FIELD                 COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

 

Review of Community Support qualification

 

National Certificate in Support of the Older Person (Level 3) with strands in Community, and Residential [Ref: 0729]

 

The Community Support Services Industry Training Organisation Limited has completed the review of the above qualification.

 

Replacement qualification

 

National Certificate in Community Support Services (Residential) (Level 3) [Ref: 1391]

 

Date new versions published                                                          June 2008

 

The next qualification review is planned to take place during 2013.

 

Summary of review and consultation process

 

The review of the qualification listed above is part of a major review and reclassification of the standards in the community support subfield.

 

The consultation process has covered a three year period and has included the involvement of specific Advisory Groups for each sector.  Feedback from the consultation and moderation processes resulted in the sectors requiring individual qualifications that reflected their specific needs rather than one or two multi-stranded qualifications.  The requirement was for practical work-based qualifications for each sector that enabled candidates to move between sectors.

 

Main changes resulting from the review

 

The qualification that has been developed replaces the existing qualification in Support of the Older Person.  The replacement qualification has a workplace focus and is aimed at support workers who are operating under general supervision but often acting autonomously.

 

National Certificate in Support of the Older Person (Level 3) with strands in Community, and Residential [Ref: 0729]

National Certificate in Community Support Services (Residential) (Level 3) [Ref: 1391]

 

Review category

C

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

 

There are substantial differences between the new and replaced qualifications.  Changes include

·      the title has been amended

·      the credit total has decreased from 70 to 56

·      qualification structure has been amended to include a compulsory and an elective section and the strands have been removed

·      generic standards 496, 497, 525, 1277, 1304, 3501, 5013, 6400, 6401, 6402, 6422, 12349, and 12355 have been removed from the compulsory section

·      standards 5020, 16699, 16700, and 17029 have been removed from the compulsory section

·      standard 17029 has been replaced by standards 23920 and 23921 in the compulsory section

·      standards 20826 and 20827 have been included in the compulsory section

·      eight new sector specific standards have been added to the compulsory section.

 

Transition

 

People currently working towards the replaced qualification may either complete the requirements for that qualification by 31 December 2010 or transfer their results to the new qualification.  The last date for entry to training programmes or courses for the replaced qualification is December 2008.  Assessments for the new version will start when the qualification is registered.

 

This qualification contains standards that replace earlier standards.  For the purposes of this qualification, people who have gained credit for the expiring standards are exempt from the requirement to gain credit for the replacement standards - see table below.

 

Credit for

Exempt from

5019

23386, 23387

17029

23920, 23921

 

People who feel disadvantaged by the transition process should contact Community Support Services Industry Training Organisation Limited (see contact details below).

 

Community Support Services Industry Training Organisation

PO Box 25 255

CHRISTCHURCH

 

Telephone              03 371 9295

Email                       enquiries@cssito.org.nz

 

Key to Qualification Review Categories

 

Category A

The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID

Changes are made to SSB name, contact details or purpose statement

No change is made to title, rules or components of the qualification

No transition arrangements are required

Category B

The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID

Changes are made to title, rules or components

The new version of the qualification recognises a similar skill set to that recognised by the previous version

The SSB is confident that people awarded the new or previous version are comparable in terms of competence

Transition arrangements are required if candidates must gain additional/different credits for the new version

Category C

A new (replacement) qualification is published with new NQF ID

Significant changes are made to the qualification in terms of components, structure, type or level

The SSB views people with the replacement qualification as being significantly different in terms of competence from those with the replaced qualification

Transition arrangements are required

Transition may be limited to phase-out dates

Category D

Qualification will expire.

There is no replacement qualification

Qualification is no longer required by industry

The qualification is designated as expiring and a last date for meeting the qualification requirements is set