Temporary cessation of care (respite) for more than 63 days 009-06010090

This procedure is for carers whose respite care period will extend beyond the 63 days allowable for the current calendar year.

If the care receiver has been in hospital, refer to hospitalisation provisions.

A manual follow-up is created two weeks before the respite days expire. Processing Service staff action the review by contacting the carer to determine whether or not the respite is still expected to extend beyond 63 days and the reason.

While there is no limit to hospitalisation days for CP (child) and CA (child) care receivers, the 63 day respite limit still applies. All absences must be recorded. For detailed information see Temporary cessation of care (respite) and hospitalisation (CLK) .

When a carer contacts to enquire about either:

• extensions to respite, or
• because they have been contacted as a part of a review of their respite

Submit a 'Direct Referral to SSO'. The Resources page contains information to locate this site.

Create a DOC to note a Direct Referral to SSO has been made, together with a brief explanation outlining the reason for the request of respite extension. Procedure ends here for Smart Centres.

Special circumstance is determined by an APS 5/6 level officer.

The APS 5/6 level officer does not have to occupy any particular position for them to have the delegation for this decision. However, the delegate will usually be the supervisor of the Processing Service actioning the review.

Generally, a decision to continue payment would only be made if the reason for ceasing care was outside the control of the carer and consistent with the need for, and provision of personal care and attention.

It should be clear in these situations that a return to care at the required level can be expected after a definite period and that the carer will resume providing the care.

Respite provisions used in an emergency situation such as fire, flood etc will meet the criteria of 'special reason' for extension of the 63 days in a year.

Special circumstance would not exist where the carer simply chose to extend a holiday beyond 63 days.

Are there special circumstances?

• Yes, the delegation to continue payment beyond the allowable absence is at the APS 5/6 level. Go to Step 3
• No, payment will automatically cancel once the 63 days temporary cessation of care (respite) provisions for Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) have expired. Record details of decision on a DOC. Where possible, call the carer to advise the TCC extension has not been approved, and issue the carer with a manual letter (Q999) to advise the decision and include the Appeal paragraph. Procedure ends here

All absence extensions should be updated in Customer First using the Temporary Cessation of Care workflow.

In Customer First:

• Run the Temporary Cessation of Care workflow. The Temporary Cessation of Care Summary page will show. This is a display screen only
• Expand the page for the applicable care receiver by clicking on the arrows (>>) next to the care receiver's name. This will show the full summary of the history of absences for the period displayed. Note: if a different period is needed use the drop down box in the Period to Display: field at the top of the page. Press Continue button. The Care Receiver Absence Update page will display
• Go to Step 4

If the workflow is not available or not working, update the absence manually. For manual coding, see Step 4 in Table 2.

Update the absence by:

• Selecting the appropriate care receiver from the drop down box in the Care Receiver: field
• When the absence has been approval by the APS5/6 for an allowable extended absence, tick the Absence Extended: field
• Select the Update button. The updates made will be displayed
• Check for accuracy and select the Update button again. The Absence Updates Summary page will display

• If more absence updates are required, complete the Care Receiver Absence Update section of page with for the additional absences
• If no more updates are needed, click on the Continue button
• The Assessment Results for Activity page will display. Finalise activity and exit the workflow
• Ensure all updates are correctly noted on a DOC, include the details of the APS5/6 who approved the extension

This procedure is for carers whose respite care period will extend beyond the 63 days allowable for the current calendar year.

If the care receiver has been in hospital, refer to hospitalisation provisions.

A manual follow-up is created two weeks before the respite days expire. Processing Service staff action the review by contacting the carers to determine whether or not the respite is still expected to extend beyond 63 days and the reason.

While there is no limit to hospitalisation days for CP (child) or CA (child) child care receivers, the 63 day respite limit still applies. All absences must be coded. For detailed information see Temporary cessation of care (respite) and hospitalisation.

When a carer contacts to enquire about either:

• extensions to respite, or
• because they have been contacted as a part of a review of their own respite

Submit a 'Direct Referral to SSO'. The Resources page contains information to locate this site.

Create a DOC to note a Direct Referral to SSO has been made, together with a brief explanation outlining the reason for the request of respite extension. Procedure ends here for Smart Centres.

Special circumstance is determined by the APS 5/6 level officer.

The APS 5/6 level officer does not have to occupy any particular position for them to have the delegation for this decision. However, the delegate will usually be the supervisor of the Processing Service actioning the review.

Generally, a decision to continue payment would only be made if the reason for ceasing care was outside the control of the carer and consistent with the need for, and provision of personal care and attention.

Respite provisions used in an emergency such as fire, flood will meet the criteria of 'special reason' for extension of the 63 days in a year.

It should be clear in these situations that a return to care at the required level can be expected after a definite period and that the carer will resume providing the care.

A special circumstance would not exist where the carer simply chose to extend a holiday beyond 63 days.

Is there special circumstances?

• Yes, the delegation to continue payment beyond the allowable absence is at the APS 5/6 level. Go to Step 3
• No, payment will automatically cancel once the 63 day temporary cessation of care (respite) provisions for CP and CA have expired. Record details of decision on a DOC. Where possible, call the carer to advise the TCC extension has not been approved, and issue the carer with a manual letter (Q999) to advise the decision and include the Appeal paragraph. Procedure ends here

All absences are to be updated in Customer First using the Temporary Cessation of Care workflow. For workflow action, see Step 3 in Table 1.

Manual coding is to be used only when Customer First or the workflow is not available. When possible updates should be done in Customer First.

While in carer's record:

• Select the:
• CDA/MFU with review reason 14W and/or
• CAR/AAP with review reason 'RSP'
• Ensure the correct care receiver has been selected. If not, go to the Care Receiver Summary (CRS) page/screen in the carer's record and select the appropriate care receiver from the list
• In Customer First, select the Continue button or in
• Customer First, press [Enter]

Customer First

The Temporary Cessation of Care Update page will be presented. Go to Step 5.

Customer Record

Select the Absence Details (ABSN) page/screen.

Update as follows:

• In Customer First, tick the Absence Extended: field
• In Customer Record code 'Y' in the Absence Extended: field

This will ensure that the Carer Payment and/or Carer Allowance will not cancel once the absence extends beyond the 63 respite care days allowable per year.

For additional help with the coding of absences, see:

• Coding a one-off absence for CP/CA when the care receiver is absent
• Coding a regular absence for CP/CA when the care receiver is absent

Complete the following fields:

• Source:
• in Customer First Receipt Date: field or, in the Centrelink system, the DOR: field

Finalise activity:

• In Customer First select the Update button. If more absence updates are required, complete the Care Receiver Absence Update section of page with for the additional absences. If no more updates are needed, select the Continue button
• In the Customer Record press [Enter]. If no more updates are needed, Press [Enter] again

Finalise activity on the Assessment Results (AR) page/screen.

Record details on a DOC in the carer's record, including the name of the APS 5/6 level officer who made the extension decision. The decision to allow an extension must be recorded in a DOC