Special education and Section 504 advocates for DeKalb County Public Schools families in Decatur.
4 based in Georgia · 3 virtual advocates who work with Georgia schools
Hiring one is optional. Nothing in federal law requires a parent to bring an advocate to an IEP meeting.
Decatur 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 Decatur team ever sits down.
Request the full file in writing before you hire anyone. Schools have to give parents the education records they keep.
No advocate in this directory lists Decatur as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Georgia, and each card names the city.
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
Russell Lloyd is a special education advocate serving families in Cumming, GA.
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 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 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.
DeKalb County Public Schools takes most Decatur addresses, but not all of them. Check yours before you send a letter, because a request that lands in the wrong district office does not start the evaluation clock at all.
Parents in Sugar Hill face the same paperwork. Rules do not change from one town to the next inside a state.
Confirm your child's district by address. Decatur addresses may fall in more than one public school district.
No Georgia deadline applies to a written evaluation request. Federal rules still require a response within a reasonable time.
Write down what you want the school to add, in one page, before you walk into the Decatur meeting, because a team that reads your list in advance cannot pretend it never came up.
Georgia gives a school district 60 calendar days to finish an initial special education evaluation. No Georgia rule sets a separate deadline for answering a written request, so the federal reasonable-time standard is what applies. Georgia Department of Education, Division for Exceptional Children oversees special education in the state.
Training varies, and so does what it proves. A parent who asks how many Decatur IEP meetings an advocate sat in last year learns more than a certificate would show.
Ask what training the advocate actually finished and who ran it. A one-day webinar and a two-year program both end in a certificate.
Advocates do not decide complaints. The Georgia Department of Education does, and only after someone files one in writing.
DeKalb 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 Georgia is not the same as taking Decatur cases, so read the service area on each of the 4 in-state profiles before you write to anyone.
Ask whether the advocate has sat in a DeKalb 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 Decatur, Georgia, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Decatur, Georgia?
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.
Who runs special education for Decatur schools?
Most Decatur families work with DeKalb County Public Schools. Charter and magnet enrollment can change which agency owes the service, so ask that question before the first meeting.
Are there free IEP advocates in Decatur?
No public program assigns you a private advocate. The links under official resources on this page go to the state agency and to the complaint process, and both cost nothing to use.
What should a records request say?
Ask in writing and address it to the district rather than the front office. Schools have to let parents inspect the education records they keep, and inspection has to happen before the next IEP meeting.
What is the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?
An IEP is the stronger document because it carries goals, service minutes and progress reporting. Section 504 plans are faster to write and easier for a district to agree to.
Official Georgia links for parents in Decatur.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Georgia rules apply in Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Lawrenceville, Winder and the other cities listed here, or see every Georgia advocate.
You are not limited to advocates inside Decatur. The closest listed office is in Flowery Branch, and distance matters less than whether that person has worked a case in your district.
Free calls are common. Use them to compare people, not to collect advice for nothing.
