What Does a Special Education Advocate Do?
Not every special education dispute needs a lawyer, although that seems to be the norm in New York City. Long before a case gets anywhere near a hearing, most families need something more basic: someone who knows the NYC DOE system, sits beside them at the IEP meeting, and helps them ask for what their child is entitled to by law.
That's what a special education advocate does. And for a lot of families, it's the first call that should be made. (You'll also see this role called a special ed advocate or a special needs advocate — same job, different lingo.)
We asked Jenn Choi, a longtime NYC parent advocate, how she'd describe her job. “It’s the outsourcing of advocacy." Parents are already stretched thin — working, managing a household, managing everything else their child needs. And teaching yourself special education law from scratch is exhausting. In short, a parent advocate is like a mountain sherpa. That feels like an appropriate metaphor.
Sometimes (some would say mostly) families need an advocate because the special ed system is failing. Attorney Miriam Nunberg, who worked in the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights before going into private practice, and is now a parent advocate, is clear about it: "New York City is, as far as I'm concerned, a walking 504 violation."
She's seen cases where a single staff member — in one instance, she says, a gym teacher or foreign language teacher — was left to unilaterally deny or grant 504 accommodations, with no team, no medical consultation, no real process at all.
Continuing that sherpa metaphor, most parents arrive at the special ed mountain in one of two states, Jenn says: "I think I have a problem, but I don't know how to identify it," or "I think my child isn’t getting what they need, and I don't know what to do."
Said Sarah Birnbaum: “Call me when you are feeling overwhelmed, when you have too many choices to make, when you're not sure what to do next.”
Not all advocates do the same job. Not many file due process complaints — narrow, discrete enforcement actions. Most do a combination of coaching parents through IEP meetings, teaching them how to vet and hire evaluators and lawyers, and thinking through things like transition planning and OPWDD eligibility.
Below, in each advocate's entry notes: their focus (what they handle and who they serve), who they're the best fit for, why they got into this work, how long their free consult runs, and how they work.
A note on fees: most advocates and attorneys don't publish exact rates. Where we have fee information, we've presented it as a range rather than an exact figure.
Lighthouse has reached out to all of these advocates, and has spoken to/communicated with many of them. We hope to speak to all of them, so this list is fluid and will be updated as more information comes in.
Special Education Advocate vs. Special Education Lawyer: Which Do You Need?
The short version: an advocate helps you navigate the system; a lawyer represents you when the system needs to be forced to comply.
Most advocates on this list are clear about staying on their side of that line. Sarah Birnbaum doesn't represent families in due process and always refers out to an attorney. Atsuko Nakajima-Healy of Kodomo Support, stays in an interpretation and logistics role for families already working with a private-placement lawyer — "I try to stay in the lane of as an interpreter," she said, "so I don't confuse parents." Jenn Choi refers out to a lawyer for anything requiring litigation or years of retroactive compensatory services.
Miriam Nunberg represents the opposite case: a licensed attorney who deliberately doesn't litigate, working "upstream" of hearings by design. "I feel I can't do both," she said. "I can't be in court and also be trying to help other people prevent litigation." Her practice is built for one specific kind of family: "It's for those people who, if the DOE actually follows the requirements, this is a child who should be able to function in a public school setting."
Some non-attorney advocates cross further into hearing representation than most — Mindy Ross-Knaster and Tracie Smith both represent families directly at impartial hearings, and nonprofits like Families Helping Families NYC do the same.
If your situation is mainly about understanding paperwork, preparing for an IEP meeting, or figuring out next steps, an advocate is usually the right — and far less expensive — starting point. If a case is headed toward litigation, needs a due process complaint filed, or involves a contested tuition reimbursement fight, you'll want an advocate who specifically handles DPCs, or a special education attorney — see our [Special Education Lawyers in NYC] directory for that list.
Special Education Advocates in NYC: Directory
Inclusion here is not an endorsement. We recommend speaking with more than one advocate before hiring. Contact information can change — always verify current details.
NYC Advocates for IEP Meetings & Ongoing Support
Jenn Choi Advocates, LLC (Justine Keil, Carol Kim, and Jenn Choi) jennchoiadvocates.com | Phone: (917-432-4323)
Focus: IEP Process Support, School Avoidance Student Advocacy, Specialized Private to Mainstream Public School IEP Consultations, Twice-Exceptional IEP Challenges, Middle/High School Admission IEP Advisement, Kindergarten IEP Process (Turning 5) support. Supports transferral of cases when needed for legal representation including evidence organization. They do not file impartial hearings.
Best for: Families who want a full-service advocate to evaluate needs and seek solutions before deciding to hire evaluators and attorneys and/or to prepare for complicated IEP and other school meetings.
Why she does this: "No parent wants to be an advocate for their child," says Jenn Choi, JCA founder. "We want to be true partners in our children's education, but parents must first know their rights and the rules. The gaslighting is real, so we educate parents while actively advocating for their families."
Free consult: 30 minutes to share immediate insights and information. Paid consultation requiring records review is available. To request a consultation, email [email protected]
Structure: JCA speaks to parents to learn the student's needs, share a potential strategy and then offer an estimate based on their hourly fees.
Tara Fappiano tarafappiano.com
Focus: Mediation as an alternative to litigation. Westchester-based; broader service area not confirmed.
Sarah Birnbaum — NY Special Needs Support nyspecialneeds.com
Focus: Takes a family's evaluations and IEP and turns dense, jargon-heavy paperwork into plain language and a concrete next-step list. Does not represent families in due process — always refers out to a special education attorney.
Best for: Families at Turning Five, the EI-to-CPSE transition, or a placement that's starting to fail — the three points where families most often come to her. "You can absolutely do all of this on your own, but if you hire me, you may be able to do it more sanely and feel less lonely and isolated."
Why she does this: Became an advocate by living it first, starting with correcting bad information in an Early Intervention parent support group. Read Sarah’s excellent story about why she does this.
Free consult: ~30 minutes.
Stephanie Kaplan — Stephanie Kaplan Advocates, LLC stephaniekaplanadvocates.com | Schedule a call
Focus: First-time evaluations and diagnosis, IEP creation and placement, document review, parent coaching, and IEP meeting attendance/prep. Confirmed does not cross into legal/due process work. Distinctive value-add: explains IEEs as broader than just neuropsych — a family can request a narrow independent evaluation (e.g., just OT) when disagreeing with one specific part of DOE's evaluation. Serves NYC broadly; building a local focus around District 28/Forest Hills, Queens.
Best for: Families early in the process who want full IEP-arc support, or anyone confused by a neuropsych report and unsure what an IEE can actually cover.
Why she does this: Personal experience with her child, and she has been informally counseling parents and friends for years on how to advocate for their children. She formalized her experience with 10 months working in the Special Education Unit at the New York Legal Assistance Group.
Free consult: 20 minutes, gated by a required intake form due 48 hours ahead of the call.
Structure: Hourly billing. Tiered pricing — an affordable entry-level "introductory strategy session" scaling up to full IEP meeting attendance and prep.
Miriam Nunberg, Esq. studentequitysolutions.com (Also listed in our lawyers directory, Brooklyn section — an attorney who works upstream of hearings by design, not a traditional litigator.)
Focus: Attends IEP meetings as an issue-spotter — catching the DOE when it misstates the law (e.g., claiming "least restrictive environment" prohibits a service level a child actually needs). Also handles Section 504 accommodations and discrimination complaints. Does not litigate.
Best for: Families whose child should be able to succeed in public school if the DOE simply followed its own legal requirements — a compliance-and-issue-spotting fit, not a contested-placement fight. She told us: "What generally seems to be true is people who want to hire a law firm have to put down a fairly large retainer, usually to get reimbursement for private school tuition. But if all you really want is a really good IEP — that's my niche, basically."
Why she does this: Started in social work, taught at a special education school in Boston, went to law school, worked at the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. On where her sense of injustice comes from: "probably my parents... I was raised on Pete Seeger and civil rights music."
Derek Bastone — Brooklyn Letters 1139 Prospect Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11218 | (917) 426-8880 | [email protected] | brooklynletters.com/nyc-special-education-advocacy
Focus: Document/history review, strategy sessions, optional IEP meeting attendance, and ongoing monthly consultations — everything short of an impartial hearing, at which point he refers to a lawyer. Serves NYC, Westchester, and Long Island.
Best for: Families who want an advocate with administrative experience inside the system — he was a CPSE Administrator for the NYC DOE and chaired CPSE, CSE, and 504 meetings himself before moving into advocacy. He's currently a Director of Pupil Personnel Services, alongside his advocacy work through Brooklyn Letters. “I was a teacher, and I am an administrator now, and I do the work day to day,” he told us.
Why he does this: Comes from a family with deep ties to the field — his aunt is a psychologist, and several other family members have worked as special education teachers.
Free consult: 15–20 minutes.
Structure: Process: intro call → document/history review → action-steps meeting → optional IEP meeting attendance → ongoing monthly consultations. A complimentary evaluation review by Brooklyn Letters' owner, Craig Selinger, is included with full service.
Amber Decker — Special Support Services, LLC specialsupportservices.com
Focus: Senior Family Peer Advocate — systems navigation and peer support, negotiating with schools and other agencies on a family's behalf. Serves NYC (Brooklyn-based).
Best for: Families wanting affordable, sliding-scale advocacy, particularly single parents.
Why she does this: Parent of a child with a disability herself; spent 8 years prior preparing medical, HR, and judicial reports and organizing evidence for administrative hearings before founding Special Support Services in 2017.
Structure: Sliding scale available based on income. Voluntarily subscribes to COPAA's Code of Ethics for Special Education Advocates.
Rachel Ford — Special Support Services, LLC Contact: [email protected] or the intake form
Focus: Focuses on neurodivergent students and the NYC AS Nest/Horizon program application process specifically. Serves NYC.
Best for: Families applying to AS Nest/Horizon programs.
Atsuko Nakajima-Healy, Ph.D. — Kodomo Support kodomosupport.com |
Focus: One-on-one guidance, IEP meeting attendance, and interpretation. Does not handle DPCs or litigation — refers those out to lawyers, especially for private-placement tuition reimbursement cases.
Best for: Japanese and Japanese-American families needing an advocate who understands both the DOE process and IDEA-mandated interpreter rights, and who can navigate the cultural reluctance some Japanese parents feel about advocating assertively — they've been taught to "tone it down" and not be a "squeaky wheel." By her own estimate, roughly two-thirds of her clients are Japanese American families.
Why she does this: "I wanted somebody whom I was able to consult... so I feel like by helping the parents, other parents, I am sort of healing myself — myself in the past." She entered the field when her own son, then three or four, needed evaluation and an IEP. Ph.D. in sociology; took over facilitating the existing NY Kodomo Support mutual-help group; trained formally through a COPAA course during the pandemic.
Free consult: ~30 minutes, through the mutual-help group.
Structure: Starts most families through the free mutual-help group consult; if more support is needed, she opens an advocacy engagement — often reviewing the IEP and prior communications with CPSE/DOE before advising next steps. Engagement length varies: some families need a single consult, others stay a year or two until the IEP is stable, and a smaller number have stayed three to four years as needs expanded into areas like OPWDD applications. Hourly billing; first two hours discounted 50%, standard rate after.
NYC Advocates Who File Due Process Complaints (DPCs)
Susan Luger Associates 680 Central Ave, Suite 120/121, Cedarhurst, NY 11516 | (212) 769-4644 | slugerassociates.com
Focus: DPCs, tuition reimbursement/Carter cases, therapeutic residential placements. 30+ years, hundreds of millions secured in private school funding. (Also listed in our lawyers directory — primarily an advocacy firm with affiliated attorneys for litigation.)
Best for: Families pursuing tuition reimbursement or a therapeutic residential placement specifically.
NY Advocates 4 Kids nyadvocates4kids.com
Focus: Educational advocacy for children with complex profiles — public, private, parochial, or homeschooled. Training from Harvard, Cambridge, and Wrightslaw. COPAA member.
Elizabeth Kirk — PraiseNYC (917) 574-0928 | praisenyc.com
Focus: Narrow, "baby DPC"-style filings — forcing a provider to honor a mandated rate, or forcing full funding of an independent evaluation — rather than full-service IEP coaching (confirmed by Jenn Choi). Focus on layered needs: learning differences, language-based disabilities, and 2e students.
Best for: Families who need one specific, targeted fix forced through a DPC — not ongoing full-service coaching. Especially strong for 2e-profile cases (won an ICT placement at Bronx Science for a 2e student).
Why she does this: "Every kid deserves FAPE."
Free consult: 15 minutes
Structure: Flat rate per case.
Tracie Smith — Sydney Smith Advocates ssa.nyc
Focus: Due process hearings, State Complaints, IEP/504 meeting prep and attendance, plus training for parents, therapists, and school districts. Serves ages 3–21+, including transition-to-adulthood and post-secondary/vocational planning.
Best for: Families who want one advocate to carry a case from meeting prep through a due process hearing, including older teens heading toward transition.
Why she does this: Background in law before switching to special education advocacy shortly after her younger son Halen was diagnosed with non-verbal, severe autism in 2013.
Mary Fernandes — Fernandes Education Advocates fernandesedadvocates.com
Focus: Both IEP meeting support and DPCs (confirmed by Jenn Choi). Not a law firm — cannot apply for legal fees on a parent's behalf.
Best for: Families who want one advocate able to handle both everyday meeting support and a DPC filing if it comes to that.
Why she does this: Came to the work personally, as a parent navigating the IEP process herself; 13+ years as a certified special education teacher, plus experience as a litigation paralegal in NYC special ed law.
Free consult: 40 minutes
Wayne Rock — Special Education Autism Advocate 137 Mineola Blvd., Mineola, NY 11501 | (631) 276-3027 | [email protected] | waynerock.org
Focus: Detailed line-by-line IEP review — placement, program, related services, home services, FBA/BIP, 1:1 aide, RBT, BT, BCBA, accommodations, modifications, annual goals. Serves NYC (all five boroughs), plus Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties.
Best for: Families of autistic children wanting a deep, granular review of an existing IEP.
Why he does this: Father of two sons with autism — came to the work personally.
Mike Rosen — Special Education Parents Liaison Advocate Staten Island, NY | [email protected] | mike-rosen-special-education-parents-liaison-advocate.ueniweb.com
Focus: Early Intervention, CPSE/CSE, and IEP/IESP meeting attendance — file review, testing recommendations, program/accommodation planning, direct communication with schools and districts. DPC status unconfirmed; site describes meeting-based advocacy, not hearing representation. Based in Staten Island; broader service area not confirmed.
Best for: Staten Island families wanting meeting-based advocacy and direct school/district communication (former IEP Parent Elected Councilmember, District 31 CEC).
Free consult: 15 minutes (phone)
Structure: Requires advance payment (Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal) before work begins.
Mindy Ross-Knaster — MRK Advocacy [email protected] | mrkadvocacy.org | 917-282-0025
Focus: Files DPCs, represents families at impartial hearings, and guides families through New York's guardianship process — a service not otherwise offered elsewhere on this list. Serves NYC, Nassau, and Suffolk counties.
Best for: Families needing impartial hearing representation well below typical attorney cost, or guardianship guidance ahead of a child's 18th birthday.
Why she does this: Special needs mother — came to the work after a multi-year struggle to get a diagnosis; retired NYC special education teacher and former Educational Evaluator, 30+ years in the field.
Free consult: Free — and no hourly billing; fees apply only to meetings and hearings.
Structure: Flat per-meeting fees; impartial hearing fees run $300–$1,000 depending on length (vs. a typical attorney range of $3,000–$10,000). Guardianship guidance: $300–$500 (vs. $3,000–$5,000 for an attorney). Sliding scale available; runs as a non-profit practice.
Larger Consulting Firms
Evolved Education Company evolvededucationcompany.com/special-ed | [email protected] | [email protected]
Focus: Interpreting existing evaluations into an actionable plan, private special education school placement, IEP and school meeting support, crisis/transition support, and direct assessment coordination (MindPrint, Brown EF & Attention Scale, and others). Not DPC-focused — no due process representation. Serves NYC and the tri-state area.
Best for: Families wanting a boutique, staffed team for private-school placement strategy alongside special ed planning — not a hearing-representation practice. Special ed is one practice area alongside admissions, college counseling, and tutoring.
Free consult: None — engagement starts with a paid "intake consultation."
Structure: No published fee information.
Nonprofit & Free Special Education Advocates in NYC
Families Helping Families NYC (FHF) 112 (B) Petrus Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10312 | (718) 227-2171 | [email protected] | fhfnyc.org
Focus: Represents families at IEP meetings, resolution meetings, and impartial hearings; develops and writes impartial hearing requests, evidence packages, appeals, and responses to appeals. Also offers Turning 5 specialists, evaluation review, and private consultations. Per FHF's own site, services are open to any family "regardless of...geographic location" — not limited to Staten Island or NYC, despite being a Staten Island–based organization. Their published fee schedule notes price differences for off-Staten Island meetings due to advocate travel time.
Best for: Families wanting a nonprofit organization with full hearing representation and broader family support programming (workshops, family events) — not a free service, but fee-for-service with limited sliding-scale/waiver availability.
Why they do this: Founded in 2008 by seven families whose lives were touched by a loved one with a disability.
Free consult: Not free. A 15-minute virtual consultation runs $35 (existing clients) or $45 (non-clients); a 30-minute virtual consultation is $65/$85.
Structure: Not a free service — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, but self-sustained through client fees rather than grants. New-client contract fee is $150 (includes a 45-minute in-office consultation and record review); meeting representation runs $125/hour (1-hour minimum); impartial hearing work is billed by task and can run well into four figures (hearing request development $600, written closing briefs $1,250, appeals of hearing rulings $1,500). Sliding-scale or fee-waiver spots are available "in limited numbers per school year," first-come-first-served, and require verified proof of income/need.
How to Find an IEP Advocate Near You in NYC
Not every advocate on this list serves every borough, and a few work outside NYC proper (Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, Long Island). Before reaching out, check the "Focus" line on each entry above — a few starting points if location is your main filter:
Staten Island: Mike Rosen; Families Helping Families NYC is headquartered there and says on its site that it serves families regardless of location.
Five boroughs plus Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester: Wayne Rock; Mindy Ross-Knaster (NYC, Nassau, Suffolk specifically).
NYC, Westchester, and Long Island: Jenn Choi, Sarah Birnbaum, Derek at Brooklyn Letters.
Westchester-based: Tara Fappiano.
Queens (District 28/Forest Hills), broader NYC: Stephanie Kaplan.
NYC and the tri-state area: Evolved Education Company.
No geographic limit stated: FHF (free/nonprofit).
For several advocates, service area isn't yet confirmed — worth asking directly on an intro call, since even city-based advocates may have practical limits (in-person availability, court/hearing jurisdiction) that don't show up on their websites.
How Much Does a Special Education Advocate Cost in NYC?
Costs vary widely depending on what you need — a one-time strategy session is obviously a different price point than full impartial hearing representation.
Genuinely free options are limited: United We Stand offers advocacy at no cost. Families Helping Families NYC is a nonprofit but not free — per their published fee schedule, most services carry real charges (a $150 new-client contract fee, $125+/hour for meeting representation, up to $1,500 for a hearing appeal), with only limited, income-verified sliding-scale or fee-waiver spots available each school year. Several other advocates offer a free intro consultation (durations range from 15 to 40 minutes) before any paid work begins.
Hourly billing is the norm for solo NYC advocates. The general hourly range is between $150 to $200/hour.
Flat, per-case, or per-meeting pricing shows up too: Elizabeth Kirk charges a flat rate per DPC case; Mindy Ross-Knaster bills flat per-meeting fees rather than hourly. She's explicit about why: billing hourly, she says, ends up "burdening families" who can't predict how many hours a case will take.
Impartial hearing representation is where the biggest gap shows up. Ross-Knaster charges $300–$1,000 for a hearing depending on length. She puts a typical attorney's fee for the same work at $3,000 to $10,000 — a gap she says is a real reason some families start with a non-attorney advocate rather than a lawyer once a hearing is on the table.
Sliding scale is common: Mindy Ross-Knaster, Amber Decker, and others offer income-based sliding scale pricing.
Boutique consulting firms cost more upfront: Evolved Education Company doesn't publish rates and starts with a paid intake consultation rather than a free call — a different pricing model than the solo advocates on this list.
This list was compiled and is maintained by Lighthouse. We update it periodically but cannot guarantee current availability or accuracy of contact details.
Know of an advocate we should add? Email us at [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find a free special education advocate near me?
We’ve heard of a couple advocates who do certain services for free. We’ve reached out for confirmation and will update when we hear back.
What's the difference between a special education advocate and a special education lawyer?
Parent advocate Miriam Nunberg is an attorney who deliberately doesn't litigate. She told us why: "I feel I can't do both. I can't be in court and also be trying to help other people prevent litigation." Other non-attorney advocates draw a similar line — Atsuko Nakajima-Healy of Kodomo Support, said she stays "in the lane of an interpreter" once a family already has a lawyer, "so I don't confuse parents." A handful of non-attorney advocates cross further into hearing representation directly, including Mindy Ross-Knaster and Tracie Smith.
Special education lawyers bring a set of skills honed through years of litigation with the DOE. Attorney Mark Gutman told us he's had parents come to him after filing a DPC on their own, only to realize they'd already missed compensatory services, the right to independent evaluations, and reimbursement for services — like two years of tutoring — they'd paid for out of pocket. "So there's so many things parents can miss if they don't have the experience," he said.
Do I need an advocate for every IEP meeting?
Not necessarily. Stephanie Kaplan built her lowest-cost tier specifically for parents who don't need full representation — what she calls an "introductory strategy session," meant for a parent who can write the emails and follow up on their own but doesn't understand what they need to do next.
What is a due process complaint (DPC), and does my advocate need to file one?
Jenn Choi describes DPCs as narrow, discrete enforcement actions: "forcing a provider to accept a mandated service rate, or forcing the DOE to fund an independent evaluation at its real value instead of a token amount." Not every advocate on this list files them — several, including Choi herself, refer that work out to an attorney who specializes in it.
Can a non-attorney advocate represent me at an impartial hearing?
Yes. Mindy Ross-Knaster represents families at impartial hearings directly, charging $300 to $1,000 depending on length — well under what she says attorneys typically charge for the same work, "$3,000 to $10,000." Tracie Smith and nonprofits like Families Helping Families NYC do the same kind of representation.
What's an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), and can an advocate help me get one?
Many parents assume an IEE means a full neuropsychological evaluation. Stephanie Kaplan says it doesn't have to: "If you just disagree with the OT evaluation, you can get a private OT — an IEE for an OT," rather than a comprehensive workup. She also flags a practical limit on any outside report, IEE or otherwise: a school psychologist is required to consider it, "but they don't have to use it to make the decision" — which is why distilling a report into short, usable points before a meeting matters as much as getting the evaluation in the first place.
For more NYC special education coverage, visit the Lighthouse homepage.