Step 5: IFSP 6 Month Review
An important goal of the Early Intervention Program is to make sure infants and toddlers get early intervention services as quickly as possible. The sooner, the better!
Your family's IFSP will include the dates, as soon as possible after the IFSP meeting, when early intervention services will begin. Your ongoing service coordinator is responsible for making sure the early intervention services in your IFSP are delivered and helping out with any problems.
Putting your IFSP into action, though, is a team effort! You and your family are important members of the team. Be a part of your child's services. You can do this by:
Reviewing, evaluating, and changing the IFSPAs your child grows and changes, so will the early intervention needs of your family. To be sure your IFSP keeps pace with your family and stays useful, the Early Intervention
Program requires:
Your ongoing service coordinator is responsible for making sure the IFSP is reviewed and evaluated on time. The following persons take part in the six-month reviews and annual meetings to evaluate the IFSP:
The six-month reviews and annual meetings to evaluate the IFSP are designed to make sure that the IFSP still makes sense for your child and family. You and the other participants will look at how well early intervention services have helped your child and family meet the outcomes in your IFSP. You will also talk about what should be changed in the IFSP. This may include:
Just like your initial IFSP, you and your Early Intervention Official must agree on IFSPs that come out of six-month reviews and annual IFSP meetings. You will be asked to sign the IFSP, to show you agree and give your permission to provide services. Just like your initial IFSP, you can ask for a mediation or impartial hearing if you disagree with your Early Intervention Official about certain services – while getting the services you do agree on.
You can request a review of your IFSP at any time. Your ongoing service coordinator can set up an IFSP review whenever one is needed.
https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/0532/step5.htm
More about the 6 Month Review...
1. The purpose of the periodic IFSP review is to determine the degree to which progress toward achieving the outcomes is being made and whether modification or revision of the outcomes or supports and services, including frequency and intensity, is necessary.
2. An IFSP Review must occur whenever a change to the outcomes, short-term goals or service provision (frequency, intensity, group/individual, method, natural environments/location) specified in the IFSP is being considered.
3. If the family or another IFSP team member(s) believes the child has reached age level in all areas of development and shows no sign of atypical development, then an IFSP review is held to determine eligibility. Eligibility determination can occur during the IFSP review meeting (as long as 2 disciplines
participate).
a. Ongoing assessment should document the child’s functional status across settings
and situations before a provider considers that the child’s development is
typical and at age level compared to same-age peers.
b. If at any time the family feels their child is demonstrating age-appropriate skills and is no longer in need of services, the service coordinator must offer to coordinate an eligibility determination to confirm the child’s status.However, if the family declines this offer, then the service coordinator must document both the offer and the family’s decision in a contact note and the eligibility determination is not held. When reporting in ITOTS the reason for discharge in this scenario, please use "Completion of IFSP prior to reaching age 3."
c. The determination of ongoing eligibility is based on progress reports (written
or verbal, based on contact notes) of team members and/or review of contact
notes, considers all areas of development, and is documented on the
d. A multidisciplinary team is required for determination of ongoing eligibility, even for children who were previously found eligible based on a diagnosed condition. Therefore, if, for example, the child is receiving only service coordination and occupational therapy or the child is only receiving service
coordination, then it will be necessary to pull in a second discipline to participate with the occupational therapist and the service coordinator or to pull in 2 disciplines to participate with the service coordinator in the determination of ongoing eligibility. If a child is receiving only service
coordination, then the same types of information that are gathered for initial eligibility determination would be gathered for this interim confirmation of eligibility (e.g., current developmental screening results, observation, parent report, current information from the physician, etc.). The service coordinator, if properly trained, can conduct the developmental screening and observation and
gather information from the parent.
e. The information gathered for determining eligibility may also assist the team in completing the exit ratings on the child indicators for those children found to be no longer eligible and who have been in the Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia system for at least 6 months since their initial IFSP. See the
"Discharge and Determination of Child Progress at Exit" section of this chapter for additional information on exit assessment.
f. It is only necessary to determine the child’s eligibility prior to discharge if the local system is
proposing to end services prior to the child’s third birthday. Eligibility determination is not necessary prior to discharge if the child is leaving the local system for any of the following reasons: the child is turning three, the child is transitioning to Part B, the family is moving out of the area served by
the local system, the child and family are lost to contact, or the parent declines continued services.
4. Families and other IFSP team members can request an IFSP review at any time by contacting the service coordinator.
5.The IFSP review may be carried out by a meeting or by another means that is acceptable to the parents and other participants as long as all IFSP team members have the opportunity to provide input about all contents of the IFSP.
6. Any new services added at an IFSP review must begin within 30 days of the date the family signs the IFSP Review page unless the team planned a later start date to meet child and family needs.
http://www.infantva.org/documents/PracManCh8.pd
An important goal of the Early Intervention Program is to make sure infants and toddlers get early intervention services as quickly as possible. The sooner, the better!
Your family's IFSP will include the dates, as soon as possible after the IFSP meeting, when early intervention services will begin. Your ongoing service coordinator is responsible for making sure the early intervention services in your IFSP are delivered and helping out with any problems.
Putting your IFSP into action, though, is a team effort! You and your family are important members of the team. Be a part of your child's services. You can do this by:
- Being with your child when she or he is getting early intervention services.
- Arrange for services at times good for you, when you can pay full attention to
what's happening. - Asking the professionals working with your child to teach you the skills you
need to help your child make progress. - Keeping notes, a diary, or a journal about how well services are working and
how well your child is doing. Think about what is and what isn't working. Ask
for a change in services if you think a change is needed.
Reviewing, evaluating, and changing the IFSPAs your child grows and changes, so will the early intervention needs of your family. To be sure your IFSP keeps pace with your family and stays useful, the Early Intervention
Program requires:
- Six-month reviews of the IFSP. The review may – or may not – include a
meeting. If everyone agrees, the six-month review can be completed over the
phone or by mail, or other ways that don't involve a meeting. - Annual meetings to evaluate the IFSP.
- A process for changing the IFSP between the six-month reviews and annual
meetings.
Your ongoing service coordinator is responsible for making sure the IFSP is reviewed and evaluated on time. The following persons take part in the six-month reviews and annual meetings to evaluate the IFSP:
- You and anyone you ask to participate.
- Your ongoing service coordinator.
- Your Early Intervention Official or designee.
- The professionals who are providing services to your child and family, if it
makes sense to include them. - Other persons invited by your service coordinator, with your
permission. - An advocate, if you invite one.
The six-month reviews and annual meetings to evaluate the IFSP are designed to make sure that the IFSP still makes sense for your child and family. You and the other participants will look at how well early intervention services have helped your child and family meet the outcomes in your IFSP. You will also talk about what should be changed in the IFSP. This may include:
- Adding new outcomes and dropping old ones that have been reached – or that
are no longer important or useful. - Changing strategies and activities to help meet new outcomes or outcomes
that have not been reached yet. - Changing the services needed by your child and family.
Just like your initial IFSP, you and your Early Intervention Official must agree on IFSPs that come out of six-month reviews and annual IFSP meetings. You will be asked to sign the IFSP, to show you agree and give your permission to provide services. Just like your initial IFSP, you can ask for a mediation or impartial hearing if you disagree with your Early Intervention Official about certain services – while getting the services you do agree on.
You can request a review of your IFSP at any time. Your ongoing service coordinator can set up an IFSP review whenever one is needed.
https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/0532/step5.htm
More about the 6 Month Review...
1. The purpose of the periodic IFSP review is to determine the degree to which progress toward achieving the outcomes is being made and whether modification or revision of the outcomes or supports and services, including frequency and intensity, is necessary.
2. An IFSP Review must occur whenever a change to the outcomes, short-term goals or service provision (frequency, intensity, group/individual, method, natural environments/location) specified in the IFSP is being considered.
3. If the family or another IFSP team member(s) believes the child has reached age level in all areas of development and shows no sign of atypical development, then an IFSP review is held to determine eligibility. Eligibility determination can occur during the IFSP review meeting (as long as 2 disciplines
participate).
a. Ongoing assessment should document the child’s functional status across settings
and situations before a provider considers that the child’s development is
typical and at age level compared to same-age peers.
b. If at any time the family feels their child is demonstrating age-appropriate skills and is no longer in need of services, the service coordinator must offer to coordinate an eligibility determination to confirm the child’s status.However, if the family declines this offer, then the service coordinator must document both the offer and the family’s decision in a contact note and the eligibility determination is not held. When reporting in ITOTS the reason for discharge in this scenario, please use "Completion of IFSP prior to reaching age 3."
c. The determination of ongoing eligibility is based on progress reports (written
or verbal, based on contact notes) of team members and/or review of contact
notes, considers all areas of development, and is documented on the
d. A multidisciplinary team is required for determination of ongoing eligibility, even for children who were previously found eligible based on a diagnosed condition. Therefore, if, for example, the child is receiving only service coordination and occupational therapy or the child is only receiving service
coordination, then it will be necessary to pull in a second discipline to participate with the occupational therapist and the service coordinator or to pull in 2 disciplines to participate with the service coordinator in the determination of ongoing eligibility. If a child is receiving only service
coordination, then the same types of information that are gathered for initial eligibility determination would be gathered for this interim confirmation of eligibility (e.g., current developmental screening results, observation, parent report, current information from the physician, etc.). The service coordinator, if properly trained, can conduct the developmental screening and observation and
gather information from the parent.
e. The information gathered for determining eligibility may also assist the team in completing the exit ratings on the child indicators for those children found to be no longer eligible and who have been in the Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia system for at least 6 months since their initial IFSP. See the
"Discharge and Determination of Child Progress at Exit" section of this chapter for additional information on exit assessment.
f. It is only necessary to determine the child’s eligibility prior to discharge if the local system is
proposing to end services prior to the child’s third birthday. Eligibility determination is not necessary prior to discharge if the child is leaving the local system for any of the following reasons: the child is turning three, the child is transitioning to Part B, the family is moving out of the area served by
the local system, the child and family are lost to contact, or the parent declines continued services.
4. Families and other IFSP team members can request an IFSP review at any time by contacting the service coordinator.
5.The IFSP review may be carried out by a meeting or by another means that is acceptable to the parents and other participants as long as all IFSP team members have the opportunity to provide input about all contents of the IFSP.
6. Any new services added at an IFSP review must begin within 30 days of the date the family signs the IFSP Review page unless the team planned a later start date to meet child and family needs.
http://www.infantva.org/documents/PracManCh8.pd