Clinical Innovation and Governance was established in 2006 to provide leadership and coordination of services for people with complex needs and challenging behaviour.

Role

• Establish and review policy and practice guidelines for the support of adults, children and young people with complex and challenging behaviour
• Ensure supervision and practice leadership in behaviour support, physiotherapy, speech pathology, psychology, occupational therapy and nursing & health care
• Identify training and professional development requirements for these areas of practice
• Establish and review policy and work practice guidelines for working with people who have patterns of offending behaviour
• Monitor the use of Restricted Practice Authorisation (RPA) mechanisms by ADHC and the application of such mechanisms across the disability sector.
• Build close working relationships with stakeholders
• Oversee provision of services to people with an intellectual disability and mental illness

Who we work with

We work with a wide range of stakeholders providing specialist support in challenging and offending behaviour, including the following NSW Government agencies:

• Health
• Mental Health
• Corrective Services
• Community Services
• Housing
• Education
• Juvenile Justice
• Ombudsman
• Office of the Public Guardian
• Office for Children (Children’s Guardian)

Our teams

There are three teams within Clinical Innovation and Governance.

• Policy and Practice Team (PPT)
• Integrated Services Program (ISP)
• Statewide Behaviour Intervention Service (SBIS)

Policy and Practice Team

The Policy and Practice Team provides practice leadership through the Behaviour Support Unit and Practice Leaders who represent the disciplines of:

• Speech Therapy
• Psychology
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Nursing and Health Care.

Practice Leaders for each discipline contribute to the development of policy and work practices for the provision of relevant client services.

The Policy and Practice Team is also responsible for the development and review of ADHC's Behaviour Support Policy, work practice guidelines, and Restricted Practice Authorisation (RPA) policy and procedures.

The team also provides oversight of the provision of services to people with an intellectual disability and mental illness.

Integrated Services Program (ISP)

The Integrated Services Program (ISP) for Clients with Challenging Behaviour is a joint initiative between Ageing Disability and Home Care (ADHC), NSW Health and Housing NSW that fosters improved life outcomes for people with complex needs and challenging behaviour in the Sydney metropolitan area.

The ISP is a specialist service which coordinates a cross-agency response to a limited number of adults who have been identified from across the NSW government Human Service agencies as having complex needs and challenging behaviour. The ISP aims to reduce the associated cost to the service system and community, and contribute to the evidence base for supporting the target group to live effectively in the community.

The Program is administered by ADHC and is overseen by a Program Management Committee consisting of officers from ADHC, Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Office (MHDAO) within Ministry of Health, Housing NSW and advised by a broader Interagency Reference Group.

The clients of the ISP are adults with multiple and complex needs who have had significant barriers accessing coordinated cross-agency responses. These clients have complex needs and severe challenging behaviour that is associated with one or more of the following; intellectual disability, brain injury, mental illness, mental disorder and/or psychosocial factors. The ISP consists of a range of time limited intensive services including; comprehensive assessment, behaviour and therapeutic intervention, supported accommodation, and case coordination.

Statewide Behaviour Intervention Service

The Statewide Behaviour Intervention Service (SBIS) is a tertiary level service which provides clinical consultation to government and non-government agencies working with people who have intellectual disability and significant challenging or offending behaviour.

This service is available to local clinical staff or management in relation to clients who are in accommodation and day program services or who live with family members.

Work is undertaken collaboratively with these local partners to meet needs at the time as well as to build their knowledge and practical skills so as to meet similar needs in the future.

In addition SBIS contributes to service development through training and the enhancement of behaviour support practices at both a systemic and provider level.

SBIS also manages the Behaviour Change Initiative (BCI) which provides modest grants for interventions that promote durable behaviour change. These grants are for materials, equipment or the implementation of clinically sound interventions. Allocation of funds is based on application and satisfactory mid-term evaluation.

The University Chair in Intellectual Disability and Mental Health

Clinical Innovation and Governance funds and works closely with the Chair of Intellectual Disability and Mental Health, which is hosted by the University of NSW.

This position aims to improve support to people with an intellectual disability and mental illness through:

• teaching in the areas of mental health and intellectual disability to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students;
• engagement in and promotion of relevant research ;
• working with NSW Health to deliver psychiatric and clinical services to people with an intellectual disability; and
• the building of expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of people with an intellectual disability and mental illness.