Advocates here work with Palm Beach Gardens families and Palm Beach 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
An IEP advocate goes to school meetings with you and argues for services your child is not getting.
Parents in Palm Beach Gardens usually start looking for an advocate when a meeting is already on the calendar.
Before the meeting an advocate reads the current IEP against the evaluation reports, pulls the progress data to see whether the goals are actually being met, writes your concerns into one page, and sends it to the team in advance.
Palm Beach 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 Palm Beach Gardens 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
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 Oscoda, MI · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate | Certified Neurodiversity Coach | Certified Neuropsychology Coach
Michelle Velazquez is a Special Education Advocate, Educational Consultant, Master IEP Coach®, and Certified Neurodiversity and Neuropsychology Coach.
Virtual · based in Leonardtown, MD · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate
Douglas Hubscher is the Founder and President of Kids Are First, LLC, a special education advocacy firm dedicated to helping families navigate the IEP and 504 process with confidence, clarity, and…
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.
Palm Beach County Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most Palm Beach Gardens students, and its special education staff will be on the other side of the table when you walk in.
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.
A written request for an evaluation starts a second clock in Florida, and the district has to answer inside 30 days.
Ask the Palm Beach Gardens 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.
Florida does not license or certify special education advocates. Anyone in Palm Beach Gardens can print a card with the word advocate on it.
Advocates who work Apopka and here see the same state rules twice a week. Repetition inside one state is the practice worth paying for.
Hiring an advocate does not pause a deadline or undo a meeting that already happened. The work starts from wherever the Palm Beach Gardens file sits today.
Palm Beach County Public Schools answers to the parent on the paperwork, so an advocate can draft the letter and you still have to be the one who sends it.
Video is normal now. 28 of the advocates listed for Palm Beach Gardens 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 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What is the hourly rate for a parent advocate?
Most advocates on this directory charge $75 to $150 per hour. A standard cycle with two hours of prep and two hours in the meeting runs about $400. Travel and extra meetings cost more.
Is an IEP advocate a type of lawyer?
An advocate is not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice or file a lawsuit. What an advocate can do is build the written record a lawyer would need later.
Does Palm Beach County Public Schools cover every Palm Beach Gardens address?
Palm Beach County Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most Palm Beach Gardens students. District lines and city lines are not the same, so confirm yours by address before you send a letter.
Does Palm Beach Gardens have a good special education program?
Palm Beach County Public Schools met 48 of 65 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 should I have ready before the first call with an advocate?
Bring the current IEP or 504 plan, the most recent evaluation report, the last two progress reports and any email where the school said no. An advocate who has those before the call can tell you what is missing in ten minutes.
Official Florida links for parents in Palm Beach Gardens.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Florida rules apply in Apopka, Wesley Chapel, North Miami, Sanford 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 Palm Beach Gardens 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 Palm Beach County Public Schools in the first message. That is enough for an advocate to know whether they can take the case.
