Advocates here work with Great Falls families and Great Falls 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.
The search usually starts the week a parent reads an evaluation report and cannot tell from it whether Great Falls schools are offering enough.
After the meeting the work is dull. The advocate reads the draft against the notes and sends a correction back the same week.
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 Leonardtown, MD · works with Montana schools
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…
Virtual · based in Hialeah, FL · works with Montana schools
Advocate
I look forward to helping families and their students get the crucial support they need. I have varied experience working with families and educators at the state and local levels.
Virtual · based in Inverness, IL · works with Montana schools
Special Education Advocate
I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University and a Master’s of Education from DePaul University, with a dual certification in elementary and…
Great Falls Public Schools takes most Great Falls 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 Bozeman face the same paperwork. Rules do not change from one town to the next inside a state.
Confirm your child's district by address. Great Falls addresses may fall in more than one public school district.
The deadline for finishing an initial evaluation in Montana is 60 calendar days. Put that date on your calendar the day the paperwork goes in.
Put the request in writing and date it. An email to the Great Falls school counts as 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.
Training varies, and so does what it proves. A parent who asks how many Great Falls 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.
No advocate can promise a placement or an outcome in Great Falls. Anyone who does is selling you something.
You sign, not the advocate. Consent and the plan itself both need a parent signature.
No advocate is listed in every city. A remote advocate who knows Montana rules is usually a better hire for Great Falls than a local one who does not.
Experience with Great Falls Public Schools matters more than the number of years printed on a profile page.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Great Falls, Montana, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Great Falls, Montana?
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.
What is the difference between an IEP advocate and a special education attorney?
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.
Who runs special education for Great Falls schools?
Most Great Falls families work with Great Falls Public Schools. Charter and magnet enrollment can change which agency owes the service, so ask that question before the first meeting.
What is the evaluation deadline in Montana?
Montana sets its own deadline and it is 60 calendar 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.
Where does a written special education complaint go?
The Montana Office of Public Instruction takes written complaints from parents about missed deadlines and services never delivered. An advocate can prepare one. The advocate does not decide it and cannot make the district settle.
Official Montana links for parents in Great Falls.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Montana rules apply in Bozeman, Missoula, Billings, Butte and the other cities listed here, or see every Montana advocate.
Print the current IEP and bring it to the first call. Every advocate on the Great Falls list will ask for it.
Free calls are common. Use them to compare people, not to collect advice for nothing.
