Parent Handbook: What Does An IFSP Include?

What Does An IFSP Include?

The written IFSP includes:

Your child's strengths and needs
Your family's concerns, resources, and priorities, if you choose
Written outcomes (or expectations)
The services that will be provided
Where services will be provided
Who will provide the services
How services will be provided
How often services will be provided and the length of each contact (for example, one hour each week)
What services will cost you, if there is a charge
When services will begin and when they will end (starting date and ending date; October 1 until December 31, 2000, for example)
The name of your Child Service Coordinator
Plans for leaving the Infant-Toddler Program at age three (These plans are usually added to the IFSP around the time your child reaches age two and a half.)

Remember...

This is your meeting and it will be focused on the needs of your child and family.
Your Child Service Coordinator is there to help you with the meeting. He/she can help plan the meeting, help you understand what the IFSP is all about, and explain what is in the finished IFSP.
You must be given written notice before the meeting. If you need more time to plan for the meeting, or if the meeting time does not suit your schedule, you may ask for the meeting to be held at another time.
Ask your Child Service Coordinator who will be at the meeting. If you would like for anyone else to attend, ask for that person (or persons) to be there, too.
You can ask for and get a copy of your child's evaluation reports and any other written information before the meeting.
If you would like to see a blank IFSP form before the meeting, ask your Child Service Coordinator to give you one.
You know your child best. Think about your child; what he or she can do, likes to do or doesn't like to do, and what you would like for him or her to be able to do. Make a list of these things and bring it along to the meeting.
Think about your family. What are your family's strengths? How would you like to be better able to help your child? yourself? your other children? other adults in your home?