The ISDP in practice, what good looks like
Individual support and development plans exist for every young person. Few homes use them as the living document they are meant to be.
ElmSync Editorial · 7 min
The Individual Support and Development Plan, or ISDP, is the document that describes how a home will support a specific young person toward specific outcomes. It is required under the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 for young people in supported accommodation, and is becoming increasingly embedded in best practice in children's residential care more broadly.
In principle, the ISDP is a living plan. It should describe where the young person is now, where they are going, and how the home will help them get there. It should be reviewed regularly. The young person should be involved in writing it.
In practice, ISDPs are often created at the point of placement and then left unchanged until something goes wrong.
What a good ISDP contains
A good ISDP starts with what the young person says about themselves. Not what the social worker's assessment says, not what the previous placement's report says. What the young person says.
From that starting point, the plan builds outward. What are the young person's goals? What do they want to be doing in six months? What are the obstacles? What support does the home provide? What does the young person say about that support? Is it working?
How to make it a living document
Review it monthly. Not a full rewrite. A check. Has anything changed? Have any goals been reached? Are the support approaches still right? Does the young person still agree with what the plan says?
When the ISDP is reviewed regularly and the young person is involved, it becomes something different from a compliance document. It becomes a record of a real relationship, and a real journey.