Services
Respite means 'having a break'. Interchange Inner East provides assistance in your home or through supported activities in the community to ease the 'caring' burden for parents and families of a child or young adult living with a disability.
Interchange Inner East services aims to:
- support families by providing them with regular, planned respite in response to their individual needs.
- provide high quality individual care and support to children and young people with disabilities.
- support young people and adults with disabilities to participate in a range of recreation and social activities.
- increase the community participation of people with disabilities and raise awareness of the rights of people with a disability.
In order to be eligible for Interchange Inner East Services you must meet the following criteria:
- You have a child/ren living with a disability.
- Your disabled child/ren lives at home with you.
- You must live in either Manningham, Monash, Boroondara or Whitehorse Local Government areas.
Age limits apply to various programs
- Recreation Program - 12-35
- Host Family Program - 0-18
- Flexible Family Support Program - 0-19
- Individual Care Program - no age limit but primary focus on children - 0-25
Matches a child with a disability to a volunteer host or host family. The host then provides respite to the family by supporting the child on a regular basis.
Provides regular social group activities offering a range of recreation activities on weekends for young people and adults with disabilities.
Flexible family support program
Provides a package of flexible respite hours for families who have a child between the age of 0-19 years, with high support needs requiring individual care and support.
This innovative program aims to provide facility based respite to young people, one afternoon/evening per week. Participants attend Interchange after school hours and enjoy activites and a nutritious meal before pick up around 8.00pm.
This program responds to clients in receipt of external funding (eg. Individual Support Packages and short-term funding) seeking a range of respite options both in-home and in the community.
If you would like to access our services you will need to:
- contact Interchange Inner East on 03 9836 9811 to discuss your needs.
- complete an application form.
- provide a letter of confirmation of diagnosis of your child’s disability by your General Practitioner.
- be prepared to meet with relevant program staff in your home for initial Intake visit.
- undertake an in-home risk assessment to ensure safety standards are met (Host Program).
- interchange staff will advise you which programs or activities best suits your family’s needs.
- note: Some programs require a waiting list.
Other services
RIDE offers information about a range of other disability support services in the Eastern Region. See below.
- Information and advice
- Alternative family care
- Facility based respite
- Flexible respite and brokerage
- Holiday programs and supported travel
- In-home respite
- Local Government services
- Out of school hours
- Inclusion support, children’s services
- Recreation
- Support groups
- Fee for service
- Attendant care services
