Palm Beach County Public Schools staff run the IEP meetings in West Palm Beach. 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.
West Palm Beach 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.
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 West Palm Beach 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 West Palm 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 New York, NY · works with Florida schools
Special Education Advocate
Clara Liriano, M.S., is a Special Education Advocate and New York State Certified Special Education Teacher with more than 20 years of experience supporting children and individuals with…
Virtual · based in Austin, TX · works with Florida schools
Experienced Special Education Advocate & Former District Administrator
Chelsea Venegas, M.Ed., is a special education advocate with experience as a special education teacher, school administrator, district-level special education leader, and advocate within a special…
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.
33 public schools inside West Palm Beach belong to Palm Beach 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.
Families who move between Coral Springs 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.
The deadline for finishing an initial evaluation in Florida is 60 calendar days. Put that date on your calendar the day the paperwork goes in.
Put the request in writing and date it. An email to the West Palm Beach school counts as 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.
No state license exists for special education advocacy. No federal agency issues one either, and no exam stands between a person and the title.
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.
You sign, not the advocate. Consent and the plan itself both need a parent signature.
Being listed for Florida is not the same as taking West Palm Beach cases, so read the service area on each of the 3 in-state profiles before you write to anyone.
Advocates who take Coral Springs cases usually take these too. Say where you are in the first email so nobody wastes a week finding out.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in West Palm Beach, Florida, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in West Palm Beach, 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.
What is the difference between an IEP advocate and a special education attorney?
Two different jobs. The advocate works the IEP process and the attorney works the legal one. If a hearing is already filed, you need the attorney.
Who runs special education for West Palm Beach schools?
Most West Palm Beach families work with Palm Beach County Public Schools. Charter and magnet enrollment can change which agency owes the service, so ask that question before the first meeting.
How is Palm Beach County Public Schools doing on special education?
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 is the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?
An IEP provides specialized instruction and related services under IDEA. A 504 plan provides accommodations under a civil rights law and does not require specialized instruction. Eligibility rules differ, so a child can qualify for one and not the other.
Official Florida links for parents in West Palm Beach.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Florida rules apply in Coral Springs, Lakeland, Clearwater, Miramar and the other cities listed here, or see every Florida advocate.
You are not limited to advocates inside West Palm Beach. The closest listed office is in Hialeah, and distance matters less than whether that person has worked a case in your district.
Keep a one-page timeline of what happened and when. Every advocate you talk to will start by building the same thing.
