Miami-Dade County Public Schools staff run the IEP meetings in Miami Lakes. These advocates sit on your side of the table.
3 based in Florida · 3 virtual advocates who work with Florida schools
Advocates work for you, not for the school. That is the whole difference.
Families in Miami Lakes and Land O' Lakes 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 Miami Lakes team wrote two years ago that contradicts what it is saying now.
Read the evaluation report twice. The second read is where the missing service usually shows up.
No advocate in this directory lists Miami Lakes 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 Cumming, GA · works with Florida schools
Founder
I’m Russell Lloyd, founder of YourChild.org, author, mentor, and special education advocate. I review the record, find the gaps, build the strategy, prepare the parent, and lead IEP meetings.
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.
Virtual · based in Newcastle, OK · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate - IEP Consultant
Former special education teacher and educational advocate with experience on both sides of the IEP table.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most Miami Lakes students, and its special education staff will be on the other side of the table when you walk in.
A Land O' Lakes parent group can tell you how the same district handled a case like yours, which is worth more to read than a policy page.
Confirm your child's district by address before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
A written request for an evaluation starts a second clock in Florida, and the district has to answer inside 30 days.
If the Miami Lakes team says no, ask for the refusal in writing.
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.
Training varies, and so does what it proves. A parent who asks how many Miami Lakes IEP meetings an advocate sat in last year learns more than a certificate would show.
Check the references and not the letters after the name. Two calls to past clients settle it faster than any credential list.
Advocates charge for this. At $75 to $150 per hour, a standard IEP cycle with two hours of prep and two hours in the meeting runs about $400, and that money does not come back if the answer is still no.
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 Miami Lakes 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 Miami Lakes, Florida, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Miami Lakes, Florida?
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.
Do I need an advocate for a routine annual review?
Bring somebody in when the file stops making sense to you. A routine review with services in place and progress data that moves usually does not need one.
Can we work with an advocate who lives outside Florida?
Yes, with one condition. The school has to agree to the meeting format, so put the request in writing before the date is set.
Who runs special education for Miami Lakes schools?
Most Miami Lakes 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.
Can I bring an advocate to a Section 504 meeting?
Yes. Section 504 work looks the same as IEP work, which is records, a written request and somebody in the room who knows what the school already agreed to.
Official Florida links for parents in Miami Lakes.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Florida rules apply in Land O' Lakes, Winter Park, Panama City, Temple Terrace and the other cities listed here, or see every Florida advocate.
You are not limited to advocates inside Miami Lakes. The closest listed office is in Leesburg, and distance matters less than whether that person has worked a case in your district.
Have the most recent Miami-Dade County Public Schools progress report open on the first call. It shows whether the goals moved at all.
