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.
Miami Lakes parents tend to call at one of two moments. The first is before an initial evaluation and the second is after a service quietly disappears from the plan.
The meeting itself is the smallest part of the job. Nearly all the hours go into records and email before the Miami Lakes team ever sits down.
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 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 Austin, TX · works with Florida schools
Educational Advocate
Chelsea Venegas is a special education advocate serving families in Austin, TX.
4 public schools inside Miami Lakes 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.
Parents in Land O' Lakes face the same paperwork. Rules do not change from one town to the next inside a state.
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.
Write down what you want the school to add, in one page, before you walk into the Miami Lakes 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.
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.
Membership in a professional body is not a licence. It usually means dues were paid and a code of conduct was signed.
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.
No advocate is listed in every city. A remote advocate who knows Florida rules is usually a better hire for Miami Lakes than a local one who does not.
Experience with Miami-Dade County Public Schools matters more than the number of years printed on a profile page.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Miami Lakes, Florida, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
How much should I budget for one IEP meeting?
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.
Is it too late to bring in an advocate?
No fixed trigger exists. The useful test is whether you can tell from the paperwork what the school is actually offering, and whether the last thing you asked for came back in writing.
What district will be at my IEP meeting in Miami Lakes?
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.
How many advocates on this page are based in Florida?
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.
Does the state provide a free advocate?
Free guidance exists. Parent centers, disability rights agencies and local parent groups all give it, and none of them will attend the meeting as your representative.
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.
Send the same two questions to every advocate you contact in Miami Lakes and Land O' Lakes. Ask for the rate and for the first date they can meet.
Keep a one-page timeline of what happened and when. Every advocate you talk to will start by building the same thing.
