If your child qualifies for Early Steps, Florida's early intervention program for children under 3, the next big step is the Individualized Family Support Plan, or IFSP. The IFSP is the written plan for your child and your family: what your child can do now, what you want to work on, which services will help, and who will provide them. This guide explains what goes into an IFSP, how often it is reviewed and how it differs from the IEP your child may get at age 3, using section 391.308, Florida Statutes, the federal Part C rules and the Early Steps Policy Handbook updated 14 October 2026.
What is an IFSP?
Policy 5.1.1 says each eligible child and family receives "a written Individualized Family Support Plan (IFSP) developed by a multidisciplinary team, including the parents." You are a member of the team, not a visitor to it. Section 391.308(1)(b) says Early Steps must provide plans "that are understandable and usable by families, health care providers, and payors."
The IFSP is built around your family's everyday life. Early intervention in Florida focuses on helping you and other caregivers support your child's development during routines such as meals, bath time, play and errands, rather than only in a therapy room.
When is the IFSP written?
Within 45 calendar days of the date the local Early Steps office receives the referral, the evaluation and assessment must be finished and the team must meet face to face to write the initial IFSP (Policy 5.5.1; s. 391.308(4)(f)1.). The clock pauses only for documented exceptional family circumstances or when a parent has not given consent despite repeated attempts (Policy 5.5.2).
If your child needs services right away, the team can write an interim IFSP with your consent before the evaluation is finished. The full evaluation and initial IFSP must still be completed within the 45 days (Policies 5.4.1 to 5.4.3). See the Early Steps 45-day timeline for what happens on each step.
What goes in an IFSP?
Federal rule 34 CFR 303.344 and the Florida handbook (Policies 5.3.1 to 5.3.15) list the required content. In plain terms, your child's IFSP must include:
- Present levels: a statement of your child's physical development (including vision, hearing and health), cognitive, communication, social or emotional, and adaptive development, based on the evaluation and assessment.
- Family concerns, priorities and resources: included with your agreement, from the voluntary family assessment.
- Measurable outcomes: results you and the team expect for your child and family, "including pre-literacy and language skills, as developmentally appropriate," and how progress will be measured.
- Strategies: what everyone will do to reach those outcomes.
- Services: each early intervention service, with its frequency, intensity, method, location, length, payment arrangements, projected start date and expected duration.
- Natural environment: a statement that services happen in your child's natural environment to the maximum extent appropriate, and a justification for any that do not.
- Other supports: medical and other supports your child gets from other sources, such as private therapy, and steps to help you secure supports not yet in place.
- Service coordinator: the name of the person responsible for carrying out the plan.
- Primary service provider: the team member who will be the lead professional working with your family (Policy 5.3.15).
- Daily routines: a description of the places and routines where your child lives, learns and plays, and the people your child spends time with.
- Transition steps: the plan for leaving Early Steps at age 3.
- Eligibility statement and family contact information.
What is a primary service provider?
Every Early Steps office uses a "team-based primary service provider approach" (Policy 6.2.1). One professional, such as a developmental specialist or a therapist, works with your family regularly and is the lead contact for services. Other team members share their expertise through direct services, joint visits or consultation. This keeps you from juggling several separate therapists who may not talk to each other.
Do I have to accept every service in the IFSP?
No. The handbook says parents "will determine whether to accept or decline any early intervention service at any time, and may decline a service, after first accepting it, without jeopardizing other early intervention services" (Policy 5.3.11 C). Services start only after you give informed written consent, and each service must begin "as soon as possible but within 30 days of the date the parent consents to the service" (Policy 5.3.11 B).
Early Steps does not charge families for IFSP services. The handbook says parents "are not charged any out-of-pocket costs for any IDEA, Part C services," and Early Steps may bill insurance only with your consent. If you decline insurance billing, your child still receives the services on the IFSP.
How often is the IFSP reviewed?
| Review | When | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Periodic review | At least every 6 months, or sooner if conditions warrant or you ask | Checks progress, decides whether outcomes or services should change (s. 391.308(4)(f)3.; Policy 5.6.1) |
| Annual review | At least once a year, face to face | Re-determines eligibility and writes a new IFSP document (Policies 5.7.1, 5.7.6) |
| Transition planning | Between 9 months and 90 days before the third birthday | Plans the move to preschool or other services (Policy 7.1.2) |
A periodic review can be held by a meeting or another way you agree to, such as a phone call (Policy 5.6.3). You should get a copy of the IFSP within 15 calendar days of each IFSP meeting (Policy 5.1.5). Meetings must be arranged at times and places convenient for your family and in your native language or other mode of communication, unless that is not feasible (Policy 5.2.1).
Who is at the IFSP meeting?
The initial IFSP meeting must include you, other family members or advocates you ask for, the service coordinator, a person who did the evaluation or assessment, and the people who will provide services, as appropriate (Policy 5.5.3). You can bring a relative, a friend, an interpreter or a private provider who knows your child, such as your child's BCBA or speech therapist.
How is an IFSP different from an IEP?
| IFSP (Early Steps) | IEP (school district) | |
|---|---|---|
| Ages | Birth to 3 | From age 3 (district preschool) through school |
| Run by | Florida Department of Health, Early Steps | Your school district, under State Board of Education rules |
| Focus | Child and family outcomes in daily routines | Special education and related services so the child can learn at school |
| Where services happen | Natural environments, such as home or child care | Set by the IEP team, often a classroom |
| Review | At least every 6 months, plus an annual review | At least once a year |
| Family plan | Includes family concerns, priorities and resources | Focused on the student's education |
For children aged 3 to 5, Florida rules also allow a school district to use an IFSP instead of an IEP under Rule 6A-6.03029 (Rule 6A-6.0331(6)(c)). Most families move to an IEP. Our Florida IEP guide explains the IEP process, and the turning 3 checklist covers the hand-off.
What should I do before the meeting?
Think about your family's daily routines, the moments that are hardest, and what you most want for your child in the next six months. Write down questions and gather reports from doctors and private therapists. Our IFSP meeting preparation guide has a full checklist.
If your child is autistic, private ABA (applied behavior analysis) can run alongside Early Steps, and the two work better when goals line up. Hope Center offers in-home and center-based ABA, weekly parent training and a free insurance benefits check, with no waitlist. Contact us or call 561-337-8865 to ask how ABA could fit with your child's IFSP.