What is a required provision for an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for children under three?

The required provision for an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for children under three is that services must be provided in the child's natural environment. This means that interventions and supports should occur where the child lives, learns, and plays, such as in their home or community settings. This approach is based on the understanding that children learn and develop best in familiar and comfortable contexts, which allows for more meaningful engagement and support for both the child and their family.

Providing services in a natural environment fosters positive interactions with peers and family members while also promoting real-life learning opportunities. This principle is rooted in the belief that early intervention services should be integrated into the daily routines of families, allowing the child to use their skills in contexts where they will actually be applied.

Other options involve elements that are not mandated for the IFSP process. For instance, while monitoring and evaluations are certainly important components of early intervention, the specific requirement is focused on the delivery of services in natural settings rather than the frequency of evaluations or monitoring by a designee. Similarly, while parent requests for changes in services may occur, this is not a required provision of the IFSP itself. Thus, the most crucial and defining feature of the IFSP is ensuring that services are delivered in the