Miami-Dade County Public Schools staff run the IEP meetings in Miami Beach. These advocates sit on your side of the table.
3 based in Florida · 3 virtual advocates who work with Florida schools
An IEP advocate goes to school meetings with you and argues for services your child is not getting.
Parents in Miami Beach usually start looking for an advocate when a meeting is already on the calendar.
During a Miami Beach IEP meeting an advocate writes down what the team agrees to and asks for it in the document before anyone leaves the room.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools keeps progress data on every goal in the plan. Ask for it as a table of dates and numbers rather than a paragraph.
No advocate in this directory lists Miami Beach 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 San Antonio, TX · works with Florida schools
FamilyADDventures.com
Nicole Santiago is a learning specialist and an advocate (IEP coach). She is a member of COPAA.org and ensures special education students receive the most appropriate educational services possible.
Virtual · based in Coraopolis, PA · works with Florida schools
Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Special Education Advocate
Hi there! I'm Brittany, owner and founder of Balanced Behaviors, LLC. I'm a Behavior Analyst and Licensed Behavior Specialist in Pennsylvania with a Master’s in Special Education from Slippery Rock…
Virtual · based in Lamar, CO · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate
I’ve been a science teacher, a Director of Financial Aid, and a Dean of Students at a rural community college — always at the table with students and families navigating systems not built for them.
6 public schools inside Miami Beach 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.
District lines and city lines are not the same thing. A street can sit inside one city and be zoned to the district next door.
Confirm your child's district by address before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
Federal law lets a state write its own evaluation deadline instead of using the national one. What Florida actually requires is 60 calendar days.
Keep every email. Most of what an advocate does with a Miami Beach file is date-stamping what the school already told you.
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.
Florida does not license or certify special education advocates. Anyone in Miami Beach can print a card with the word advocate on it.
A certificate says nothing about Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Ask instead what the advocate has filed there and what came back.
Hiring an advocate does not pause a deadline or undo a meeting that already happened. The work starts from wherever the Miami Beach file sits today.
Nobody can undo a meeting you already agreed to in writing. Read the page you are asked to sign before the room empties.
Video is normal now. 23 of the advocates listed for Miami Beach work with families by phone or video instead of driving to the school.
Ask for two references from cases like yours. Somebody who cannot produce one has not worked many.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Miami Beach, 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.
Does Miami-Dade County Public Schools cover every Miami Beach address?
Most Miami Beach 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 Miami Beach have a good special education program?
Miami-Dade County Public Schools met 41 of 64 state special education indicators in the most recent report. Indicators measure compliance and outcomes across a whole district and say nothing about one classroom.
What can I do if I cannot afford an advocate?
Every state has a federally funded Parent Training and Information Center that answers questions at no charge. Free help usually means general guidance rather than somebody sitting next to you in the meeting.
How do I get my child school records?
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 Miami Beach.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Florida rules apply in Doral, Kendall, Kissimmee, Weston and the other cities listed here, or see every Florida advocate.
Start with two calls, not six. Ask each advocate what they would do first with a Miami Beach file, and hire the one whose answer is specific enough that you could write it down as a task.
Say the name of your school and Miami-Dade County Public Schools in the first message. That is enough for an advocate to know whether they can take the case.
