HEAL Program - Heart Moves

The programs are free and will run:

 

Birpai Lands Council

Tuesdays starting the 9/10/2012 for 10 weeks

10.00-11.00am

Bunyah Lands Council

Wednesdays starting 10/10/2012 - 10 weeks

9.30-11.30am

To register go to www.pmhc.nsw.gov.au/livewell or call me on 65818 684 or maya.spannari@pmhc.nsw.gov.au - or fill in a hardcopy version (attached) and send it into Council.

We also have general classes running that anyone can attend – although some of them are already full. If these classes fill, there will be more running from Feb 2013 – through to December 2013.

See schedule below

Trainer	Day	Time	Location	Block 2 - commences	Comment	Availability at 17/9/2012
Heart Moves - Commencing the Week of 8/10/2012 through to week of 10/12/2012
Greg Gleeson	Monday	9.30-11.30	Wauchope Rotary Youth Hall	8-Oct	10 weeks	Yes - 6-7 spaces left
Greg Gleeson	Monday	1.00-3.00	Bellbowrie Street Port Macquarie	8-Oct	10 weeks	No - FULL
Shannon Jobson	Monday	2.00-4.00pm	Laurieton United Services Club - Seymour Street	8-Oct	10 weeks	Yes- approx 5 spaces left
Greg Gleeson	Tuesday	9.30am-11.30am	Laurieton United Services Club - Seymour Street	9-Oct	10 weeks	Yes - approx 4 spaces left
Greg Gleeson	Wed	9.30-11.30	Port Macquarie - Community health Meeting room 7	10-Oct	10 weeks	No - FULL
Greg Gleeson	Friday	1.00-2.00pm	Lake Cathie Community Hall	12-Oct	10 weeks	Yes - approx 3 spaces left
HEAL PROGRAM - Commencing the Week of 8/10/2012 through to week of 10/12/2012
Rhonda Coppin	Monday	9.30-11.30	Port Macquarie Neighbourhood Centre	8-Oct	10 weeks	No - program is full 22 people total
Shannon-Jobson	Monday	10.30-12.30pm	Rollands Plains Community Hall	8-Oct	10 Weeks	Yes - around 6 spots available
Kate Greener - HEAL maintenance upkeep program	Tuesday	10.00-11.00	Birpai Lands Council -Womens Group	9-Oct	10 weeks	Yes - about 10 spaces available
Kate Greener - New HEAL program	Wednesday	9.30-11.30	Bunyah Lands Council - group	10-Oct	10 weeks	Yes - about 15 spaces available
Rhonda Coppin	Thursday	11.00-1.00	Port Macquarie - Bellbowrie.	11-Oct	10weeks	No - program is full.

 

Unpaid Fines and Work and Development Orders

WDO 

Unpaid Fines and Work and Development Orders

 

Are some of your clients struggling to pay off fines?

Unpaid fines can really hurt. They can result in increasing debt, loss of driver licence and car registration, a portion of wages being taken by the State Debt Recovery Office (SDRO) or property being taken by the Sheriff.

For people who are unable to pay, fines debt can also impact on their health and wellbeing, their relationships and their ability to find employment. It can even lead to further offending and prison.

Now there is a simple and practical way to support people to be free of their unpaid fines and the negative consequences that go with them.
What is a Work and Development Order (WDO)?WDOs allow people to clear their fines through unpaid work, courses or treatment. WDOs are made by the SDRO. A person can only get a WDO if their application is supported by an "approved organisation" or an "approved registered health practitioner".

As soon as a WDO is approved all enforcement action stops and licence sanctions are lifted.

Who is eligible for a WDO?
The WDO scheme is available to anyone who is having trouble paying off their fines because they are homeless, have a mental illness, intellectual disability or cognitive impairment, serious addiction to drugs, alcohol or volatile substances or because they are experiencing acute economic hardship.
What sort of activities can be undertaken by WDO participants?The scheme is very broad and many different activities can be undertaken as part of a WDO. They include: 
• Unpaid voluntary work

• Medical or mental health treatment

• Educational, vocational or life skills courses

• Counselling and therapy

• Financial counselling

• Drug and alcohol treatment

• Mentoring programs (if under 25)

• Case management

• Any combination of these activities

Fines are worked off at different rates depending on the activity. For example, unpaid work reduces the debt by $30 for every hour worked. A medical or mental health treatment plan, or drug and alcohol treatment, will reduce the debt by up to $1000 a month, as long as the client complies with the plan.
"The ability for clients to undertake activities to work towards satisfying their debt is motivating…It’s a double win for the client. They get to work off their debt without being further financially compromised and they are more receptive to valuable interventions to address their significant barriers.
WDO provider
Unpaid Fines andWork and Development Orders How can our organisation get involveThe best thing your organisation can do to help clients with fines debt is to become an approved organisation or approved registered health practitioner. So that more clients benefit from the scheme your organisation can apply for approval on behalf of all the services within your organisation.
You may in fact already be providing services and activities that would satisfy the WDO criteria. Or you may be case managing clients who are undertaking eligible activities with other service providers.

Signing up is a quick and simple process. Reporting and record keeping requirements are minimal and straightforward.

If you want to become an approved WDO provider contact the NSW Department of Attorney General and Justice on (02) 8688 8099 or email wdo@agd.nsw.gov.au for an application form.

What do approved organisations have to do?
Here’s what approved organisations need to do if they are supporting a WDO client

Step 1:
Assess whether the client is eligible for the WDO Scheme
Step 2:Develop an activity or treatment plan with the client
Step 3:Submit the client’s WDO application to the SDRO via the online portal
Step 4:Provide and/or supervise activities or treatment undertaken by the client
Step 5:Keep records required by the SDRO eg. documents that support your client’s eligibility, a copy of their WDO application and details of their compliance with the WDO activity
Step 6:Complete a monthly report on the client’s progress via the SDRO’s online portal

What if my client can’t or isn’t eligible to do a WDO?
 
Unless your client contacts the SDRO and makes alternative arrangements to resolve their fines debt, further enforcement action is highly likely. You should contact the SDRO to discuss the options available for your client.
"This is my chance to be a cleanskin. It all balances on the WDO. It means my life."
WDO participant
Legal Aid NSW WDO Service

Mid North Coast region

Rebecca Findlay-Debeck, WDO solicitor (02) 6651 7897 or 0407 947 728rebecca.findlay-debeck@legalaid.nsw.gov.au

Linda Chapman, WDO Support (02) 6651 7897 or linda.chapman@legalaid.nsw.gov.au

Legal Aid NSW offers information sessions to organisations interested in becoming approved WDO providers. General enquiries: wdo@legalaid.nsw.gov.au

Free legal advice on fines is available at your nearest Legal Aid NSW office. For more details go to www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au

State Debt Recovery Office

www.sdro.nsw.gov.au

WDO Hotline
1300 478 879 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm)