Special education and Section 504 advocates for Dearborn City School District families in Dearborn.
3 virtual advocates who work with Michigan schools
Advocates work for you, not for the school. That is the whole difference.
Families in Dearborn and Lansing run into the same problem. The school says the current plan is working, and the progress report shows the same goal repeated from last year with the same numbers under it.
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 Dearborn 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.
These advocates are not based in Michigan. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Wesley Chapel, FL · works with Michigan schools
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.
Virtual · based in Cumming, GA · works with Michigan schools
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.
Virtual · based in Los Angeles, CA · works with Michigan 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.
See all 25 virtual advocates who work with Michigan families
Dearborn City School District runs the IEP meetings for most Dearborn students, and its special education staff will be on the other side of the table when you walk in.
A Lansing parent group can tell you how the same district handled a case like yours, which is worth more to read than a policy page.
Confirm your child's district by address before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
Once you sign consent for testing, a Michigan district has 30 school days to finish an initial evaluation, and that clock does not stop because a case manager is out or the file went to the wrong building.
Put the request in writing and date it. An email to the Dearborn school counts as writing.
Michigan gives a school district 30 school days to finish an initial special education evaluation. A written request for an evaluation has to be answered inside 10 school days. Missed deadlines are handled by the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education, which takes written state complaints from parents.
The Michigan Department of Education oversees special education in Michigan. It does not license the advocates parents hire.
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.
No advocate can promise a placement or an outcome in Dearborn. Anyone who does is selling you something.
You sign, not the advocate. Consent and the plan itself both need a parent signature.
Video is normal now. 25 of the advocates listed for Dearborn work with families by phone or video instead of driving to the school.
Experience with Dearborn City School District matters more than the number of years printed on a profile page.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Dearborn, Michigan, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Dearborn, Michigan?
Rates run $75 to $250 per hour. What moves the number is experience, the type of case, and whether anyone has to drive to the meeting. Profiles here show the rate when the advocate publishes one.
Who runs special education for Dearborn schools?
Most of the city sits inside Dearborn City School District. 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.
What is the evaluation deadline in Michigan?
Michigan sets its own deadline and it is 30 school days. Federal law lets a state do that, so a timeline a parent reads on a national site may not be the one running here.
Can I bring an advocate to a Section 504 meeting?
Yes, and the rules differ slightly. Section 504 does not spell out who may attend the way IDEA does, so ask the school in writing before the meeting and keep the answer.
Are there free IEP advocates in Dearborn?
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.
Official Michigan links for parents in Dearborn.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Michigan rules apply in Lansing, Livonia, Ann Arbor, Troy and the other cities listed here, or see every Michigan advocate.
Search is free. You contact advocates directly.
Keep a one-page timeline of what happened and when. Every advocate you talk to will start by building the same thing.
