438 people affected as NDIS service provider Cocoon SDA Care suspended

Next steps have emerged for hundreds of vulnerable people have been affected by the suspension of major NDIS service provider Cocoon SDA Care.

More than 430 Australians have been affected following the suspensions of major NDIS service provider Cocoon SDA Care

A major NDIS service provider has been suspended over “serious safeguarding concerns”, leaving potentially hundreds of vulnerable people across the country with the prospect of having to move out of their specialist disability homes.

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on Wednesday said it had suspended the registration of Horizon SolSolutions, which trades as Cocoon SDA Care, for 30 days from this Friday.

There are 438 impacted participants that will be moved, 38 have already be transferred to new providers, an NDIA spokesperson said

“The welfare of participants is our top priority.”

“In circumstances where providers are required to cease providing supports, specialist NDIA teams immediately contact impacted participants to safeguard their welfare and support them to access alternative supports.”

“It’s critical that participants are protected from unscrupulous providers and the NDIA works closely with relevant authorities to identify and act in these circumstances.”

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has suspended the registration of Horizon SolSolutions, which trades as Cocoon SDA Care, for 30 days from May 9.

A post by Cocoon SDA Care. Picture: Supplied

It follows a week of revelations that staff have allegedly not been paid for weeks, claims of missing superannuation payments, and complaints from investors that they have been left in the lurch.

On Tuesday Horizon SolSolutions took the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) - the organisation that runs the NDIS - to the Federal Court to get them to release “millions of dollars” of payments they are withholding for services already provided.

In court it was revealed that the company had been subject to 32 tip offs and was under investigation for fraud, which the company denies.

One mother of a teenage girl who lives in a Cocoon SDA home in Victoria said she was “really scared” her daughter, who has autism and other complex psycho-social disabilities, will now be evicted.

“No-one has made any contact with me even though on some shifts she has only been getting one support worker, rather than two,” the mother said.

“Last week she injured herself because she got hold of a knife and cut herself.

“One of her neighbours (a participant on the scheme) smashed a car window because he was left alone without any carers.

“I’ve also complained that she has no heating and we were told to just put on more jumpers.

“She just can’t move without notice. We need to introduce the idea.”

NDIS Commission acting deputy commissioner Mahashini Krishna.

In a statement on Wednesday, the national watchdog’s acting deputy commissioner Mahashini Krishna said NDIS Commission officers recently conducted targeted site visits and identified serious safeguarding concerns.

“The site visits also confirmed information the NDIS Commission had received recently from several concerned persons.

“The NDIS Commission is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of NDIS participants and will not tolerate misconduct by providers that puts participants at risk,” Ms Krishna said.

The suspension prohibits Horizon, which provides both accommodation and support care, from providing specialist disability accommodation, services to NDIS participants whose plans are directly managed by the NDIA, and NDIS participants whose plans authorise the use of regulated restrictive practices.

It’s understood the commission and the NDIA are working together to ensure participants are not adversely affected.

The NDIS suspension prohibits Horizon from providing specialist disability accommodation and services to NDIS participants.

An NDIS insider said in these circumstances no-one would be evicted and staff would contact participants to work through a plan.

Cocoon’s website claims it has more than 600 specialist disability homes across all states and territories and 2400 staff.

In the Federal Court on Tuesday Horizon SolSolutions’ legal counsel said it was unreasonable that the company had been waiting up to two months to be paid by the Commonwealth – leaving it a “very large millions of dollars” out of pocket – during an investigation into “unsubstantiated” allegations of fraud.

Payments are usually made within three days, it was argued.

The company’s counsel asked whether the point of unreasonableness would be “after the company goes broke” because it has expenses to pay but virtually no income.

Late last week workers in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and the NT, claimed they were owed up to $6000 in wages, with one support worker forced to go to food banks to survive.

Originally published as 438 people affected as NDIS service provider Cocoon SDA Care suspended