Our family-focused services have been designed to give every family member time out to recharge plus provide valuable educational, interactive and fun experiences for children of all ages.
Our family-focused services have been designed to give every family member time out to recharge plus provide valuable educational, interactive and fun experiences for children of all ages.
Every family is different. Tell us what your family needs.
Juggling the needs of a family along with work commitments makes modern life pretty busy; it’s even busier when a family member needs extra support.
Our Spectrum Care Whanau team is committed to understanding your family’s evolving needs and providing you with choice for how to manage them. We tailor our services to your needs, not the other way around.
From after school and overnight care to school holiday programmes and planned weekend breaks, we proved stimulating, caring and fun experiences for your child as well as give you a well deserved break.
Talk to us about the type of support that will make the difference to your whanau.
Call us on 09 634 3790
Home support is a personalised care option delivered in the comfort of your home.
Our Home Support gives whanau and caregivers an opportunity to spend time with other family members.
We support a range of educational, emotional and behavioural needs, helping to build life skills, achieve personal goals and to develop community networks and integration.
This is no ordinary role. We work hard to assign the right person to be part of your home environment; one who will build a trusting, valuable and enjoyable relationship with all of the family.
Home Support provides help with:
We work with each family to provide a service that takes all individual needs into consideration, no matter how complex.
Time out is an important part of caring for your family. Our planned breaks help you to achieve this, refreshing, recharging and energising you, your child and whanau.
Our infant planned breaks are available for families of children under five years who have a disability and/or medical dependency. These services are provided at Orakau House – our ‘home-away-from-home’ near Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.
Staffed by registered nurses and highly trained carers on a 24-hour basis, our team works closely with other health professionals to ensure consistent care of your child.
Additionally, we offer parents and caregivers take home care plans, along with training and support to help manage your child’s specific needs at home.
Orakau House offers:
• Individually planned breaks;
• Feeding and nutrition advice and support;
• Intermediate care for the transition from hospital to home;
• Home management of specific medical needs advice and support;
• A home environment with wheelchair access;
• Registered nurses and skilled caregivers;
• Family networking opportunities;
• 24-hour consultation and telephone support.
Our planned break services for children and youth provide stimulating, fun and well-managed home-away-from-home experiences.
Our planned breaks provide positive opportunities for children and young people to enjoy relationships with people outside their immediate family circle, helping them to develop independence and to engage in a wide variety of activities.
Targeted at children between 5-16 years, our person-centred framework ensures activities are tailored to meet each individual’s capabilities, needs and goals.
Our out-of-home planned breaks offer:
The Spectrum Care After-School Support programme gives you some extra breathing space while your child enjoys fun and stimulating activities in a safe environment.
Staffed by trained teacher aides from the Auckland Special School network, our after school programme is currently available weekdays at Sommerville Special School in Auckland.
The programme offers a healthy and structured environment for children to spend a fun afternoon on school grounds.
Prior to starting the programme, we meet with families to assess and understand each child’s needs and goals. We then develop a range of personalised and relevant activities including:
When: From 2.30pm – 6.30pm weekdays
Where: Sommerville Special School, Panmure, Auckland
Cost: Carer Support days can be redeemed, or a ‘fee for service’ cost based on your child’s support needs.
Weekends can be just as hectic as any other day of the week. Getting the right support at the right time is all about planning ahead.
Available to all school-aged children with disabilities, our Planned Breaks – Weekend days are staffed by trained community support workers and teacher aides from Auckland’s Special School network.
The programme offers a safe, healthy and structured environment for children to spend a fun day, giving you time to do the other things you need to.
We meet with families and children prior to enrolment to develop a range of personalised activities, aligned to each child’s needs and goals.
These include:
When: 8.30am-4.30pm Saturdays and Sundays.
Where: Spectrum Care Community Hub, 310 Onehunga Mall, Onehunga.
Cost per day: Full Carer Support Day plus a supplementary fee depending on your child’s support needs.
Call us today on 09 634 3790 to find out more about Planned Breaks – Weekends.
Taking a break helps everyone to recharge. Spectrum Care planned break services for adults provide access to a wide range of tailored and engaging activities.
Our planned break facilities are staffed by trained carers on a 24-hour basis and are designed to create a ‘home–away-from-home’ atmosphere.
Structured care and support for the families of people with medical or technological dependencies is available. The planned break care team works closely with other health professionals to ensure consistent care of each individual.
Planned breaks are provided on a rostered basis and the services are aimed at families that need ‘time out’. Overnight, weekend, and day planned break services are available.
They teams also provide training and support to families to help them better manage the specific needs of their loved one at home.
To plan the next break for your family, call us today on 09 634 3790.
Spectrum School Holiday Programmes provide support continuity for you and your whanau during school breaks. Full supervision is provided by trained community support workers and teacher aides.
Available to all Special School students, we provide a safe, stimulating and caring environment for children.
The Programme includes planned daily activities such as arts and crafts, cooking, age-appropriate games, sports and outings to interesting places. We also factor in time for unstructured activities and fun, as well as rest and quiet time.
All areas are wheelchair accessible and children with profound disabilities are welcome.
Basic care needs such as changing, assisting with eating and toileting are provided for children in need of additional support.
Where: Available at six sites across greater Auckland, as well as Whangarei, Hamilton and Wellington.
Cost: Carer Support days can be redeemed, or a ‘fee for service’ cost will based on your child’s support needs.
Call us today on 09 634 3790 to find out more.
Finishing school is a significant and exciting milestone for every young person and their family. Our Transition Support service provides school leavers with a range of options to empower their future choices.
From employment opportunities to valued social roles and increased participation in their communities, we work with each young person to develop a Transition Plan based on their aspirations and life goals.
Our Transition Support includes:
Employment/Work experience
Participation
Resources
Advocacy and networking
Transition support requires a referral from the student’s school (in their final year). Ministry of Education Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding is available for students identified as having ‘high needs’ or ‘very high needs’. If you’re not ORS funded, please ask about our private transition agreements.
We’re also happy to help access other support such as Welfare Guardianship and Total Mobility Cards.
For more information, contact the Manager – Transition Support on 09 634 3790.
At Spectrum Care, we believe in supporting people with a disability to understand their rights and advocate for themselves.
We believe in listening completely and doing the right thing. For those that struggle to advocate for themselves, we ensure their natural supports and/or staff can raise concerns and support the person to have their rights and needs met.
We can provide individuals and families with:
Additional resources
Code of Rights
When you use a health or disability service in New Zealand, you have the protection of a Code of Rights. For more information on the Code of Rights click here.
Welfare Guardianship
Welfare Guardianship involves a person being appointed by the courts to support the care and welfare decisions of individuals unable to make these decisions for themselves.
To get support and/or information about Welfare Guardianship, along with Property and Personal Orders under the ‘Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 88’ (PPPR Act 88) you can approach the following organisations…
Support whānau and others with applications to the courts for Guardianship, Property & Personal Order applications (under the PPPR Act 88), along with independent advocacy and life skill development for people with learning disabilities
Web: www.adultguardianship.org.nz
Email: adultguardianshipnz@gmail.com
Phone: 021 08767583
These services are predominantly, but not limited to administrative, financial, marketing and training. This support allows Independent PPPR Consultants who work with PPPR Services to focus on solutions for those they’re appointed to assist.
Email: martha@ppprservices.co.nz
Phone: 09 8693 923
Auckland Disability Law (ADL) provides free legal services to disabled people for disability related legal issues. ADL is the only specialist disability law community law centre in Aotearoa New Zealand. ADL also provides legal education on disability law in the community and within disability and legal organisations. They work with the disabled and deaf communities through their community engagement and law reform activities.
Web: http://aucklanddisabilitylaw.org.nz/
Email: info@adl.org.nz
Phone: 09 257 5140
For more information about advocacy support, contact the Spectrum Foundation Advocacy Manager on 09 634 3790 ext 312 or 0274 757 577.
Hello. Kia ora. Talofa lava. Bula vinaka. Fakaalofa atu. Malo e lelei. Ni hao. Spectrum Care’s Community and Cultural team provides support and advisory services to people of all cultures and ethnicities, with specialist teams supporting the needs of Māori, Pacific Island and Asian communities.
We provide person-centred, culturally appropriate support and an integrated approach that focuses on the needs of the individual.
The Community and Cultural team provide:
Awhi
Meaning ‘to support and guide’, Spectrum Care’s ‘Awhi’ group has been delivering cultural support to Māori for nearly 20 years.
The Awhi group is involved in all aspects of Spectrum Care’s support provision. It also facilitates staff inductions, powhiri, house blessings, tangi (bereavements), rights and advocacy, and other cultural initiatives.
Pacific Peoples
Spectrum Care’s Pacifika group provides high-quality, culturally appropriate support and advisory services to people from the Pacific Islands.
The Pacifika group provides an array of cultural activities and events for the people we support, including facilitating at events such as blessings and bereavements.
Asian Services
For more than 10 years, Spectrum has provided support and advisory services to people of Asian descent.
Led by Spectrum’s Cultural Advisor – Asian Services, our specialist cultural team also utilises a network of long- term community partnerships with organisations such as TANI (The Asian Network Inc), CNSST (Chinese New Settlers Services Trust), NZCYT (New Zealand Chinese Youth Trust) and the Disability Connect Chinese Families Autism Support Group.
To access our Community and Cultural Services, a referral is needed from Taikura Trust, phone: 0800 835 4672.
For more information, contact the Manager – Community Support Services on 09 634 3790.
We all face different challenges, together we can overcome these to create a more fulfilling life.
Spectrum Care is one of the largest providers of disability support services in New Zealand. We partner with people of all ages and stages to find new ways to deliver better life outcomes.
Our specialist support includes behavioural, speech and language, clinical and ageing services. We work with you to identify your family member’s unique and individual needs and design personalised care plans to meet these.
Behaviour Support
Our Behaviour Support team works closely with individuals, parents / caregivers and staff to assess the need for behavioural interventions. We develop and implement strategies and meaningful goals to help manage challenging behaviours, and monitor and regularly review our behaviour support strategies and targets.
We help parents/caregivers to develop the skills needed to effectively manage challenging behaviours and build relationships with other professionals and providers in the disability community for added support. Additionally, we provide training across all our regions and services.
Speech-Language Support
Our Speech-language Therapists (SLTs) are registered members of the NZ Speech-language Therapists’ Association. They work with people to maximise their communication skills and support people with swallowing difficulties. Through implementing a variety of strategies and tools, our SLTs aim to empower and enhance people’s lives. The SLT team focuses on maximising communication opportunities in expressing choice and connecting with others.
The SLT team works with the person, their support staff and whānau to collaborate on strategies and plans to best support the person’s needs. The SLT team have proactive systems to identify and manage risks around eating, drinking and swallowing; they assess people’s risks and difficulties and then ensure suitable supports and strategies are in place. The SLT team also provide a variety of training, coaching and eLearning.
Clinical, Health and Ageing
Our Comprehensive Health Assessment Programme is used to assess the health and medication needs of service users identified as needing specialist support. Based on the outcomes, we develop and implement strategies to help achieve meaningful health improvement and medication management, and regularly review the impact and ongoing success of these strategies. We help parents / caregivers to develop the skills they need to confidently undertake these practices at home.
In pursuit of better health outcomes for the people we support, we partner with DHBs and tertiary institutions to ensure our thinking, methodologies and practices are current and high impact.
