Advocates here work with Rochester families and Rochester City School District teams. Each profile lists a rate when the advocate shares one.
1 based in New York · 3 virtual advocates who work with New York schools
Advocates work for you, not for the school. That is the whole difference.
Rochester 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.
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.
No advocate in this directory lists Rochester as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of New York, and each card names the city.
Based in New York, NY
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…
These advocates are not based in New York. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Leesburg, FL · works with New York schools
CEO IEP Advocate Espanol
Evelyn Roman-Santos is a bilingual Special Education Advocate with 30 years of experience as a School Social Worker.
Virtual · based in Hawthorne, NJ · works with New York 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.
Virtual · based in San Antonio, TX · works with New York schools
FamilyADDventures.com
Nicole Santiago is a learning specialist and an advocate (IEP coach). She is a member of COPAA.org and ensures special education students receive the most appropriate educational services possible.
See all 25 virtual advocates who work with New York families
Rochester City School District met 55 of 65 state special education indicators in the most recent New York report.
A Syracuse 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. Rochester addresses may fall in more than one public school district.
The clock that matters starts when you sign consent. In New York it runs 60 calendar days.
If the Rochester team says no, ask for the refusal in writing.
New York gives a school district 60 calendar days to finish an initial special education evaluation. No New York 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 New York State Education Department, Office of Special Education, which takes written state complaints from parents.
The New York State Education Department oversees special education in New York. It does not license the advocates parents hire.
Membership in a professional body is not a licence. It usually means dues were paid and a code of conduct was signed.
No advocate can promise a placement or an outcome in Rochester. Anyone who does is selling you something.
You sign, not the advocate. Consent and the plan itself both need a parent signature.
Being listed for New York is not the same as taking Rochester cases, so read the service area on each of the 1 in-state profiles before you write to anyone.
Advocates who take Syracuse cases usually take these too. Say where you are in the first email so nobody wastes a week finding out.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Rochester, New York, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What do special education advocates charge in Rochester, New York?
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.
Do I need an advocate for a routine annual review?
Bring somebody in when the file stops making sense to you. A routine review with services in place and progress data that moves usually does not need one.
What is the difference between an IEP advocate and a special education attorney?
An advocate is not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice or file a lawsuit. What an advocate can do is build the written record a lawyer would need later.
Who runs special education for Rochester schools?
Rochester City School District runs the IEP meetings for most Rochester 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 New York?
The deadline in New York for finishing an initial evaluation is 60 calendar days. Put that date on your calendar the day you sign consent, because the district counts from the paperwork and not from the conversation.
Official New York links for parents in Rochester.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same New York rules apply in Syracuse, Yonkers, Albany, Buffalo and the other cities listed here, or see every New York advocate.
Send the same two questions to every advocate you contact in Rochester and Syracuse. Ask for the rate and for the first date they can meet.
Have the most recent Rochester City School District progress report open on the first call. It shows whether the goals moved at all.
