Can Embedding Prompts in the IFSP Form Improve the Quality of IFSPs Developed?

The purpose of this study was to determine in what ways the quality of individualized family service plans (IFSPs) would be affected by adding written prompts to an IFSP form and instruction manual. Two IFSPs were collected from 94 service coordinators before and after adding written prompts to the IFSP form and manual targeting three areas: (a) recording family routines, (b) recording families' priorities for emotional, material, and informational support, and (c) connecting routines and priorities to outcomes and procedures. Results of multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) for repeated measures indicated that the quality of IFSPs improved statistically significantly after document revision. Follow-up univariate tests showed statistically significant improvement in 8 of 12 indicators of IFSP quality. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)