Special education and Section 504 advocates for Memphis-Shelby County Schools families in Memphis.
3 virtual advocates who work with Tennessee schools
An advocate is a paid professional who reads the evaluation reports, drafts your concerns, sits beside you at the IEP table, and follows up on whatever the school agreed to do.
Memphis is the 2nd-largest city in Tennessee. Size has nothing to do with how well a district runs its IEP meetings, and a small district with one experienced case manager often does better than a large one.
During a Memphis IEP meeting an advocate writes down what the team agrees to and asks for it in the document before anyone leaves the room.
Records live with Memphis-Shelby County Schools, not with the front office of one building, and a request addressed to the district gets a faster answer than one that is not.
These advocates are not based in Tennessee. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Cumming, GA · works with Tennessee schools
Founder
I raised three children with special needs, so I know what it’s like to sit in an IEP meeting and feel like no one is listening.
Virtual · based in New York, NY · works with Tennessee 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 Inverness, IL · works with Tennessee 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…
See all 31 virtual advocates who work with Tennessee families
136 public schools inside Memphis belong to Memphis-Shelby County 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.
District lines and city lines are not the same thing. A street can sit inside one city and be zoned to the district next door.
Confirm your child's district by address before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
The clock that matters starts when you sign consent. In Tennessee it runs 60 calendar days.
Ask the Memphis team for the evaluation report before the meeting, not at it, because nobody reads a long report accurately while the rest of the team waits.
Tennessee gives a school district 60 calendar days to finish an initial special education evaluation. No Tennessee 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 Tennessee Department of Education, Division of Special Education and Student Supports, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Tennessee does not license or certify special education advocates. Anyone in Memphis can print a card with the word advocate on it.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools does not approve or bar advocates. Federal rules let a parent bring anyone with knowledge of the child to the meeting.
Hiring an advocate does not pause a deadline or undo a meeting that already happened. The work starts from wherever the Memphis file sits today.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools answers to the parent on the paperwork, so an advocate can draft the letter and you still have to be the one who sends it.
No advocate is listed in every city. A remote advocate who knows Tennessee rules is usually a better hire for Memphis than a local one who does not.
Read a profile for what the advocate actually did, not for what the profile claims. Case detail is the tell.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Memphis, Tennessee, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
What is the hourly rate for a parent advocate?
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.
When should I hire a special education advocate in Memphis?
No fixed trigger exists. The useful test is whether you can tell from the paperwork what the school is actually offering, and whether the last thing you asked for came back in writing.
Does Memphis-Shelby County Schools cover every Memphis address?
Memphis-Shelby County Schools runs the IEP meetings for most Memphis students. District lines and city lines are not the same, so confirm yours by address before you send a letter.
How long can a school take to test my child?
Tennessee 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.
What can I do if I cannot afford an advocate?
Free guidance exists. Parent centers, disability rights agencies and local parent groups all give it, and none of them will attend the meeting as your representative.
Official Tennessee links for parents in Memphis.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same Tennessee rules apply in Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Clarksville and the other cities listed here, or see every Tennessee advocate.
Print the current IEP and bring it to the first call. Every advocate on the Memphis list will ask for it.
Say the name of your school and Memphis-Shelby County Schools in the first message. That is enough for an advocate to know whether they can take the case.
