After you have had your Participant-Directed Program Orientation, you will need to do many things in tandem to set up the Participant-Directed Program. This week, we will look at what you can do to get ready for your ISP meeting.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and this blog post is not legal advice on completing the ISP. It is merely information on where to start and resources that I found beneficial when helping my son create his ISP. For more information, please reach out to your DDS Support Broker. I also strongly recommend watching the following webinar for more detailed information: The Arc of Massachusetts Webinar on Creating an Effective Individual Support Plan: https://youtu.be/LE6pEyJoxV0?si=wIYGUZ8aqMqpwJqx
When your child was in school and was found eligible for special education services, the team developed an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that provided the goals and objectives for that timeframe. Once your child transitions to adult services, regardless of what program they attend, they will be completing an ISP: Individual Support Plan. (**In some states, the ISP is also called the Individual Service Plan). This ISP is similar to the IEP in that it is a document that will capture a snapshot of the adult and their current status, and it is also the location where goals for the upcoming year will be documented.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR ISP
Since your ISP is going to be the document that DDS ultimately uses to determine the supports and services that your adult child needs, you want to make sure that this document is thorough and has as much detailed information as possible about your adult child’s vision and goals for the upcoming year. The following documents will be helpful to share with your DDS Support Broker in order to create the most comprehensive ISP:
- Person-Centered Plan/Vision: As I have discussed in past blog posts (see below for links), the Person-Centered Plan is the guiding document for all future planning. I cannot stress enough the importance of the person-centered plan and how it really supported L in creating his ISP and getting the services he needed to execute his plan.
- Safety Assessment Form: Before your meeting, your DDS Support Broker will give you the Safety Plan form to fill out. See below under Resources for a copy of the blank form.
- ISP Progress Summary Form: Your DDS Support Broker will share this form with you before the ISP meeting. This form is the DDS version of the progress notes you would have received when your child was on an IEP. Unlike the IEP, the progress note is completed annually vs. during the IEP reporting periods. For us, I completed one as the case manager, and we had L’s staff, who worked with him on his vocational jobs, complete the form also. See below for a blank copy of the form.
- I recommend downloading a blank copy of the ISP form, especially if this is your first meeting. I found that it was helpful to see what questions they were going to ask ahead of time so that we were best prepared for the in-person meeting.
- There is also a section in the ISP that will ask you about how things are going: what have been the past year’s successes? What positive things happened this past year? What were some challenges that occurred? Are there any unmet needs or issues that you are anticipating or have happened? Can you prepare this information before the meeting? In that case, it will allow the participant and the family to articulate the strengths and weaknesses that need to be addressed in the upcoming ISP.
WHO ATTENDS THE ISP MEETING?
The program participant is the primary member of the ISP team. A parent or guardian is also present at the meeting, along with the DDS Support Broker and any other people the participant would like to invite.
DURING THE ISP MEETING
During the meeting, the DDS Support Broker will review the entire ISP form and ask questions about each section. Again, we found it very helpful to download the blank form and prepare/gather the information we would need for the meeting. We also asked L which sections he wanted to talk about/present on and which ones he wanted me to take the lead on ahead of time so that L did not feel “put on the spot” about having to answer questions. He knew what he wanted to share and was comfortable before the meeting.
While the entire document is important, we really found it important to have the most comprehensive information on the following:
- Current Supports and Services: for our first ISP meeting, since we were creating the program, we used the information from the person-centered plan and the vision plan that we submitted during the initial process that laid out what L wanted his program to look like, what staffing supports he would need, and what other resources he would need to execute on his plan. For the following ISP, we again used the person-centered plan. We provided an update on what he was currently working on during the past ISP period and what new goals and objectives he wanted to add. ***When examining current supports and services, it is important to consider the three pillars of transition planning: continued education, independent living, and vocational skills, and how they align with the participants’ vision and goals.
- Goals and Objectives: This is where you list the specific goals and objectives that you would like to work on. L could take this information directly from his person-centered plan and vision statement.
After the Meeting: After the meeting, your DDS Support Broker will write up the ISP plan and share a copy with the participant and parent/guardian. At that time, you can review the document and reach out if there are any questions or concerns. There is a formal appeal process that can occur if there are discrepancies that you feel need to be addressed. Once you have finalized the ISP, you will next be sent additional paperwork to sign to accept the document and the employer of record will also need to sign a document stating that they will be administering the budget according to the ISP.
Call to action: what are some ways that you can help your adult child prepare for their upcoming ISP? One helpful tip I have used is having L complete a “monthly snapshot” of what he has been working on/doing that month. This helped us tremendously when, the following year, he had to complete his new person-centered plan and ISP…..he could reference these monthly sheets to help remind him of all the great things he accomplished during the past year.
Until next week,
-Cheryl
RESOURCES:
The Disability Law Center’s Self Advocacy Materials: Individual Support Planning Through the Department of Developmental Services: https://www.dlc-ma.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Individual-Support-Planning.pdf
The Arc of Massachusetts Webinar on Creating an Effective Individual Support Plan: This is a comprehensive webinar on what the ISP is, the timelines related to the ISP meetings, and information about the meeting: https://youtu.be/LE6pEyJoxV0?si=wIYGUZ8aqMqpwJqx
Section 8: ISP Development; Self Directed Services Participant Directed Program Workbook: https://www.mass.gov/lists/getting-started-in-participant-directed-program#participant-toolbox-
Blog Post Transition 101 #5: Empowering Individuals: Achieving Goals Through Person-Centered Planning: https://lifewithoutafiltercf.com/2024/08/20/transition-101-5-empowering-individuals-achieving-goals-through-person-centered-planning/
Blog Post SD#6: Creating a Vision Plan for a PDP- A Step by Step Guide: https://lifewithoutafiltercf.com/2024/09/11/sd-6-step-2-creating-a-vision-plan-for-a-participant-directed-program-step-by-step-guide/
Blog Post Transition 201 #4: Empowering Students by using Assistive Technology in Person-Centered Planning: https://lifewithoutafiltercf.com/2025/02/07/transition-201-4-empowering-students-by-using-assistive-technology-in-person-centered-planning/
Blank ISP Form:
Blank ISP Safety Assessment Form:
ISP Progress Summary Form:
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