An individual service plan (ISP) is a written plan that describes the services and supports a person with a disability will receive, who will provide them, and what goals they are meant to reach. The term is used in two different settings. Most often, an ISP is the person-centered plan used in developmental disability services and Medicaid waiver programs for children and adults. In special education, a similar document called a services plan describes the limited services a school district provides to a child with a disability whose parents have placed the child in a private school. The two plans come from different laws and give different rights, so it helps to know which one you are dealing with.
What is the primary purpose of an individual service plan?
In both settings, the ISP answers the same basic questions: what does this person need, what services and supports will be provided, how often, by whom, and how will everyone know whether they are working. The plan turns an eligibility decision into concrete services. It also gives the person and family a document they can review, question, and update when needs change.
ISP in developmental disability services
Many states use the ISP to plan services for people with intellectual disability, autism, and other developmental disabilities. These services are often paid for through Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers, which help people live at home and in the community instead of in an institution. Names vary by state. Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services and Oregon, for example, call it an Individual Support Plan, while Ohio and other states use Individual Service Plan or Individualized Service Plan. All of these are commonly shortened to ISP.
How the planning process works
The ISP is usually led by a support coordinator, service coordinator, or case manager from the state or county developmental disabilities agency. The person receiving services is at the center of the process, together with family members and anyone else they choose to invite, such as friends, providers, or an advocate. Federal Medicaid rules for HCBS programs (42 CFR 441.301(c)) require that the service plan be developed through a person-centered planning process that is directed by the individual, held at times and places convenient for them, and written in plain language they can understand.
What a person-centered ISP includes
Under those federal rules, the plan must reflect what is important to the individual and the supports they need. A typical ISP includes:
- The person's strengths, preferences, dreams and wishes, and communication preferences.
- Clinical, medical, and support needs identified through an assessment.
- Goals and desired outcomes that the person chose.
- The paid and unpaid services and supports that will help reach those goals, and the providers who deliver them.
- The setting where the person lives and receives services, chosen by the individual from available options.
- Risk factors and the steps planned to reduce them, including backup plans.
- Who is responsible for monitoring the plan.
- Any self-directed services the person manages.
The plan must be signed with informed consent by the person and the providers responsible for carrying it out, and shared with everyone involved. It has to be reviewed at least every 12 months, when the person's needs or circumstances change significantly, or when the person asks for a review.
Why families of students should know about it
Many children receive waiver services while they are still in school, so a family may have both an ISP and an IEP at the same time. The ISP covers services at home and in the community, such as respite, in-home support, or supported employment. The IEP covers education. Coordinating the two is especially important during transition planning, because special education ends when a student graduates with a regular diploma or ages out of IDEA eligibility. Adult services, planned through the ISP, often become the main source of support after that. Waiting lists for waiver services exist in many states, so families are often encouraged to contact their local developmental disabilities agency well before graduation.
Services plan for children in private schools
The second meaning comes from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). When parents choose to enroll their child in a private school, including a religious school, the child is called a "parentally placed private school child." These children do not have an individual right to receive the same special education they would get in public school (34 CFR 300.137). Instead, the local education agency where the private school is located must spend a proportionate share of its federal IDEA funds on "equitable services" for this group of students.
If the district decides to serve a particular child, it writes a services plan, sometimes called an individual service plan or ISP. Key rules include:
- Who finds and evaluates the child. The district where the private school is located is responsible for Child Find and evaluation for these students.
- What the plan contains. Under 34 CFR 300.138, the services plan must describe the specific special education and related services the district will provide. To the extent appropriate, it follows the IEP content rules, and it is developed, reviewed, and revised through a process similar to the IEP process.
- Who takes part. The district must hold meetings to develop, review, and revise the plan, and must make sure a representative of the private school can take part, in person or by phone.
- Amount of services. Children may receive a different amount of services than similar students in public school. The district consults with private school representatives and parent representatives to decide which services it will offer to parentally placed children as a group.
- Where services happen. Services may be provided at the private school, including a religious school, to the extent consistent with law, or at another location.
- Dispute options are limited. Parents generally cannot use a due process hearing to challenge the services plan itself. Due process is available for Child Find and evaluation disputes, and parents can file a state complaint if they believe the district did not follow the rules.
ISP vs. IEP: what is the difference?
An IEP is required for every eligible child in public school and guarantees a free appropriate public education (FAPE). An individual service plan does not carry that guarantee. The private school services plan provides only the services the district has chosen to offer to private school students, and the developmental disability ISP is governed by Medicaid and state rules, not IDEA. If parents of a private school student want a full IEP and FAPE, they can ask their home public school district to evaluate the child and offer an IEP, which the child would receive by enrolling in public school.
An ISP is also different from the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) used in early intervention for infants and toddlers under Part C of IDEA, and from a Section 504 plan, which provides accommodations under civil rights law.
Frequently asked questions about individual service plans
How is an ISP different from an IEP?
An IEP is a special education plan that guarantees FAPE for a public school student. An ISP is either a person-centered plan for developmental disability or waiver services, or a services plan for a child placed in private school by their parents. Neither type of ISP carries the full rights of an IEP.
What is an individual plan of service?
"Individual plan of service" is another name some states and agencies use for the same kind of person-centered service plan, often in behavioral health or developmental disability programs.
Who writes an individual service plan?
In disability services, a support coordinator or case manager leads the planning with the person, family, and providers. For private school students, the public school district where the private school is located writes the services plan with the parents and a private school representative.
How often is an ISP reviewed?
Medicaid HCBS rules require review at least once every 12 months and whenever needs change or the person asks. A private school services plan is reviewed through a process similar to the annual IEP review.
