment venues, churches. We will ask the vaccination status of participants and for them to provide evidence of the status so we can legally support them to access these places. If evidence is not provided we will not be able to support participants to access places that require certificates to be shown. 

Crossover between Milparinka  sites will be permitted by staff and service users, for indoor visits. This is limited to three people per visit, this is included as visitor numbers.

Non direct staff will be able to visit people’s homes for assessment and planning meetings.

Respite and recreation services will commence with a staggered introduction with the intention of being fully functional by Christmas. 

In the event of an active covid case at Milparinka, we will follow the guidance from the Department of Health. 

Community Connection

We know that many people in the Milparinka community including participants, families and staff have struggled through this period and many may  require some extra avenues to reconnect in a healthy way with services and other aspects of their lives.  Milparinka intends to provide an opportunity  for people to engage with processes that can support their  reconnection  with the community in a way that makes sense to them.  At this point in time we have two initiatives and we will identify more as people start to reconnect and we get a deeper understanding of what the issues are.

Initiative one:

Community Celebrations.  People who know us know that we have undertaken some extremely successful and very large community events in our communal garden.  Those events generally have a focus on bringing community together, sharing produce, conversations and a good time.  As part of coming out of Covid lockdown we plan to have a series of community celebrations  at our Brunswick site.  These will  create the opportunity for reconnection between people while also  offering an opportunity for them to participate in and learn from a range of sessions provided by people with different expertise.  Basically this will take on a festival framework which places celebration around an opportunity to redevelop connections and bonds and to connect with different sources of support.

For example, we may have music and cultural dances and also have speakers such a psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, art therapy workshops and meditation experts.

This would seek to be a process involving different levels. For example the first  event may have tents or private areas with audio visual equipment where families, participants etc. may go into, and either openly or confidentially at their own pace record their thoughts about the lockdown experiences, what helped, what hurt, what worries them, what made them angry, what to celebrate and what they see happening next. Some may want to use a photo story processes.

This information  can then be  used, with consent, to share with people in different ways so they can hear others and see they are not alone. It would also provide information for the speaker, topics, and methodology for the next events.

This project will be developed with the involvement of people with significant festival, community development and therapy experiences and we can expect when this happens, hopefully at the start of 2022, that numbers may still be an issue  so it this is likely to be a booked event.

Initiative Two

We know from our past experiences how the return to community life can be difficult for some of our participants and it is important to enable more than one way back into support and  connections. Of course the majority of this is done in work with individuals however at the same time we know some people may need more.

We will be using our Richmond and Coburg house, and possibly some other community places, to enable small groups of people from individual supports to come together to take part in a range of educational and social activities that give them the opportunity,  in a fun  environment, to reconnect with friends.  The people who want to attend will be part of planning for this and they will also work out in time how long it is needed for.