Who is eligible for Flexible Funding?
Permanent Care and Adoptive Families (PCA Families) together with Victorian Department of Fairness, Families and Housing (DFFH) provides Flexible Funding to meet the extraordinary needs of children and young people subject to a:
- Permanent Care Order,
- Family Court Order and who are receiving the DFFH care allowance or
- Adoption Order and who are receiving the DFFH care allowance, to help with costs not met by the care allowance, or other funding sources.
Are you a new permanent carer? Talk to your child protection worker or case manager. Flexible funding may be endorsed as part of the child’s case plan when an application for a permanent care order is being made. Approved funding will be provided when the permanent care order is made.
What you need to know
- Permanent carers can apply for flexible funding through PCA Families any time after the permanent care order is in place, with the possibility of multiple applications.
- PCA Families distributes the Flexible Funds.
- Flexible funding will only be provided when the cost of the service, product, or activity, is beyond that reasonably covered by an existing care allowance, or other sources of funding.
- The funding may cover partial, full, or ongoing costs.
- Carers may make more than one application.
- Carers who are seeking to prepay a service/product/activity need to seek preapproval from the Flexible Funding Team. Anything that was prepaid without PCA Families knowledge may not be reimbursed.
- The DFFH care allowance normally ceases when a child is 18. Carers with children prior to turning 18 should contact PCA Families to learn more about Better Futures and Home Stretch programs.