Enhancing Recognition of High Quality, Functional IFSP Outcomes: A Training Activity for Infant and Toddler Service Providers
Author: Lucas, Anne
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Individualized Family Service Plans,Criteria,Infants,Toddlers,Rating Scales

This training activity was created to support participants' understanding of the criteria needed to develop and write high quality, participation-based Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) outcomes. The term &quot;functional&quot; is often used to describe what outcomes ought to be, yet many providers struggle to define what makes an outcome &quot;functional.&quot; Still others struggle with making outcomes meet the criteria set forth in regulations, as well as have meaning for families. Reviews of existing resources developed by national experts provided a framework for considering IFSP outcomes to determine if the outcomes are high quality and support the child's participation in everyday routines and activities. The key to supporting the development of high quality, participation-based outcomes is creating a clear and deliberate link between every step of the IFSP process, beginning with interactions with the family during initial contacts and referral through the development of the IFSP, and beyond. Critical to this process is the fundamental belief that children learn best through their participation in everyday activities and routines with familiar people. Also critical to this process are three important skills for providers: (1) The ability to understand how to gather information from families throughout the process; (2) The ability to conduct a functional assessment that gives a clear picture of the child's abilities and needs in the child's natural, everyday settings, activities and routines, and; (3) The ability to use the information to develop outcomes. Throughout the process of gathering information from families, special attention should be paid to the information the family shares about what's working well for them, as well as what is challenging. When paired with the provider's knowledge of early development and functional assessment occurring in multiple situations and settings, and over time, information from families provides all that is needed to develop high quality, participation based outcomes. The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center reviewed expert-generated resources and identified six key criteria that define IFSP Outcomes as high quality and participation based are detailed. When the child's contextual information is available (e.g., assessment information, the child's IFSP), the following IFSP outcome criteria should also be evaluated: (1) The outcome is based on the family's priorities and concerns; and (2) The outcome describes both the child's strengths and needs based on the information from the initial evaluation and ongoing assessment. An IFSP Outcomes Rating Activity is provided with activity instructions. An Alternate activity is also included. Appended are: (1) Criteria Defining High Quality, Participation-Based IFSP Outcomes; (2) IFSP Outcome Cards; (3) IFSP Outcomes Placemat (4) Answer Key to Rating IFSP Outcomes (5) Worksheet for Rating IFSP Outcomes; and (6) References. [This training activity was written with support from Dathan Rush, M'Lisa Shelden, Debbie Cate and Megan Vinh. ECTA Center is one of 45 centers in the Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network (TA&amp;D Network) funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).]