Advocates here work with Billings families and Billings Public Schools teams. Each profile lists a rate when the advocate shares one.
3 virtual advocates who work with Montana 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.
Billings 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 Billings team ever sits down.
Note what changed at home. Teachers see one room for one hour and parents see the rest of the day.
These advocates are not based in Montana. 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 Montana 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 Atlanta, GA · works with Montana schools
School Psychologist & Parent Advocate
I’m a certified School Psychologist, Parent Advocate, and Coach dedicated to helping families navigate special education with confidence.
Virtual · based in Hawthorne, NJ · works with Montana 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.
28 public schools inside Billings belong to Billings 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.
A Missoula 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. Billings 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 Montana actually requires is 60 calendar days.
If the Billings team says no, ask for the refusal in writing.
Montana gives a school district 60 calendar days to finish an initial special education evaluation. No Montana 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 Montana Office of Public Instruction, Special Education, which takes written state complaints from parents.
The Montana Office of Public Instruction oversees special education in Montana. It does not license the advocates parents hire.
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.
Advocates who have never seen the file cannot tell you what is missing from it. Send the records first and book the call second.
Rates and openings decide most of this. An advocate who cannot meet before your Billings meeting date is the wrong hire, and the second-best advocate who is free this month usually beats the best one who is not.
Ask whether the advocate has sat in a Billings 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 Billings, Montana, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
How much should I budget for one IEP meeting?
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.
Can an advocate represent me at a due process hearing in Montana?
Two different jobs. The advocate works the IEP process and the attorney works the legal one. If a hearing is already filed, you need the attorney.
Is remote IEP advocacy allowed?
Yes, with one condition. The school has to agree to the meeting format, so put the request in writing before the date is set.
What district will be at my IEP meeting in Billings?
Billings Public Schools runs the IEP meetings for most Billings students. District lines and city lines are not the same, so confirm yours by address before you send a letter.
Is a 504 plan weaker than an IEP?
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 Montana links for parents in Billings.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Montana rules apply in Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Butte and the other cities listed here, or see every Montana advocate.
Start with two calls, not six. Ask each advocate what they would do first with a Billings file, and hire the one whose answer is specific enough that you could write it down as a task.
Free calls are common. Use them to compare people, not to collect advice for nothing.
