What is an IFSP?
IFSP
form- in PDF
Your Individualized Family Service
Plan (IFSP) will be your roadmap through the Birth to Three System. It
will show you where you are starting from and where you plan to go. You
and your service coordinator will check it every so often to make sure that you
and your child are still on course. You have valuable information and
insight about your child's strengths, needs, likes and dislikes. That,
along with information from the assessment and medical information from your
child's doctor, will define the starting point.
Where you want to go and how you
want to get there will depend on your family's priorities, concerns, lifestyles,
and routines. You may want to complete the "Hopes and Dreams"
exercise to prepare to write down the IFSP "outcomes"
section. Outcomes are the changes you want to work toward for your child
and family and can relate to any area of your child's development and daily or
weekly routines (such as eating, dressing, making friends) or your family's life
(such as training a baby-sitter or making time for play activities). After
the outcomes are written, including the many locations and people that will need
to be involved, it is time to look at one or more of the following Birth to
Three services and supports that would help you to achieve those
outcomes:
-
service coordination
-
specialized instruction
-
speech and language services
-
physical therapy (P.T.)
-
occupational therapy (O.T.)
-
family training and counseling
-
assistive technology devices and
services
-
audiological services
-
health services necessary to
benefit from other early intervention services
-
medical services for Birth to
Three diagnostic or evaluation purposes only
-
nutrition services
-
nursing services
-
psychological services
-
social work services
-
vision and mobility services
-
transportation necessary to
receive other services that are included in the IFSP
-
other services and supports
The services of the IFSP will
describe who will be providing any of these services, where, how often, and for
how long. Depending upon what you prefer, services can be delivered in
many different natural environments. these may include various places in
your home, your child's day care, a neighborhood play group, or other places
where your child spends his days so that it is a comfortable place for you and
your child. Within all these locations, there are a variety of activities
that can be designed for your child and lots that he or she can learn through
those activities.
The IFSP will be reviewed every six
months (or sooner, if you request it) to evaluate your child's progress and
continued need for services. You will be given a copy of your IFSP each
time it is written or changed by you and your team. Each IFSP will also be
sent to your child's doctor to sign. This helps keep your child's doctor
involved and allows your Birth to Three program to collect reimbursement from
your health insurance plan as required under Connecticut law.