At the meeting, the services coordinator or family discuss the goals and the team talks about how the goals might be met. It is very important that the family is the primary consideration and that the family feels comfortable with the plan that is developed. An IFSP meeting can be called at any time with the whole team or just a part of the team involved with a certain goal. Under this new system, we look at the child as a whole person and a person who lives in a family. With this team work more can be accomplished by everyone and families can be much more involved.
Families play the central role in the team.
They are the reason the team exists. In the years a child is in Early Intervention a family ideally learns the skills it will need to be the life long support of the child. Families have the choice if they want to run the team or be a team member under the leadership of the services coordinator. Either way, the family sets the goals, with the advice of learned professionals, and makes sure the plan will fit with their family structure, priorities and values. A wonderful scholar in the area of Early Intervention named Mary Jane Brotherson who is now at Iowa State University has proposed a very helpful circular way at looking at concerns and setting goals.