Disability Services

The Disability Service provides a range of supports to families who have a member with a disability living with them at home.

The support provided reflects the changing needs of the person with a disability and their family.  (The person with a disability needs to be younger than 60 years in order for the family to receive support.)

The service has a family centred approach based on the core values of community, justice and the rights  of  individuals.   It is participatory and developmental and works in partnership with families and the community to provide continuity of support and realisation of the vision for each family.

Support can include:

• Assisting the person with a disability to link into the community
• Helping around the home and with the children
• Assisting with personal care
• Supporting the person with a disability to learn and consolidate independent living  skills
• Supporting the person with a disability to access recreational activities
• Assisting the family to access other services and information
• Supporting siblings and parents through a variety of strategies
• Supporting primary carers to have a break from the caring role
• Support can be provided by:
• The family’s Key Worker
• A Family Support Worker
• Funding transferred to the family to employ their own  worker or to purchase other supports
• Funding being provided to  another disability service to provide a support worker

Fees are negotiated with the family.  If a family experiences times of financial challenge, they are not excluded from receiving a service if they are eligible.

Our previous involvement with a Collaboration Project published a poster titled "The A to Z of Practices that Families Find Helpful". This poster is also available from Kyabra (Cost A3 size $7.70 including GST).

Other Useful Websites

National Industry Association for Disability Services
www.nds.org.au

Disability Services Queensland
www.disability.qld.gov.au

Brisbane South Flexible Holiday Program (BSFHP)

The Brisbane South Flexible Holiday Program aims to provide a range of flexible support options to families with school aged children with a disability during the December/January school holidays.  Families living in the South Brisbane HACC geographic region and have a child aged between 5 and 18 who attends a formal education program (school, SEDU, home schooling, preschool) are eligible to apply.

Who provides the program?

Five Disability Support Agencies work together to deliver a range of supports to families.  These services operate their own individual programs and adhere to their own elegibility criteria.

These agencies are:

• Kyabra Community Association Inc.
• Bayside Respite Care 
• CHARM Support Services
• Mamre Association Inc.
• Xavier Children’s Support Network

How to access the program?

Families who ahve not previously accessed Brisbane South Flexible Holiday Program should initially contact Kyabra on 3373 9499.  Applications can be made via an Expression of Interest form which sill be available in October each year.

Mums' Weekends and Dads' Education Program

The Disability Service aims to provide opportunities for parents who may share similar experiences to make links with each other.

On an annual basis, a Mum's Weekend Away is organized in order to provide a group of mums with the opportunity to get away for a weekend and have some time to relax and meet other mums.  Extra support can be provided to enable the mums to have the weekend away.

The Dads' Education Program meets monthly and is an opportunity for men to share stories about their lives as a father of a son or daughter with a disability. As this group involves fathers from a variety of backgrounds, this is also a great learning opportunity for us all to hear both the differences and similarities in cultural perspectives towards disability.

Siblings and Young Carers

The Disability Service recognizes the differing needs of those who have a brother, sister or parent with a disability.  In collaboration with Disability Services Queensland, and other services, we support siblings and young carers to participate in events such as camps.  These events are organized in consultation with a reference group of siblings and young carers.

Building Tomorrows Together Project

The Building Tomorrows Together Project works alongside families as they explore options for their adult sons and daughters with a disability to move out of the family home and into a place of their own.  Click here for further information.