Compare Georgia advocates who can help you move from a concern to a documented evaluation request, a prepared IEP meeting, or a focused complaint when the process stalls.
4 based in Georgia · 8 virtual advocates who work with Georgia schools
Georgia generally requires an initial evaluation within 60 calendar days after parental consent, but its rule addresses long school breaks, summer periods, transfers, parent availability, and documented extenuating circumstances. A headline deadline without those details can be misleading.
An advocate can help calculate the timeline, identify missing assessment areas, and prepare the family for the eligibility and IEP decisions that follow.
Georgia special education language and agencies
These Georgia terms appear throughout SST, evaluation, eligibility, IEP, and dispute-resolution procedures.
Paperwork decides most cases. The advocate who has read every progress report in the file will find the line the district wrote two years ago that contradicts what it is saying now.
Families in Columbus ask for progress data as a table of dates and numbers rather than a paragraph, because a table shows whether a goal moved and a paragraph does not.
These advocates list Georgia as their home base. Compare rates, read their backgrounds, and message them directly.
By video
Join on Zoom, Google Meet, or the school's platform.
By phone
Call in when video is not an option.
In person
Some advocates travel to the school when needed.
Based in Flowery Branch, GA
Special education advocate/ IEP consultant
I am a certified special education teacher and I am also a behavior specialist. I am also a mother to a child with Behavioral issues on an IEP, and another child with a 504.
Based in Atlanta, GA
Special Education Advocate
My name is Jalani Traxler and I have loved teaching sense I myself was a student with an IEP receiving my own accommodations in elementary school.
Based in Atlanta, GA
School Psychologist & Parent Advocate
I’m a certified School Psychologist, Parent Advocate, and Coach dedicated to helping families navigate special education with confidence.
Based in Cumming, GA
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.
These advocates are not based in Georgia. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Midland, TX · works with Georgia schools
Special Education Advocate
Kate Keenan is a special education advocate serving families in Midland, TX.
Virtual · based in Katy, TX · works with Georgia schools
Special Education Advocate
Besides being a parent of a neurodivergent son, I have been a special education teacher, diagnostician, and advocate for the past 30 years. I am a true hands-on, walk in your shoes type of advocate.
Virtual · based in Arlington Heights, IL · works with Georgia schools
Special Education Advocate
I am a former special education teacher, with experience in public and therapeutic day schools.
Virtual · based in New York, NY · works with Georgia 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 Hawthorne, NJ · works with Georgia 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.
Virtual · based in San Antonio, TX · works with Georgia 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 Los Angeles, CA · works with Georgia schools
Strategic Special Education Advocate
I combine the precision of a Columbia Law attorney with over a decade of special education leadership to help Los Angeles families navigate the IEP process with clarity, confidence, and results.
Virtual · based in San Diego, CA · works with Georgia schools
Special Education Advocate
At the Sanford Autism Advocacy Group (SAAG), we are a small but mighty special education consulting group with an emphasis on Autism and IEPs.
Georgia’s initial evaluation clock generally runs for 60 calendar days after the district receives parental consent. The rule excludes specified holiday and summer periods and recognizes limited exceptions.
State the areas of concern and why the student may need special education and related services. Intervention data can inform the evaluation, but intervention cannot be used to deny or indefinitely delay evaluation when disability is suspected.
The evaluation must address all suspected areas and use multiple sources rather than a single score or measure.
Use the date the district received written parental consent and then apply Georgia’s break and exception rules rather than assuming every calendar day counts.
The team should use the evaluation to decide both disability eligibility and the need for specially designed instruction, then develop an individualized IEP when the student qualifies.
Exceptions and extensions
Georgia formal complaints are investigated by GaDOE. The state rule includes a one-year filing window, simultaneous service on the district, a district response period, and a 60-calendar-day state decision timeline.
Decision timeline
GaDOE generally issues the complaint decision within 60 calendar days.
The deadline may be extended for exceptional circumstances or when the parties agree to extend it to participate in mediation or another dispute-resolution process.
Attorneys are licensed. Advocates in Georgia are not, and the difference matters most when a case gets close to a hearing and the district starts talking to its own lawyer.
No district can approve or bar an advocate. Federal rules let a parent bring anyone with knowledge of the child to the meeting.
An advocate cannot make a district agree. What moves a district is the record you build, and a good advocate spends more hours on the record than in the room.
Districts in Atlanta and Columbus answer to the parent on the paperwork, so an advocate can draft the letter and you still have to be the one who sends it.
A state complaint is one path. Mediation, facilitation, due process, OCR, and local escalation each solve a different problem.
4 advocates on this page are based in Georgia. The others work with families here by video.
Distance is a scheduling problem and not a legal one. Meetings run by video whenever the parent and the school both agree to it.
Federal rules put no distance requirement on who a parent may bring. Your advocate does not have to live in Georgia.
Ask how the meeting will run before you hire. A school that has never held a video IEP will need lead time.
How it works
Find Parent Advocates is a free directory, not a referral service. You browse profiles, compare rates and reviews, and contact the advocate you choose. We do not assign anyone to you.
Browse
Browse by city or take the statewide list. The rules are the same either way.
Contact
Write to two people rather than six. The first email should carry the district and the meeting date.
Hire
Approve the hours in advance. Most advocates will not bill past an agreed number without asking.
Work together
Keep the timeline updated as things happen. It is the document every later step is built from.
Find Parent Advocates is not a party to your contractual relationship with the advocate. We are not responsible for the fees or services provided.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Georgia, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
Can Georgia require MTSS before evaluating my child?
Georgia schools may use interventions, but intervention cannot be used to deny or improperly delay an evaluation when a disability and need for special education are suspected.
Are all 60 calendar days counted in Georgia?
No. Georgia excludes specified long holiday periods and has additional summer, transfer, parent-availability, and extenuating-circumstance provisions.
How quickly does a Georgia district respond to a formal complaint?
Georgia’s complaint rule generally gives the LEA 10 business days to submit its response to GaDOE.
Can an advocate help without filing a complaint?
Yes. Advocates often help with records, written requests, IEP preparation, facilitation, and negotiation before a formal complaint becomes necessary.
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.
When should I hire a special education advocate in Georgia?
Most parents call after a school says no to testing, after goals repeat unchanged for a year, or a week before an annual review. Earlier is cheaper. An advocate hired the night before a meeting can only read so much.
These links connect you to your state education agency and complaint options. Advocates on this page can also explain what each step means for your child.
Last reviewed 2026-08-02.
