Community day services

Community day services help disabled adults to take part in their community. They provide access to regular meaningful social contact and stimulating activities. Find out what they cover and how to access them. 

Types of activities

Community day services include a range of activities depending on the provider, the funder and what you’re interested in and able to do. 

Activities may include:

  • daily living skills
  • education and learning activities
  • social activities
  • recreation and leisure activities.

Who can use community day services

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) fund community day services for disabled adults who are likely to continue for at least six months and who are not receiving compensation through ACC.

You can find a list of these services in the Health and Disability external URL  section of the MSD website. 

Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People can also help fund community day services for disabled adults under deinstitutionalisation agreements and other historic agreements. 

  • Deinstitutionalisation refers to the process of supporting disabled people to leave long term hospitals and live in homes where they can be part of the community. 

How to access community day services

To access community day services, you'll need to meet criteria for disability funding through your local needs assessment service (NASC).

Where there is more than one provider of MSD funded services with vacancies, you may be able to choose the provider you would like to use. 

What a community day service provider does

A community day service provider offers a range of activities for people to take part in. They will work with you and your whānau, āiga or guardian to develop an Individual Day Programme Service Plan.  

This plan can take up to four weeks to prepare and describes the activities you need and what you want to achieve. It will be completed in agreement with you and will be reviewed and updated once a year.