What is an IFSP?

The Individualized Family Service Plan is the written plan for an eligible child and family. It lists outcomes, early intervention services, and the Ongoing Service Coordinator. It is not a school-age special education document.

The Individualized Family Service Plan is the plan the family and the team write together after eligibility. It records present levels, family priorities, measurable IFSP outcomes, the early intervention services needed to reach those outcomes, transition planning, and the name of the Ongoing Service Coordinator. The first plan meeting must occur within 45 days of referral unless a documented exception applies.

New York requires a review at about six months and a new plan within twelve months. A change to services between those meetings is an amendment, not a silent edit. Each plan version keeps its own outcomes. Identical wording on a later plan is still a new source fact.

An IFSP outcome is discipline-free. It is not the physical therapy goal. A service authorization names one service that may address one or more outcomes. Do not call this plan a school-age special education document. That later plan lives under a different law.