Calculating rate and expiry date - counselling
When a client meets the criteria to have Disability Allowance paid for the on-going cost of counselling, the rate of payment and the expiry date for the assistance will need to be determined from the information provided by the counsellor on the Disability Certificate - Counselling.
The cost can only be included for the period that the client is attending the counselling sessions.
The details from the Counsellor's statement section of the Disability Certificate - Counselling can be used to help determine the date to include the counselling cost in the Disability Allowance as well as to calculate the rate to pay and the expiry date.
The cost per visit multiplied by the recommended number of visits will give the total cost of the counselling. The frequency of the counselling sessions indicates the period over which it is expected that the client will attend, and this is then counted from the start date to determine the expiry date.
Payment period
In order to ensure the client receives the correct amount of assistance you will need to include the cost from the beginning of the pay period during which the first session is due, as the expiry date must be the beginning of the next pay period following the last counselling session.
Example if a client has been approved assistance for 10 counselling sessions and the first counselling session is on Thursday 19 November, the cost of counselling should be included in Disability Allowance from Monday 16 November, and the expiry date will be Monday 25 January.
Less than 10 sessions recommended
If the counsellor recommends less than 10 sessions on the first application, a further Disability Certificate - Counselling will be required before any further assistance can be considered.
This second application can be approved for the balance of the 10 sessions, plus up to an additional 20 sessions.
More than 30 counselling sessions
A further application will be required if the client is assessed as needing further counselling sessions after they have reached the limit of 30 sessions.
They can only be paid in exceptional circumstances.
