FIELD COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES
Review of Community Support Services qualification
This review report was first published in March 2011 and was republished in May 2011 to remove classification exemptions that should not have been included.
National Certificate in Community Support Services (Core Competencies) (Level 3) [Ref: 1327]
Careerforce (Community Support Services Industry Training Organisation Limited) has completed the review of the qualification above.
Date new version of report published May 2011
Date new versions published March 2011
The next qualification review is planned to take place during 2015.
Summary of review and consultation process
In 2009 Careerforce was asked by the sector to review the structure of the National Certificate in Community Support Services (Core Competencies) (Level 3) [Ref: 1327] to ensure that it met the training needs of the sector's organisations. This review included removing barriers to completion of the qualification and making it accessible to a wider range of support workers.
The review of the National Certificate in Community Support Services (Core Competencies) (Level 3) [Ref: 1327] has been undertaken with the support of a panel of sector specialists, and incorporates feedback from the sector as a whole through a widely advertised electronic consultation. The consolidated recommendations and feedback from these processes have resulted in changes to the content and structure of the qualification. These changes include expanding the elective sections, and retaining in the compulsory section only those standards that have been identified as essential to all sub-sectors. The inclusion of additional electives is designed to give employers the flexibility to customise the qualification's content to meet the training needs of their organisations and employees.
As a result of a recent reclassification, together with the inclusion of elective standards and the consequent potential for tailored pathways, the title of the qualification has been changed to reflect the new classification. The title of version 5 is the National Certificate in Health, Disability, and Aged Support (Core Competencies) (Level 3). Notwithstanding this change in title and structure, version 5 recognises a similar skill set to that of the previous version, and people awarded either version will be comparable in terms of their levels of competence. Programmes of study meeting the requirements of version 4 (11 compulsory standards together with 13 credits from an elective list) would also lead to the award of version 5, as all named compulsory and elective standards in version 4 are available through the elective sets in version 5.
A key influence in the review was consultation with the aged residential care sub-sector, the consequence of which was the inclusion of the skill and knowledge competencies required by the Age Related Residential Care agreement and the New Zealand Health and Disability Standards.
Main changes resulting from the review
National Certificate in Community Support Services (Core Competencies) (Level 3) [Ref: 1327]
National Certificate in Health, Disability, and Aged Support (Core Competencies) (Level 3) [Ref: 1327]
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Review category |
B |
See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report |
Changes to structure and content
· The title of the qualification has changed to reflect the new classification.
· The Elective choices have been restructured to allow the qualification to be tailored to suit specific sub-sectors and to enable standards relating to injury prevention and writing to be incorporated into the qualification. The qualification now has three Elective sections. Elective 1 focuses on applying Māori operating principles and values or supporting people of different ethnicities; Elective 2 allows a broad choice of standards at Levels 2 and 3 from the Health, Disability, and Aged Support subfield; and Elective 3 includes standards from the Health and Disability Principles in Practice, Injury Prevention, Interpersonal Communications, and Writing domains.
· Standard 27104 has been added to the Compulsory section.
· Standards 20824, 20829, 20830, 23388, 23389, 23392, and 23451 are no longer listed in the Compulsory section but can still be used towards the qualification requirements through the domains listed in Elective 2.
· Standard 23380 has been moved from the Compulsory section to Elective 1, and standard 26970 has been included in Elective 1 as an alternative to the specific Māori focus of standard 23380.
· Standard 9681 has been moved from the Compulsory section to Elective 3.
· Standards 5012, 20827, 23382, 23386, 23391, 23925, 23926, and 25987 are no longer listed in the Elective but can still be used towards the qualification requirements through the domains listed in Elective 2.
· Standards 11097 and 23393 have been moved from the single Elective to Elective 3.
· Standard 27140 has been added to Elective 2.
· Standards 1279, 3491, 22236 and 22237 have been added to Elective 3.
Transition
Version 5 was issued in response to strong calls from the sector to remove some of the standards from the compulsory section and reposition them as electives, as these standards comprise competencies not considered to be relevant to all workplaces within a health, disability, or aged support context. The sector also called for the reviewed qualification to include an element of choice of standards in order to meet the requirements of particular workplace environments, as well as the specific requirements of the Aged Related Residential Care agreement and the New Zealand Health and Disability Standards. The review of version 4 followed the reclassification of a new subfield and domains, and the change in qualification title is a consequence of this reclassification. Version 5 provides for a knowledge and skill set comparable to that of version 4.
All candidates currently enrolled in the National Certificate in Community Support Services (Core Competencies) (Level 3) [Ref: 1327] may complete version 3 or version 4 of this qualification by 31 December 2012, or transfer to version 5. The last date for entry to training programmes or courses for versions 3 and 4 is December 2011.
The start date for programmes or courses for version 5 of the National Certificate in Community Support Services Core Competencies) (Level 3) [Ref: 1374] is at the time of registration of this new version.
The qualification contains standards that replaced earlier standards. For the purposes of these qualifications, people who have gained credit for the expiring standards are exempt from the requirement to gain credit for the replacement standards - see table below.
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Credit for |
Exempt from |
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5019 |
23386, 23387 |
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23381 |
25987 |
Careerforce
PO Box 25255
Christchurch 8144
Telephone 03 371 9295 or 0800 277 486
Facsimile 03 371 9285
Email enquiries@careerforce.org.nz
Website http://www.careerforce.org.nz/
Key to Qualification Review Categories
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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 |
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No change is made to title, rules or components of the qualification | |
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No transition arrangements are required | |
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Category B The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID |
Changes are made to title, rules or components |
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The new version of the qualification recognises a similar skill set to that recognised by the previous version | |
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The SSB is confident that people awarded the new or previous version are comparable in terms of competence | |
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Transition arrangements are required if candidates must gain additional/different credits for the new version | |
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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 |
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The SSB views people with the replacement qualification as being significantly different in terms of competence from those with the replaced qualification | |
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Transition arrangements are required | |
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Transition may be limited to phase-out dates | |
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Category D Qualification will expire. There is no replacement qualification |
Qualification is no longer required by industry |
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The qualification is designated as expiring and a last date for meeting the qualification requirements is set |