Welcome to CDAH's February newsletter where it's all happening!

• A Message from the Coordinator
• February Planning Cafe: What's a Peer Mentor and how can I get one?
• Notes from our fab January Planning Cafe - Plan Managing with the NDIS
• Meet a member
• Diary dates
• How you can get involved

• Lisa Ashford-Potter - Pathways to Leadership
• Linda Hughes - Mind The Gap: Disability Matters
• Barbel Winter - futures in sight

1. Get plan management in your NDIS Plan.  It's free.   Plan managers do not "take a cut" from your NDIS package.  It is just a way of managing your plan (other options are Agency-management or self-management).  Plan managers are there to take the hassle out of getting your supports up and running.  You can also use a combination - self-manage some supports, plan manage other supports, and have the Agency manage some for you too.  Choose what suits you best, but if you are unsure, just get it in your plan so you have the option to use it if you want to.
2. Get an independent plan manager.  There is minimal conflict of interest with an independent plan manager, who can work with you to get the most out of your NDIS budget and help you achieve your goals.  An independent plan manager is not attached to a service provider.
3. It gives you all the flexibility and benefits of self-management without the administration.  You can use plan management to develop the skills in financial and service activities to become fully self-managed if you want to.  
4. You don't have to use registered providers if you are plan managing.  You can employ staff directly or engage independent contractors of your choice - they do not have to be registered with the NDIA e.g. Better Caring, HireUp, CareSeekers.

Hi, my name is Chris Morris and I am an Associate Member of CDAH. 

My introduction to CDAH was through a friend who asked me if I would be interested in coming to some workshops. 

It was the very start of CDAH and there were many meetings to decide what CDAH wanted to be and who could join. 

Even though I put my tuppence worth in; it was important to me that I would only be an Associate Member. This was because CDAH was definitely an organisation set up and run by people with a disability.

However, as an Associate Member I have access to everything CDAH has to offer and I can give feedback.  I just don’t get to vote. This is absolutely fine because the ultimate decisions are not, and should not be, mine to make. 

I like being a member of CDAH, it gives me access to talk to people I like, admire and respect and consider my friends. The workshops, planning cafes, information sharing and yarns that CDAH offers me, means that I have the pleasure to learn, explore and discover things from the very people who have travelled journeys that I can only imagine.  However, as an Associate Member and respectful ally, I also adhere to the philosophy of an inclusive society. To me that means engaging in what CDAH has to offer and to also be willing to share any knowledge and insights that I may have. 

For the last 45 years, I have walked alongside people with disability. This has been sometimes as a friend; sometimes as family and sometimes through work.  When it comes to work, I have always had the philosophy that my job in the disability sector is to do myself out of a job for two reasons. 

• Firstly that people with disability are recognised for their skills and abilities to take control of change. 
• Secondly that society gets the social model of disability, so every place is accessible to everyone. 

Since the introduction of the NDIS, I honestly feel that AT LAST there really is a concerted move to a User Led landscape. CDAH is one such organisation that is User Led. Since CDAH began and now that it has a bit of funding from NDIS and ADHC, the opportunities people have had to be leaders and share their knowledge and experiences has been great. Throughout NSW, I have met other people who are also taking the reins to their own lives. Being able to tell them about CDAH, means that they have the opportunity to become a member and have all the benefits of peer to peer support.
As the NDIA continues to move many of its roles over to the non-government sector, CDAH has a critical peer to peer support role to ensure that its members are supported to be leaders and their voices are heard . Already, the NDIA will not be directly involved in the LAC roles and the NDIA has named the two organisations that will manage the implementation of LAC in NSW. Both these organisations are not User Led as both are large religious organisations. It is critical that the voice and expertise of those who use the NDIS, will be heard and acted upon as part of the LAC implementation.  CDAH, as a peer support organisation and network can offer the platform for discussion and be a vehicle to pass on advice and recommendations.  

If you'd like to get more involved with CDAH,  we'd love to hear from you.  See below for the many ways that you can become involved!

• Become a member.
• Come along to one of our peer support events
• Talk us up to others
• Encourage others to join CDAH
• Connect us with people you know
• Mention us on Facebook, Twitter and other social media
• Contribute your skills, knowledge, time and money
• Drop us an email and tell us what matters to you!