Agency Training Plan (ATP) Resource Kit
Appendix 12
Sample Agency Training Plan
Summary Sheet for Agency Training Plan
Agency Details
Nellie Support Services
Return Road,
Abbotsford. Victoria 3067
Contact Person: Marina Aquilina
(03) 999 777
Client Profile
40 clients (25 female and 15 male) in 10 residential units.
All clients have an intellectual disability with around half having additional physical and/or psychiatric disabilities.
Identified Training Needs
(in priority ranking)
- Communication skills (staff to staff; staff to parent/carer)
- Managing challenging behaviour
- Creating a less restrictive environment for clients
- First aid
- Using communication technology with clients
- Supervising other staff
- Using computers/internet/email
- Understanding performance feedback systems
Training Activities
- Community Services Training Package (10 staff over 12 months)
- First Aid refresher course
(all staff over 2 days) - Communication technologies
(12 staff over two days) - Frontline Management
(8 managers over 9-12 months) - Internet/Email systems training
(all staff: two days spread over two weeks) - Effective Communication
(all staff: two days over two weeks) - Managing Challenging Behaviour
(8 staff over four days) - Staff Development and Review Systems (all staff - one day)
Professional Development Funding Allocation from DHS
$7,500
Projected Cost of Training Activities (inclusive of Agency and/or TAFE contribution to cost where relevant)
$60,300
Projected Agency Contribution to Training Activities
$8,300
Agency Training Plan (ATP)
Nellie Support Services (NSS)
Return Road
Abbotsford. Vic
Agency Profile
NSS provides accommodation services for 40 clients in ten community living options. All clients have an intellectual disability, 25% have severe physical and intellectual disabilities, 20% have a psychiatric and intellectual disability while 55% have a mild intellectual disability.
Staff
We have a total of 25 staff, including 5 managers and a CEO. The remaining staff are Direct Care Workers and ancillary staff.
Please see attached Job Descriptions for CEO, Managers, Direct Care Workers and ancillary staff.
Agency Objectives and Directions
NSS has a number of objectives designed to improve services to its clients. These reflect the values we espouse in our Vision Statement (See attached) and include:
- Introducing a Staff Development and Review process across the entire service
- Involving parents and carers in more Agency development activities
- Introducing email/internet technology for access by both staff and clients
- Working towards compliance with the Disability Services Self-Assessment System
ATP Process
NSS undertook the following process to identify staff training needs, Agency directions and objectives and client/parent/carer needs that impact on considerations for staff development.
(i) Preparation and Consultation
Managers were asked to nominate for the role of Leader, Agency Training Plan Process. Three managers wished to be involved so one was given a leadership role with the remaining two providing support and leading when required.
This ATP Team put together a one page chart on the process and briefed staff in a regular staff meeting. Staff were able to ask questions, give ideas and clarify issues during this session and with any of the ATP Team members at any time during the process.
Staff indicated that it would be important to keep the role of the ATP Team even after the Staff Development and Review process was in place next year, given the need to make a specific report to DHS on how training funds were acquitted.
The ATP Team reviewed the job descriptions for Direct Care Workers, Managers, the CEO and ancillary staff. They identified a number of areas that needed updating in each of the descriptions. These were modified and presented to staff and the CEO who offered further refinements before finalising. Meetings with Committee of Management and clients/parents/carers were organised during this planning phase.
The ATP Team attended a Committee of Management meeting to identify Agency directions/issues that could impact on staff development requirements (see Agency Profile for information on these directions/issues).
They also sought feedback from clients, parents and carers in two ways:
- Through face to face meetings as part of the Individual Program Planning (IPP) process
- Through review of IPPs to identify what the main staff/client/parent/carer issues are that could be addressed through professional development
The information from job descriptions, Committee of Management and client/parent/carer consultations and IPPs was collated and staff development issues identified.
A training needs survey was developed using a proforma from the ATP Resource Kit. We added questions and deleted others according to the information gathered through consultations (see Training Needs Survey attached) and according to the job role.
Staff were scheduled for 45-60 minute periods each to go through the survey and discuss some of the professional development issues raised by Committee of Management and clients/parents/carers.
Staff were asked to prioritise their own training needs as well as indicate preferences for how and when training was delivered.
(ii) Training Activities
The ATP team collated the responses from staff surveys along with Committee of Management, client/parent/carer consultations and IPPs.
These were divided into Common, Individual and Organisational training needs.
Common needs that most staff identified were:
- Communication skills (staff to staff; staff to parent/carer)
- Managing challenging behaviour
- Creating a less restrictive environment for clients
Individual needs:
- First aid
- Using communication technology with clients
- Supervising other staff
Organisational needs:
- Using computers/internet/email
- Understanding performance feedback systems
These training activities were prioritised according to immediate, medium and longer term priorities
The ATP Team reviewed the evaluations of the previous year's training activities to identify any issues to be considered in mapping the coming year's training plan.
Staff expressed concerns about doing 1-2 day workshops that are often generalised, non-accredited and don't have any built in follow-up training. They preferred workplace based training that reflected their daily work requirements and could be tailored to their needs as well as those of the Agency.
The ATP team approached FIELD to advise on ways we could get accredited training within our budget and preferably training that incorporated action learning' principles. They advised that most of the areas of training we identified were available under the Community Services Training Package (CSTP), which is a nationally accredited qualification and can be accessed as a whole qualification or competency by competency.
FIELD also found a training provider who could deliver the training largely on-site in an action learning mode, which also reduced the need to cover for staff going to off-site training. The TAFE also had funding it could bring to the table, which meant we could get all of our training needs met within budget.
(See attached ATP Training Activity pro-formas for training activities and their priority ranking)
(iii) Monitoring and Evaluation
We will have a better idea of what staff achieved at the end of this process as almost all the training will be competency based. This means the provider will conduct up front assessments of current competency, identify gaps and assess the participant's competency after completing training to bridge that gap.
The ATP Team will ask staff to give feedback on the training at the midpoint and the end of the process to identify the success of the training delivery, action learning approach, transfer of skills to work. The team will also identify four staff to monitor for 12 months after the program to evaluate longer term changes in attitude and behaviour attributable to the training.
Projected Budget
Our allocated professional development funds from DHS are $7,500
The attached Training Activity Pro-formas indicate the projected budget for each training activity. The total of our Agency's contribution expressed as the total of each training activities projected cost is $8,300. NSS chose to contribute additional funds to professional development activities to ensure all needs were covered.
The total value of our professional development for the next 12 months is $60,300. This includes the 75% funding by TAFE of the training package qualifications that 12 of our staff will be accessing. The attached Training Activity Proformas indicate the specific Agency and TAFE contributions for each training program.