What Is an Individual Support Plan for Adults With I/DD in New Jersey?

What Is Included in an Individual Support Plan?

The plan should describe the person’s life and priorities in enough detail to guide useful support. The person’s preferences and voice should remain at the center.

Goals and Daily Needs

An ISP can outline desired outcomes, support needs, services, and the people or providers involved. Goals may relate to routines, communication, health, relationships, community life, or employment. The plan should explain what support can help someone move toward a goal.

For instance, a goal might be practicing how to prepare a simple lunch with the right level of prompting. The details depend on the person’s priorities and support needs.

Support Preferences and Family Input

Person-centered planning considers communication style, routines, culture, interests, and who the person wants involved. The Administration for Community Living’s person-centered planning guidance outlines how the person receiving support directs the process, with family, friends, or representatives included when the person wants them involved.

Family members can share what they notice at home. Their input helps the team understand the whole picture while the adult’s choices remain central.

Who Helps Create an ISP in New Jersey?

Adults with I/DD and their Support Coordinator work with the planning team to develop the ISP. New Jersey DDD’s support coordination guidance explains that the coordinator creates a yearly plan with the team, updates it when needed, and works independently from service providers.

The team may include family, a guardian or chosen representative, direct support staff, and providers who know the person’s daily needs. The adult should have ways to participate that work for them, such as speech, assistive technology, or gestures.

Examples of Goals in an ISP

Goals work best when they connect with a real preference or next step. One person may want to make breakfast with less help; another may want to visit a library or learn a familiar bus route. Someone interested in work might explore job options, practice an interview, or receive coaching on the job.

Self-advocacy can be a goal, too. A person might practice expressing a choice during a meeting or telling a support worker they want to try something differently. Goals should reflect the person’s wishes.

How Does an ISP Change over Time?

Plans change as interests, routines, and support needs change. A new goal may emerge, a service may need adjustment, or a strategy may not be working. None of that means someone has failed.

New Jersey DDD describes the ISP as a yearly plan that can be updated when needed. Its 2026 ISP worksheet update encourages teams to share changes as they happen, leaving more time at the annual meeting for the person’s priorities. Tell the Support Coordinator when something shifts and ask how to keep the plan current.

How Community Care Partners Supports Your ISP

Community Care Partners offers Community Based Supports, Individual Supports, and Employment Supports that can help put ISP goals into practice, from daily living skills and community participation to one-to-one support and workplace coaching.

The Support Coordinator develops and updates the ISP with the person and team. A provider delivers the agreed services and shares changes in support needs. Our guide to comparing I/DD support options can help you consider which services fit the person’s goals.

Getting Started with Community Care Partners

Learning a new system while keeping someone’s voice at the center of their care can feel like a lot to manage. You do not need to handle everything on your own. Start with what the person enjoys, wants to change, and hopes to do with support.

Community Care Partners can talk with families about services that support ISP goals and how to coordinate with a Support Coordinator. A team member is here to discuss questions and possible next steps.