The first meetings with a family, including the first Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) meeting, set the tone for the family's emerging relationship with early intervention professionals. The IFSP meeting and document are a vehicle for parents and professionals to partner together to target outcomes that are meaningful to the family and to develop a framework for achieving them. Unfortunately there is also significant evidence that IFSPs are often written in ways that are inconsistent with recommended practice. Studies conducted by Bailey, Winton, Rouse et al examine outcome statements on IFSP documents for evidence of family-centered practices. They found out that IFSPs often contain professionally-driven outcomes unrelated to family concerns and that concerns are not always addressed as outcomes. Outcomes are mainly child-focused and written in professional language. The results of these studies imply that service providers focus almost exclusively on the child rather than on the whole family. The purpose of this article is to provide guidelines and tools for writing outcomes and procedures in IFSPs that are clear, functional, and meaningful to families and that reflect recommended practices in early childhood special education. (Contains 3 figures.)