TAAP 2017-21 Service Delivery Model December 2016

TAAP 2017-21 Service Delivery Model December 2016

Service Delivery Model

Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program2017-21

December 2016

CD/16/529452*

Contents

Purpose

1. TAAP principles of practice

Table 1 - Principles of practice for the Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program

Requirement 1

2. TAAP eligibility and prioritisation

2.1 Eligible clients

2.2 Ineligible clients

2.3 Prioritisation of eligible cases

Requirement 2

3. TAAP service types

3.1 Information and referral

3.2 Negotiation

3.3 VCAT assistance

3.4 Outreach

Requirement 3

4. Tenant service pathway

Requirement 4

5. Referrals

5.1 Making referrals

5.2 Receiving referrals

5.3 Organisation contact information

Requirement 5

6. Professional development and support

6.1 Training

6.2 Supervision

6.3 Tenancy advice service

6.4 Interpreting

Requirement 6

7. Reporting

7.1 Data report

7.2 Narrative and training report

7.3 Financial reporting

Requirement 7

Appendix A: Tenant pathway flowchart – plain text version

Acknowledgement: This service model has been adapted by Consumer Affairs Victoria from the Financial Counselling Program service delivery model originally conceived by Elizabeth Shearer of Managing Justice.

Purpose

This Service Delivery Model sets out the service and reporting requirements of the Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program 2017-21 (TAAP).

1. TAAP principles of practice

The five principles of practice listed in Table 1 on the following page describe the tenancy assistance and advocacy experience through the expectations of clients, service providers and Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV), as the funder.

Table 1 - Principles of practice for the Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program

Principle / Outcome
Clients / Service providers / Consumer Affairs Victoria
Accessibility / I can talk to someone at a TAAP service within a reasonable time using an access option that works for me. / We are empowered to respond to the access needs of the communities we serve. / We are confident that there is equitable access to services across Victoria.
We are confident that financially disadvantaged private tenants are able to access tenancy support services.
Consistency / I can expect the same level of service no matter which organisation I first make contact with. / We have a clear understanding of CAV’s expectations of the nature and extent of services we will provide.
We work collaboratively and in partnership with other service providers. / We are confident that there is reasonably consistent service experience for clients.
We are confident that the resources we provide are being appropriately used.
Quality / I will have a clear understanding of what the TAAP worker will do, and what I need to do.
I will not feel judged.
I can rely on the quality of the service. / We have qualified staff who are supported to maintain and improve their skills through professional development.
We use best practice processes and tools to guide our practice. / We are confident that the services we fund are of good quality and competently delivered.
Efficiency / I get directed to a service that can:
  • help me as quickly as possible and without having to explain the same thing over and over, and
  • if I am not able to get help from the TAAP agency, they will tell me this as soon as possible.
/ We provide clients with the least expensive service that meets their needs.
Our reporting requirements demonstrate accountability but are not onerous. / We are confident that the funding we provide is used efficiently.
Empowerment / I will be supported to play whatever role I can to solve my own problems.
I will be better able to deal with tenancy problems if they arise again. / We can work in a way that suits our context and fits with other services our organisation delivers.
We are supported to trial innovative ways of delivering services to address broader systemic problems. / We are confident that funded organisations provide improved outcomes for clients and the community.

Requirement 1

The organisation must operate in accordance with the principles of practice in Section 1 of the Service Delivery Model.

2. TAAP eligibility and prioritisation

The TAAP is funded to assist Victorians who are financially disadvantaged (or victims of family violence) that have a private tenancy agreement under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA). The term ‘tenant’ is used to refer to both tenants and residents throughout this document.

The TAAP operates from the premise that such tenants can often experience tenancy problems that if not addressed may lead to homelessness or otherwise put at risk their health, safety and wellbeing. TAAP assists these tenants resolve their tenancy issues, maintain tenancies, and achieve positive outcomes.

2.1 Eligible clients

To be eligible for TAAP services, tenants must be either financially disadvantaged or victims of family violence.

A tenant is considered to be experiencing financial disadvantage if:

  • they have no income
  • their main source of income is a Centrelink benefit, or
  • their income is insufficient to sustain their personal financial commitments, and they have defaulted on payment of rent, utility bills or other personal debts.

Tenants who are victims of family violence are eligible for TAAP assistance regardless of their financial circumstances. This is because family violence can quickly impact a victim’s normal financial position.

Private tenants who are not financially disadvantaged or a victim of family violence are only to receive a maximum of one hour of information and referral.

Although vulnerability is not a pre-condition for TAAP eligibility, it is recognised that many TAAP tenants who are financially disadvantaged may also have a vulnerability that could impact on their capacity to self-help, such as:

  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
  • family violence
  • homelessness
  • intellectual or physical disability
  • lack of formal education (including illiteracy)
  • life event (includes accident, illness, divorce, unemployment, death of close family member)
  • limited English proficiency
  • mental health issues, or
  • substance abuse.

2.2 Ineligible clients

The following persons are ineligible for TAAP services:

  • social housing tenants, both public and community housing. These tenants are eligible for support from the Social Housing and Support Program (SHASP).
  • residents of retirement and rental villages whose agreements are under the Retirement Village Act 1986 or the RTA. These residents are eligible for the Retirement Housing Assistance and Advocacy Program (RHAAP).
  • tenants with a tenant-to-tenant dispute, who should be referred to the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria.

2.3 Prioritisationof eligible cases

Eligible cases are to be prioritised according to urgency, considering the tenant’s personal circumstances and the nature of the tenancy issue.

If a case is deemed urgent, it is to be treated as a priority matter, and the TAAP provider is required to contact the tenant within two business days.

2.3.1 The personal circumstances of the tenant

When assessing the urgency of the tenant’s personal circumstances, relevant considerations include:

  • the likelihood the tenant will experience significant detriment if TAAP services are not provided as soon as possible. (For example, a tenant is experiencing health problems as a result of their tenancy issues and faces a significant risk to their well-being.)
  • the tenant’s ability to access services. (For example, a tenant in a family violence situation may have significant practical difficulties seeking assistance at a safe time and place.)
2.3.2 The nature of the tenancy issue

When assessing the urgency of the tenancy matter, relevant considerations include the nature of the tenancy problem and any time deadlines involved. For example:

  • The tenant’s rental property requires urgent repairs under the RTA
  • The tenant has been served with a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) order or application for possession of their rental premises, or
  • The tenant has a VCAT hearing in the next few days that if not attended to, may result in loss of accommodation.

Requirement 2

The organisation must use the eligibility criteria and urgency prioritisation set out in Section 2 of the Service Delivery Model and ensure that:

-TAAP services are only provided to eligible clients, and

-In priority cases, a TAAP worker makes contact with the tenant within two business days.

3. TAAP service types

There are four service types that TAAP workers can use to record the service duration of 1,301 hours of service per FTE. These are:

  • information and referral
  • negotiation
  • VCAT assistance
  • outreach (up to a maximum of 20% of total service hours)

The tenant should be provided with the least intensive service that meets their needs.

A tenant can receive more than one service type, however service hours should be recorded for each service type (i.e. a tenant could receive ‘information and referral’ and ‘negotiation’ and ‘VCAT assistance’).

The service target is 1,301 hours for each full time equivalent (FTE) TAAP worker. For convenience, services are recorded in minutes and accumulated for aggregate reporting in hours.

3.1 Information and referral

When providing information and referral, a TAAP worker may:

  • provide general residential tenancy information, such as providing copies of the CAV tenancy guidebooks or directing tenants to the relevant pages of the CAV website
  • provide initial or one-off tenancy advice based on the particular tenant’s circumstances, including how the law might apply in their case, or
  • refer the client to another service.

The service provided to tenants who are not financial disadvantaged or a victim of family violence should be limited to a maximum of one hour of information and referral.

The most appropriate service for the needs of eligible tenants may still be only information and referral, however the service they are provided may exceed one hour.

To record time on providing ‘information and referral’ service type, TAAP workers will need to open a case for the tenant in question.

3.2 Negotiation

Negotiation is an attempt to resolve a matter outright or prevent the need for a VCAT hearing.

Only tenants who are financially disadvantaged or victims of family violence are eligible for negotiation services.

When negotiating, a TAAP worker may:

  • ensure appropriate responses have been made to all important tenancy documents the tenant receives (such as a Notice for breach of duty or rent increase)
  • draft letters on the tenant’s behalf
  • negotiate on behalf of the client with the other party (such as a landlord, rooming house manager or real estate agent), and
  • bring the parties together to negotiate a resolution of the issue.

On completion of the negotiation, and depending on the outcome, the tenant may need to be referred to another support service (for example, a housing or homeless service or a financial counsellor), or the TAAP worker may determine that the matter needs to be heard at VCAT.

3.3 VCAT assistance

Only tenants who are financially disadvantaged or who are victims of family violence are eligible for VCAT assistance services.

TAAP workers may provide the following assistance to eligible tenants for a matter proceeding to VCAT:

  • information and advice on VCAT processes and procedures
  • assistance with completing forms and preparing VCAT documents
  • assisting tenants prepare to represent themselves at VCAT, and
  • attending and advocating for tenants at VCAT hearings if the tenants are not capable of representing themselves.

The TAAP worker’s participation is at the discretion of the VCAT member, and may be limited to opening and closing submissions.

It is expected that the TAAP worker will attend the VCAT venue where the tenant’s matter is to be heard. This may mean that from time to time an organisation will be required to attend a VCAT venue that is outside their service area, or arrange for another advocate to attend with the tenant.

3.3.1 Duty advocacy

Organisations have an option to provide a duty advocacy service at their local VCAT Residential Tenancies hearings. If they elect to do so, an agreement between the VCAT registrar and the organisation should be drawn up to reflect the arrangement. The duty advocacy service must be limited to eligible tenants under the TAAP.

Organisations can record hours of service for casework activity undertaken in the duty advocate role, however waiting time cannot be counted as service hours.

3.4 Outreach

Organisations can claim outreach activities for up to 20% of their service hours. Unlike all other service types, outreach is a non-client service. The outreach activities that organisations can claim are:

  • establishing referral pathways with other community organisations
  • providing tenancy advice to another community worker
  • attending a local network meeting to raise awareness of TAAP services
  • providing educational sessions for tenants (for example, in residential parks or caravan parks), and
  • travel time for casework, outreach activities and professional development.

Requirement 3

The organisation must:

a) provide and report on services that comply with the service types set out in Section 3 of the Service Delivery Model, including:

- information and referral

- negotiation

- VCAT assistance

- outreach

b) provide the appropriate TAAP service type to tenants as per the eligibility criteria

c) collect and record service hours (1,301 per FTE) against the appropriate service type.

4. Tenant service pathway

There are four decision points where organisations gather information and make decisions as to which services match a tenant’s needs. These are:

  • initial contact response
  • assessment of financial disadvantage
  • assessment of family violence, and
  • urgency of the matter.

These activities are documented in the Tenant Pathway Flowchart on the following page.

Requirement 4

The organisation must apply the tenant pathway flowchart set out in Section 4 of the Service Delivery Model.

Chart 1 - Tenant pathway flowchart

For a plain text version, go to Appendix A.

5. Referrals

From time to time organisations will be required to make or accept referrals as indicated below.

5.1 Making referrals

Circumstances when a TAAP organisation might make a referral include:

  • when the complexity of the matter requires tenancy legal advice beyond the capacity of the TAAP organisation
  • a conflict of interest occurs, or
  • the tenant requires service in another service area due to work commitments or a desire for anonymity (for example, family violence).

5.2 Receiving referrals

Circumstances when an organisation will be required to accept a referral include:

  • when the Tenancy Central Service receives a client via the tenancy advice service and the client is eligible for TAAP, or
  • when the CAV call centre has assessed a tenant as eligible for TAAP and completed a TAAP referral template.

5.3 Organisation contact information

To facilitate the referral process, TAAP organisations will be required to provide up to date contact information to the Tenancy Central Service, which will manage the inter-organisation referral process.

Requirement 5

The organisation must comply with the referral requirements set out in Section 5 of the Service Delivery Model.

6. Professional development and support

6.1 Training

To deliver quality casework services, TAAP workers are required to have an extensive knowledge of tenancy practice and law, most specifically the Residential Tenancies Act 1997.

CAV funds the Tenancy Central Service (TCS) to deliver professional development for TAAP workers.

6.1.1. Induction training

All new TAAP workers will be required to attend a minimum of two days induction training prior to working directly with clients.

Induction training is in addition to ongoing legislation and skills development professional development requirements.

6.1.2 Legislation and skills development

All TAAP workers (including both part time and full time workers) are required to complete a minimum of two TAAP professional development sessions per year.

A professional development calendar will be produced by the TCS and made available every six months, offering training across different levels and mediums. The options will focus on interpreting the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 and a range of work practices, including representing tenants at VCAT, or working with specific marginalised community groups.

Organisations will record their TAAP workers induction and legislation and skills development attendance in the narrative and training report.

It is acknowledged that TAAP workers may require training in other skills and knowledge areas. The calculation of 1,301 reportable service hours per FTE allows 7 days (53.2 hours) for training. The mandatory induction training and professional development indicated above must be applied towards the 7 allowed training days first. Use of the balance of the training time is at the discretion of the organisation.

6.2 Supervision

Organisations will ensure that all TAAP workers have adequate supervision to support them with casework and the day-to-day impact of their work environment.

6.3 Tenancy advice service

The tenancy advice service will be provided by the TCS. It will enable TAAP workers to access tenancy legal advice by phone and email.

It will also ensure that if a case is extremely complex and the TAAP worker requires additional tenancy legal expertise, the TCS will take the case on, or work in partnership with the TAAP organisation.

The tenancy advice service will also facilitate the resolution of any conflict of interest that the TAAP organisation receives as casework.

The tenancy advice service will also deliver the Community Workers Outreach Program. It is a state-wide program to build the capacity of non-tenancy community workers in tenancy law and promote referral pathways, including into TAAP, to assist tenants.

TAAP organisations will be notified by the TCS when the program will be delivered in their service area. It is expected that the TAAP workers in that area will participate, with attendance counted as outreach service hours.

6.4 Interpreting

TAAP workers will have access to interpreting services for clients experiencing difficulties speaking or understanding English. This service will be funded directly by CAV, and each organisation will be given a code to access the service.

Requirement 6

The organisation must comply with the professional development and supervision requirements set out in Section 6 of the Service Delivery Model, including:

a) all new TAAP workers must complete induction training prior to working with clients

b) all TAAP workers must complete two TAAP professional development training sessions per year