Advocates here work with Coral Gables 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
Advocates get hired after a meeting goes badly, rarely before the first one, which is why most of them start by reading a file that already carries a year of history in it.
Families in Coral Gables and Cutler Bay run into the same problem. The school says the current plan is working, and the progress report shows the same goal repeated from last year with the same numbers under it.
Paperwork is where cases are won or lost, and an advocate who has read every progress report in the file will find the sentence a Coral Gables team wrote two years ago that contradicts what it is saying now.
Note what changed at home. Teachers see one room for one hour and parents see the rest of the day.
No advocate in this directory lists Coral Gables 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 Inverness, IL · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate
I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University and a Master’s of Education from DePaul University, with a dual certification in elementary and…
Virtual · based in Austin, TX · works with Florida schools
Educational Advocate
Chelsea Venegas is a special education advocate serving families in Austin, TX.
Virtual · based in Harrisburg, PA · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate
I’m a special education teacher with experience supporting students with behavioral, intellectual, and learning needs.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most Coral Gables students, and its special education staff will be on the other side of the table when you walk in.
Families who move between Cutler Bay and here change districts, and the new team is not required to keep the old plan word for word.
Confirm your child's district by address before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
Once you sign consent for testing, a Florida district has 60 calendar days to finish an initial evaluation, and that clock does not stop because a case manager is out or the file went to the wrong building.
Write down what you want the school to add, in one page, before you walk into the Coral Gables meeting, because a team that reads your list in advance cannot pretend it never came up.
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.
The Florida Department of Education oversees special education in Florida. It does not license the advocates parents hire.
Check the references and not the letters after the name. Two calls to past clients settle it faster than any credential list.
No advocate can promise a placement or an outcome in Coral Gables. Anyone who does is selling you something.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools is allowed to say no. What it is not allowed to do is say no without written notice that explains the reason.
Being listed for Florida is not the same as taking Coral Gables cases, so read the service area on each of the 3 in-state profiles before you write to anyone.
Ask whether the advocate has sat in a Miami-Dade County Public Schools meeting before. The answer is a yes or a no and it tells you a great deal.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Coral Gables, Florida, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Coral Gables, Florida?
Rates run $75 to $250 per hour. What moves the number is experience, the type of case, and whether anyone has to drive to the meeting. Profiles here show the rate when the advocate publishes one.
Who runs special education for Coral Gables schools?
Miami-Dade County Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most Coral Gables students. District lines and city lines are not the same, so confirm yours by address before you send a letter.
Do I have to use an advocate from my own town?
Every card on this page names the city the advocate works from. Advocates listed under the virtual heading live somewhere else and work with families here by video or phone.
Can I bring an advocate to a Section 504 meeting?
Yes, and the rules differ slightly. Section 504 does not spell out who may attend the way IDEA does, so ask the school in writing before the meeting and keep the answer.
What should a records request say?
Ask for the full file, which means every evaluation, the progress data behind each goal and any email where the school said no. Put it in writing and keep the date.
Official Florida links for parents in Coral Gables.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Florida rules apply in Cutler Bay, Pensacola, North Miami Beach, Sarasota and the other cities listed here, or see every Florida advocate.
Send the same two questions to every advocate you contact in Coral Gables and Cutler Bay. Ask for the rate and for the first date they can meet.
Have the most recent Miami-Dade County Public Schools progress report open on the first call. It shows whether the goals moved at all.
