Special education and Section 504 advocates for Baltimore City Public Schools families in Baltimore.
1 based in Maryland · 3 virtual advocates who work with Maryland schools
Advocates work for you, not for the school. That is the whole difference.
The search usually starts the week a parent reads an evaluation report and cannot tell from it whether Baltimore schools are offering enough.
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 Baltimore 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 Baltimore as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Maryland, and each card names the city.
Based in Leonardtown, MD
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…
These advocates are not based in Maryland. 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 Maryland 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 Los Angeles, CA · works with Maryland 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 Arlington Heights, IL · works with Maryland schools
Special Education Advocate
I am a former special education teacher, with experience in public and therapeutic day schools.
See all 24 virtual advocates who work with Maryland families
109 public schools inside Baltimore belong to Baltimore City 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 Columbia 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. Baltimore addresses may fall in more than one public school district.
Federal law lets a state write its own evaluation deadline instead of using the national one. What Maryland actually requires is 60 days after parental consent and 90 days after the written referral.
If the Baltimore team says no, ask for the refusal in writing.
Maryland gives a school district 60 days after parental consent and 90 days after the written referral to finish an initial special education evaluation. No Maryland rule sets a separate deadline for answering a written request, so the federal reasonable-time standard is what applies. Missed deadlines are handled by the Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Special Education, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Training varies, and so does what it proves. A parent who asks how many Baltimore 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.
Baltimore City 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 Maryland rules is usually a better hire for Baltimore than a local one who does not.
Ask whether the advocate has sat in a Baltimore City 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 Baltimore, Maryland, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
How much should I budget for one IEP meeting?
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.
What district will be at my IEP meeting in Baltimore?
Most of the city sits inside Baltimore City Public Schools. The district writes the plan and holds the special education budget, which is why a complaint about a missed service names the district and not the school.
How many days does an initial evaluation take?
The rule here is 60 days after parental consent and 90 days after the written referral. It covers the evaluation only. Writing the plan after a child is found eligible is a separate step with its own timing.
What is the fastest way to see the school file?
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.
How do I file a state special education complaint in Maryland?
Three routes stay open when you disagree. Mediation is voluntary for both sides, a written state complaint is decided on the record by the Maryland State Department of Education, and a due process hearing takes evidence.
Official Maryland links for parents in Baltimore.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Maryland rules apply in Columbia, Germantown, Frederick, Waldorf and the other cities listed here, or see every Maryland advocate.
You are not limited to advocates inside Baltimore. The closest listed office is in Leonardtown, and distance matters less than whether that person has worked a case in your district.
Have the most recent Baltimore City Public Schools progress report open on the first call. It shows whether the goals moved at all.
