Special education and Section 504 advocates for Prince George's County Public Schools families in College Park.
1 based in Maryland · 3 virtual advocates who work with Maryland schools
Advocates get hired after a meeting goes badly, rarely before the first one, which is why most of them start by reading a file that already carries a year of history in it.
College Park 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 College Park team wrote two years ago that contradicts what it is saying now.
Note what changed at home. Teachers see one room for one hour and parents see the rest of the day.
No advocate in this directory lists College Park as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of Maryland, and each card names the city.
Based in Bowie, MD
Independent Education Consultant
I am a licensed school counselor with extensive experience supporting students with IEPs and 504 plans, providing academic and career counseling, and guiding families through critical educational…
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 San Diego, CA · works with Maryland 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.
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 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…
See all 19 virtual advocates who work with Maryland families
Prince George's County Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most College Park students, and its special education staff will be on the other side of the table when you walk in.
Parents in Annapolis face the same paperwork. Rules do not change from one town to the next inside a state.
Confirm your child's district by address before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
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.
Write down what you want the school to add, in one page, before you walk into the College Park meeting, because a team that reads your list in advance cannot pretend it never came up.
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 College Park IEP meetings an advocate sat in last year learns more than a certificate would show.
Check the references and not the letters after the name. Two calls to past clients settle it faster than any credential list.
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.
Prince George's 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 Maryland is not the same as taking College Park cases, so read the service area on each of the 1 in-state profiles before you write to anyone.
Experience with Prince George's County Public Schools matters more than the number of years printed on a profile page.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in College Park, Maryland, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in College Park, Maryland?
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.
Who runs special education for College Park schools?
Prince George's County Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most College Park students. District lines and city lines are not the same, so confirm yours by address before you send a letter.
What is the evaluation deadline in Maryland?
Maryland sets its own deadline and it is 60 days after parental consent and 90 days after the written referral. Federal law lets a state do that, so a timeline a parent reads on a national site may not be the one running here.
Are there free IEP advocates in College Park?
Every state has a federally funded Parent Training and Information Center that answers questions at no charge. Free help usually means general guidance rather than somebody sitting next to you in the meeting.
What is the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?
The short version. IEP means the school changes what is taught and how, and Section 504 means the school changes the conditions around it.
Official Maryland links for parents in College Park.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Maryland rules apply in Annapolis, Salisbury, Abingdon, Hagerstown and the other cities listed here, or see every Maryland advocate.
You are not limited to advocates inside College Park. The closest listed office is in Bowie, and distance matters less than whether that person has worked a case in your district.
Have the most recent Prince George's County Public Schools progress report open on the first call. It shows whether the goals moved at all.
