Advocates here work with Aventura families and Miami-Dade County Public Schools teams. Each profile lists a rate when the advocate shares one.
3 based in Florida · 3 virtual advocates who work with Florida schools
The job is plain. An advocate knows what services the school owes your child and asks for them in writing.
Most of the work happens before anyone sits down in an Aventura conference room.
Advocates also coach. Some Aventura parents hire one for two hours of prep and go into the meeting alone.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools can charge for copies of a file. Asking to inspect the record in person instead costs nothing under federal rules.
No advocate in this directory lists Aventura as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Florida, and each card names the city.
Based in Wesley Chapel, FL
Special Education Advocate
With 24 years of experience in the K-12 sector, I serves as a Student Support Specialist specializing in academic and behavioral ESE services.
Based in Leesburg, FL
CEO IEP Advocate Espanol
Evelyn Roman-Santos is a bilingual Special Education Advocate with 30 years of experience as a School Social Worker.
Based in Hialeah, FL
Advocate
Hello! I look forward to helping families and their students get the crucial support they need. I have varied experience working with families and educators at the state and local levels.
These advocates are not based in Florida. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Kansas City, MO · works with Florida schools
Navigate Special Education with Clarity and Confidence - Guiding Families. Building Futures.
Dr. Diane is a special education advocate and founder of Steppingstone Services, LLC. She holds a Ph.D.
Virtual · based in Arlington Heights, IL · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate
I am a former special education teacher, with experience in public and therapeutic day schools.
Virtual · based in Hawthorne, NJ · works with Florida schools
IEP Consultant, School Social Worker, Advocacy
I am a Child Study Team School Social Worker, with a Master of Social Work from Fordham University. I have core competencies in special education law, mental health, and behavioral health.
335 public schools inside Aventura belong to Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Each one has its own case manager and its own backlog, and the answer you get about scheduling depends on which building your child attends.
Charter and magnet enrollment changes who owes the service. Ask which agency is responsible before the first meeting.
Confirm your child's district by address before contacting a school.
Federal law lets a state write its own evaluation deadline instead of using the national one. What Florida actually requires is 60 calendar days.
Ask the Aventura team for the evaluation report before the meeting, not at it, because nobody reads a long report accurately while the rest of the team waits.
Florida gives a school district 60 calendar days to finish an initial special education evaluation. A written request for an evaluation has to be answered inside 30 days. Missed deadlines are handled by the Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Certification programs exist and some advocates hold them. None of them is issued by the Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services, and none of them is required to sit in a Florida IEP meeting.
A certificate says nothing about Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Ask instead what the advocate has filed there and what came back.
Advocates are not attorneys. No advocate in Aventura can file a lawsuit for you or give you legal advice about the case.
Nobody can undo a meeting you already agreed to in writing. Read the page you are asked to sign before the room empties.
Rates and openings decide most of this. An advocate who cannot meet before your Aventura meeting date is the wrong hire, and the second-best advocate who is free this month usually beats the best one who is not.
Distance is a scheduling problem and not a legal one. Meetings run by video whenever the parent and the school both agree to it.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Aventura, Florida, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What is the hourly rate for a parent advocate?
Flat fees are common for a single meeting and hourly billing is common for everything else. Many advocates give a free first call. Nobody bills you through this site, so ask each person how they invoice.
Is an IEP advocate a type of lawyer?
Two different jobs. The advocate works the IEP process and the attorney works the legal one. If a hearing is already filed, you need the attorney.
Does Miami-Dade County Public Schools cover every Aventura address?
Most Aventura families work with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Charter and magnet enrollment can change which agency owes the service, so ask that question before the first meeting.
Does Aventura have a good special education program?
The state publishes a district report every year. In the latest one Miami-Dade County Public Schools met 41 of 64, and the link sits with the district facts on this page.
How long can a school take to test my child?
The rule here is 60 calendar days. It covers the evaluation only. Writing the plan after a child is found eligible is a separate step with its own timing.
Official Florida links for parents in Aventura.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Florida rules apply in Leesburg, Oviedo, Hallandale Beach, Panama City and the other cities listed here, or see every Florida advocate.
Print the current IEP and bring it to the first call. Every advocate on the Aventura list will ask for it.
Two questions sort most of this out. What would you do first with this file, and what does that cost.
