Tuesday, 12 June 2012

• Lay Person Advocates: A Huge Help To Parents

  
  
  Robert Crabtree agrees that to steer clear of possible trouble, that a Lay Person advocate should, instead, draft pleadings upon a parent’s request to do so, and then allow the parent to make filings as a pro-se party. Pro-se basically means to represent oneself in court. This is especially true of Lay Person advocates who work in differing states.

  
  To further understand the legal issues on this matter, please see this article (www.wrightslaw.com/news/05/diaz.upl.0307.htm) Also, according to the Pocket Manual, advocates should “never offer legal advice, as this is the role of an attorney” and “Provide legal resources so that the parent can make informed decisions.”

  
  The rest of the advocate’s activities pertain to organizing documentation, resources and providing information to parents for their child’s specific needs. This can be putting parents in touch with physicians, telling the parents what type of documentation is necessary for a meeting, how to fill out forms, helping read and understand forms and letters from the school or Office of Administrative Hearings and plan the next steps in a process.

  
  Advocates can also help homeschooling families with the IEP process for their special needs children. With more and more parents deciding to homeschool rather than sending their child to public school, sometimes because the school cannot (as opposed to being unwilling) provide an appropriate environment for their child, Advocates also should be aware of what the homeschool laws are in the state they work in and provide resources to parents to help them navigate those issues as well.

  
  As the Pocket Manual further points out: “Be clear about what [Advocates] can and cannot do. Lay advocates can assist, support and draft paperwork if requested by the parent. Never create documentation [without a request to do so] or provide a recommendation. Generally, parents expect you to know the law. However, {an advocate isn’t] an attorney and can be sued if [he or she] acts like one.”

  
  Advocates can make mistakes:
  

  
  Further, an advocate can sabotage a case by acting like an attorney, regardless of the person’s intentions. How? According to an article written by Mr. Crabtree the following are the most common mistakes an advocate can make:

   

   

  • Replaying their own special education or health advocacy battles through their advocacy for other families
  • Not informing parents upfront what the special education process entails so that parents are aware from the beginning the potential costs in time, money, and energy that will be required, particularly if they are seeking expensive services or an outside placement.
  • Assuming they know the child’s disability or educational needs before the independent evaluation is complete (attempting to interpret test results, scores, percentiles, etc. without experience or training to do so)
  • Raising parents’ expectations too high without regard for the real limits of the process, the available services, and the legal standards that apply
  • Being habitually confrontational, mistaking an “in your face” approach for dealing from strength and encouraging parents to do likewise.
  • Or being too “chummy” with special education administrators the advocate deals with repeatedly. There is a balance to be obtained
  • Failing to learn about the child from the school personnel who work with him or her, in addition to what the parents tells them.
  • Not staying informed about special education procedural and substantive requirements. While advocates are not lawyers, having an awareness of the laws that govern their area of advocacy is necessary for a good job done well.
  • Not consulting with an attorney knowledgable in special education law at key decision points and on difficult issues of law or procedure; waiting until it is too late for the lawyer to be fully effective.
  • When speaking with the references of a Lay Person’s advocates, be on the lookout for these mistakes. Everyone is human and makes them, but if nearly all the families the person has worked with, states one or more of the above mistakes (such as being overly confrontational) consistently, this advocate may not be a wise choice.

    
    For more information:
    To read the series by Mr. Crabtree “Mistakes People Make” click here
    To read the Pocket Manual, click here

    
    The Pocket Manual for Advocates, Copyright Š 2007-2008 by Janie Bowman and Debbie Sorrells. All Rights Reserved. Quoted with the written permission of the authors.
    

    
    Mistakes People Make (series), Copyright Š 2010 by Robert Crabtree. All Rights Reserved. Quoted with the written permission of the author.
    

    
    All other written content, Copyright Š 2010 by Heather E. Sedlock. All Rights Reserved.
    

    
    {Author’s Note: Thank you to Mr. Crabtree for his invaluable help with research into case law surrounding the advocate issue. Thank you to Ms. Bowman for her permission to quote and other kindnesses.}

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