Supports & Services

• We will spend time with the parent/caregiver learning about the student, the family dynamics surrounding the student’s challenges.  We will then spend time researching and preparing for your student’s meetings.
• We will attend meetings with you and spend whatever time needed to process, follow up, and reset if necessary.

Family:

• It truly does take a village, and even more so when you are raising a child with disabilities.  Just like their child(ren) it is vital to the health of parents/caregivers and their families to have a support system, to feel they belong and included.  Together we will develop an action plan to work with families and advocate for them to receive the support they need and deserve.

IEP Boot Camp is a powerful training with the main purpose of empowering parents or caregivers to successfully navigate the special education system.  This Family First Advocacy signature training is a two-to-three-hour training on the basics of navigating the special education system.  Our theory is you don’t need to know every in and out of special education, state, and federal laws, you just need to know what your options are when your student is struggling and where to go for help.

Training Options:

Live IEP Boot Camp Training pkg: $30.00

• 2–3-hour training
• Training Manual (a $30 value)
• Recording of your training

Online IEP Boot Camp Training pkg: $40.00

• 2–3-hour training
• Training Manual (a $30 value)
• Recording of your training

Leadership Training:

Our Leadership Training is a more intensive three-part training for parents, caregivers, and other community members who have a desire to:

1. Learn more about the special education system.
2. Hone your skills as an advocate.
3. Develop skills to be an effective peer mentor for families with challenges.

Those who complete the training will receive a certificate and CEU credits.

IEP Leadership Training pkg: $1,200.00   ** sliding scale is available

Equipping you to be an educational advocate

• 6-9 hours of in-person training
• Training Manual
• Resource Manual
• Recordings of trainings
• CEU Credits
• Certification 
• 3-month Internship

Free to Families;

• #End Bullying
• Advocating for your student who is being Bullied
• How to read an IEP

Parent Mentoring Program:

• Our Parent Mentoring Program is very special to us because the truth is families who are raising/supporting someone with learning, social, emotional, behavioral, mental health challenges feel alone, judged, and misunderstood.  Sometimes being able to be honest about your and/or your families struggles with someone who has walked in your shoes and “gets it” is all you need to keep fighting the good fight.  We will work to pair you another parent who has what we call “lived experience.”

Student Mentoring Program:

• Our Student Mentoring Program is equally special to us because youth with learning, social, emotional, behavioral, mental health challenges typically struggle to “fit in” and make friends.  The goal of our program is to create safe environments where this population will “fit in” and can make friends.  Because every youth’s challenges are unique to them, we have different ways of to help them connect with others.  How we choose to proceed will always include the input of the youth and their parents/caregivers.

A majority of scholarships given to seniors in high school are for the overachieving student who takes advanced classes and has time to do volunteer work.  These students work very hard and deserve those scholarships.  However, there is another group of deserving students that work equally, and often harder to achieve passing grades.  These students have big hearts but are not necessarily equipped to do volunteer work.  It is all they can do to make it through a school day; they have nothing left.  These students are overlooked and rarely rewarded for their hard work.  Our Scholarship & Award Program is specifically for these students.  Grades, test scores and volunteering are not qualifiers for our scholarships!

JRob Courage Award: 

This award is in honor of a very special student who only felt safe at home.  Just walking into the school building took an abundance of courage every day.  Then add all the stressors of having multiple disabilities; to navigating a world that can be unaccepting and cruel to students that are different.  Suffering insurmountable trauma at the hands of those entrusted to keep him safe.  Every minute of JRob’s day required an unmeasurable amount of courage just to walk into the building knowing he had to survive until he was able to go home.  It often wasn’t easy or pretty but he did it, he got his diploma!

Requirements for being nominated for the JRob Courage award are: 

• The student has an IEP or a 504 Plan
• The student has shown unmeasurable courage in navigating his way through school to get his diploma.
• The student will use the $3000 award for a need or want that will help them move forward in their life post high school toward independence

To be considered for the JRob Courage Award the student needs to be nominated by his family, a teacher, a church, or community member; anyone who has been inspired by their journey.

D-Train Determination Scholarship:

This Scholarship is in honor of a very special student who never, ever gave up no matter what or who was standing in his way.  At five years old he was diagnosed with a learning disability and his parents were told he would never be able to learn to read or do basic math, he would never have a driver’s license, and he would never live independently.  Not only did he learn to do everything the doctors said he would never do, but he also earned a football scholarship to a D2 school.  At the end of his first year, we were hit with a pandemic.  Independent online learning did not play to this student’s strengths, so he decided to pursue his all-time dream of becoming a soldier in the United States Army.  Of course, he was told by many that he wouldn’t be able to pass the entry exam.  This very special student studied very hard and did what he has always done, he proved them wrong and showed everyone what he was made of!  He didn’t pass the test the first time, but he didn’t give up. He was determined to live his dream.  He is now an Infantryman in United States Army!

Requirements for being eligible for the D-Train Determination Scholarship is:

• The student has an IEP or a 504 Plan
• The student has a dream and has shown determination to achieve it 
• The student will use the $3000 scholarship to further their education, pay for job training, tutoring, a life coach, any form of education or training that will help the student to move forward towards their dream.

To be considered for the D-Train Determination Scholarship the student needs to be nominated by his family, a teacher, a church, or community member; anyone who has been inspired by their journey.

coming soon

coming soon

We have the ability to customize our trainings to fit the needs of your organization.

Available trainings:

• Signature IEP Bootcamp
• #End Bullying
• Advocating for your student who is being Bullied
• How to read an IEP
• Trauma Informed Leadership