Help Need Recommendations for Educational Advocate

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I am looking for recommendations for an educational advocate. I am particularly looking for an advocate with experience in Virginia and Arlington County Schools particularly but welcome any that you can highly recommend. Any leads will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all,

I am looking for recommendations for an educational advocate. I am particularly looking for an advocate with experience in Virginia and Arlington County Schools particularly but welcome any that you can highly recommend. Any leads will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

I think if you do a search you might find a few mentioned on this site. Amy Mounce is one, I think. There's also an attorney who has some consultants in house - Belkowitz Law

[Anonymous]

I've heard great things about Sara Platenberg of Educational Advocacy and Consulting. I don't recommend Juliet Hiznay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard great things about Sara Platenberg of Educational Advocacy and Consulting. I don't recommend Juliet Hiznay.

As someone who has worked with Sara from the school's side of things, she is a good person to hire if you want the tone in your meetings to shift from collaborative to adversarial. There are some great advocates out there, but Sara has a confrontational tone that only succeeds in making staff angry and frustrated. I also don't ever get the impression she truly understands the student she is talking about- she often hasn't met them at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard great things about Sara Platenberg of Educational Advocacy and Consulting. I don't recommend Juliet Hiznay.

As someone who has worked with Sara from the school's side of things, she is a good person to hire if you want the tone in your meetings to shift from collaborative to adversarial. There are some great advocates out there, but Sara has a confrontational tone that only succeeds in making staff angry and frustrated. I also don't ever get the impression she truly understands the student she is talking about- she often hasn't met them at all.

I had not heard of this group but it's quite large. Does anyone in the DC area have experience with any of the other DMV advocates they have listed? https://educationaladvocacy-consulting.com/

[Anonymous]

Don't bother with an advocate. Use an attorney.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the all the responses! I have some clear legal violations so was hoping to use an advocate that can work with to look through all the documentation and support me at the meetings to cut down on attorney fees as this will like go to mediation, state compliant and potentially due process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the all the responses! I have some clear legal violations so was hoping to use an advocate that can work with to look through all the documentation and support me at the meetings to cut down on attorney fees as this will like go to mediation, state compliant and potentially due process.

Just jump to an attorney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all,

I am looking for recommendations for an educational advocate. I am particularly looking for an advocate with experience in Virginia and Arlington County Schools particularly but welcome any that you can highly recommend. Any leads will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

I think if you do a search you might find a few mentioned on this site. Amy Mounce is one, I think. There's also an attorney who has some consultants in house - Belkowitz Law

We used Amy Mounce but it was a long time ago so maybe she has improved a lot. We found she wasn’t aggressive enough. I didn’t want her to fight with staff as we wanted a good working relationship but it felt like she just accepted any excuse the team provided. When there were issues with the IEP not being followed and I wanted her to help, she wasn’t willing. This is not to say she was a complete waste though. She taught me quite a bit about being prepared for meetings, recording and documentation and we found her pleasant. I do wish we had hired someone who was more aggressive though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the all the responses! I have some clear legal violations so was hoping to use an advocate that can work with to look through all the documentation and support me at the meetings to cut down on attorney fees as this will like go to mediation, state compliant and potentially due process.

no, no, no! do NOT use an advocate. they do not know the law. it is really important to document things in the right way. advocates will not know how to do that and they do not know the law. despite what they might tell you.

[Anonymous]

We're in FCPS and really liked Liz Capone. She is also an expert witness and said she had multiple attorneys she could refer us to if we needed it. We ended up resolving everything in the second IEP meeting though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're in FCPS and really liked Liz Capone. She is also an expert witness and said she had multiple attorneys she could refer us to if we needed it. We ended up resolving everything in the second IEP meeting though.

It's not enough to refer to attorneys later. If the record is not set up correctly - which it will not be if you do not work with an attorney now - it will limit what any attorney can do later. I can't tell you how many times I have seen situations that are really messed up by these so called advocates. It's truly sad. Parents think they are saving money. They are not.

- special ed attorney

[Anonymous]

OP here. I spoke with law firm advocate paralegal and I am going with law firm as lawyers can step in when needed. I paid an education advocate that I thought could help and she started talking like she was on the school side of things, thankfully she shared this before I signed ROI or brought her to any IEP meetings. I was disappointed I lost money but I would rather that then she ruion my efforts. I agree with advice here unless you just need a simple accommodation fix fo with an attorney or law firm with their own advocates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I spoke with law firm advocate paralegal and I am going with law firm as lawyers can step in when needed. I paid an education advocate that I thought could help and she started talking like she was on the school side of things, thankfully she shared this before I signed ROI or brought her to any IEP meetings. I was disappointed I lost money but I would rather that then she ruion my efforts. I agree with advice here unless you just need a simple accommodation fix fo with an attorney or law firm with their own advocates.

Sorry you went through that waste of money, but glad you will work with a lawyer. Also, it's good it will be a special needs lawyer. We once worked with an advocate who advertised she was also a lawyer but didn't mention her legal expertise was NOT special needs. her special needs experience came from advocating for her own children, and she pushed her own agenda based on her what she experiened with her kids. Best to go with a skilled SN attorney.

[Anonymous]

Always go with an attorney instead of an advocate. They are just there to take advantage of parents/take your money. You don’t need any kind of specific education, certifications or licenses to be an advocate. Literally anyone can say they are one. An attorneys job is to know the law. Yes it will cost more but at least you are getting an actual professional.