How much are you actually paying your advocates/attorneys and are they even worth it?

[Anonymous]

I've posted several times already, but have questions...

1.) Did a reputable professional (e.g. developmental pediatrician, neuro-psychologist) tell you in writing that your child needs an IEP and a special placement? If so, have you shared it with the school?

2.) Have you requested an evaluation from the school?

The more evidence you have the better. Also, if a good attorney says to use an advocate, see who they recommend, otherwise it's the wild west out there were anyone can call themselves one and even claim they have been doing it for many years-doesn't mean they did it well.

[Anonymous]

School psych here. Has the school completed an eligibility evaluation and determined your child is not eligible for an IEP? Or have they not done an eval? If the first, request an IEE. If the second, request an eval in writing and escalate if they don't agree.

You need to focus on getting an IEP first before considering an alternative placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've gotten a lot of feedback on this thread but I'm still curious to know the hourly rates for advocates. Is there a difference in rates based on whether the non-attorney advocate has a background in education vs being a parent who has been through the process? You don't have to share the name if you don't want to but I want to know:
1. rate
2. background in education (former teacher)? parent? other?
3. school district

I was charged $300 for someone who used to work at a private school, didn't know the law, gave us bad advice, and didn't know how to help us overcome resistance from the school. That was the same rate as the much much more effective and knowledgeable attorney who we later hired. I soooo wish we had just gone right to the attorney.

it’s insane these advocates charge $300/hr when they have no actual credentials. What’s more insane is they know parents are desperate enough to pay it and that’s how they get away with it. Even if someone ends up not using them they are making more than the majority of people make a day in one single hour. unbelievable. Attorneys charge that much because they actually are credentialed and expected to know the law and policies etc…

Yes, that's what my attorney charged (years ago so it probably went up) and that seemed reasonable/low to me as an attorney myself who would bill much higher. I too thought it was insane once I realized a non credentialed "advocate" was charging the same exact rate!

What do advocates do vs what attorneys do? I would think advocates with an educational background can help revise the IEP and attorneys can help enforce compliance with the IEP process. Is that how it is working for most? $300/hour is outrageous.

Attorneys can certainly help with revisions to an IEP, as there are many, many compliance issues involved with that.

[Anonymous]

Try Brendan Sheerin who runs a non-profit specifically for parents involved in the IEP process. He was a real partner in helping us, went out of his way to go to school to read our child's full file, helped us to write every email to school, attended every school meeting and ensured that our child got everything he deserved. He is a retired principal, and established his organization because he felt parents are shafted by the system. Schools don't frighten him! Best of all, he only charges for going to IEP meetings. his parents are charged no more than $75.00 for a school meeting (our total bill was $280, and I know that he takes on lots of clients for free. Best to use his brendan@[e-mail] email address. You can't go wrong with him.

[Anonymous]

I pay my lawyer $275/hr and she attends every IEP meeting (and I have a lot - very complicated kid who has a private placement but has not been placed because no such institution exists that meets all of his needs, so he has a split schedule between his home school and other learning institutions). It costs about $10k a year, which would not even be the tip of the iceberg for costs of what he needs annually). The dollar value of what I am getting from the school system is closer to $60k/$70k, so I consider the $10k as a ticket to get the services and interventions that he needs, but that I could not pay for out of pocket. I am already going broke coming up the $10k. I don’t think I would be here without a lawyer. There are some meetings during which I add more value than her and I feel responsible for the outcome, and there are meetings during which she adds more value than me based on some area of special ed law that only she would know about, no matter how much I educate myself. Also, once I got the lawyer is when the school system took notice. Even if she is there and says nothing, there is a positive effect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Try Brendan Sheerin who runs a non-profit specifically for parents involved in the IEP process. He was a real partner in helping us, went out of his way to go to school to read our child's full file, helped us to write every email to school, attended every school meeting and ensured that our child got everything he deserved. He is a retired principal, and established his organization because he felt parents are shafted by the system. Schools don't frighten him! Best of all, he only charges for going to IEP meetings. his parents are charged no more than $75.00 for a school meeting (our total bill was $280, and I know that he takes on lots of clients for free. Best to use his brendan@[e-mail] email address. You can't go wrong with him.

This is 18:56 (parent with lawyer at all meetings). Wow - I had no idea someone was doing this. I meet with friends to help them strategize and prep (though most of my friends who were anti-lawyer/advocate bc of the cost have all realized that they need their own lawyers/advocates and gotten them by now). Anyways, one of the things I always say is that sometimes I feel guilty with how much my child is getting from the school system because there are so many other kids in need and could be getting as much because it’s the law, but they do not have anyone to advocate for them for a variety of reasons. If I ever have any free time, I would love to provide more for families besides informally counseling friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Try Brendan Sheerin who runs a non-profit specifically for parents involved in the IEP process. He was a real partner in helping us, went out of his way to go to school to read our child's full file, helped us to write every email to school, attended every school meeting and ensured that our child got everything he deserved. He is a retired principal, and established his organization because he felt parents are shafted by the system. Schools don't frighten him! Best of all, he only charges for going to IEP meetings. his parents are charged no more than $75.00 for a school meeting (our total bill was $280, and I know that he takes on lots of clients for free. Best to use his brendan@[e-mail] email address. You can't go wrong with him.

For those that met him, does Brendan Sheerin have an Irish accent by any chance? The name sounded familiar and I just realized my 8th grade English teacher in the late 80s at The Potomac School was a Brendan Sheerin (and my Brendan Sheerin is Irish).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Try Brendan Sheerin who runs a non-profit specifically for parents involved in the IEP process. He was a real partner in helping us, went out of his way to go to school to read our child's full file, helped us to write every email to school, attended every school meeting and ensured that our child got everything he deserved. He is a retired principal, and established his organization because he felt parents are shafted by the system. Schools don't frighten him! Best of all, he only charges for going to IEP meetings. his parents are charged no more than $75.00 for a school meeting (our total bill was $280, and I know that he takes on lots of clients for free. Best to use his brendan@[e-mail] email address. You can't go wrong with him.

For those that met him, does Brendan Sheerin have an Irish accent by any chance? The name sounded familiar and I just realized my 8th grade English teacher in the late 80s at The Potomac School was a Brendan Sheerin (and my Brendan Sheerin is Irish).

Oh my gosh! I just found him online and this is my old English teacher!! It makes me so happy that he is doing this for families, especially those that cannot afford the prohibitive fees for lawyers and advocates. I wish I had known about him earlier for my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've gotten a lot of feedback on this thread but I'm still curious to know the hourly rates for advocates. Is there a difference in rates based on whether the non-attorney advocate has a background in education vs being a parent who has been through the process? You don't have to share the name if you don't want to but I want to know:
1. rate
2. background in education (former teacher)? parent? other?
3. school district

Our advocate was $150 an hour
Was a Special Education teacher that taught every grade from pre-K to 12, including at an RTC, which was super helpful for us as we were transitioning DD from PHP back to her public high school. She also does expert witness work in education law cases nationally, so she knew the law and was very helpful in informing us of our rights.
We are in Montgomery County.