Support & Services

IEP/504 Plan Consultation

• We will meet with parents/caregivers to discuss the challenges they are having getting the appropriate services and supports for their student in the public school system.
• We will offer our expertise and laws that apply to their challenges.
• We will discuss options to achieve their goal.
• We will work together to develop a plan to accomplish the of student success.

IEP/504 Plan Advocacy

• We will attend meetings with parents/caregivers to assist them in advocating for their student’s success.

Complaint Assistance

We will explain what it means to file an official complaint, and why it is important.

We will assist parents/caregivers in putting together a thorough complaint that fully explains the issue they are reporting to the organization(s) listed below to request an investigation.

• Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)
• Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
• Human Rights Authorities (HRA)

Due Process Assistance and Prep

• We will explain the process of Due Process
• We will work with parents/caregivers to decide if their challenge(s) fit the criteria of Due Process.
• Should the decision be made to move forward with Due Process we will work with them to gather the appropriate documentation for their case.
• We will discuss the options available to them in regards having/hiring an attorney to represent them.

Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) Assistance

An IEE at Public Expense is a request that all parents/caregivers have the right to request if they disagree with their student’s school evaluation.  At Public Expense means that the school district will pay for the evaluation plus travel expenses.

• We will assist parents/caregivers through the process of successfully requesting an IEE for their student.  
• We will explain what the process is if the school district declines their request.
• We assist parents/caregivers when their request for an IEE is approved.

At No Expenses to Families

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-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.

At No Expense To Families

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:

Coming soon

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.

Family Trainings:

• IEP Boot Camp
• #End Bullying - Advocating for your student who is being Bullied
• How to read an IEP
• Parent and Student Rights
• Understanding the IEP Process
• The Difference Between a 504 Plan and an IEP
• What it Means to be Trauma Informed

At No Expenses to Families

The public Pre-K–12 system is a decisive period for children with Mental Health needs—shaping confidence, protective factors, graduation, and life beyond school. Families often lack awareness of federal and state protections and ISBE resources, and do not feel confident in navigating the special education system.  Children with Mental Health needs and their families feel isolated and judged in their community. The Empowering Bridge Program closes that gap with legal education, caregiver trainings, peer groups, inclusive community events, SEL school workshops, and life-coach support, delivered through Systems of Care and Wraparound practices and led by youth and family voice.

Join Us!

If you want to join us on this Empowering Bridge Program, or have any questions please click the link and leave us your Name, email, phone number and let us know your preference of contact.

Click Here to Join or For More Information

Parent/Caregiver Survey

**Handicap Accessible**

Every weekend from April through October, we host a Community Event with our Mobile Sensory Museum & Foam Blaster in a different community throughout the Champaign Region.

Our mobile sensory museum & Foam Blaster is an engaging and adaptable space that brings hands-on sensory experiences directly to communities. It is designed to promote exploration, learning, and fun in a safe environment for ALL CHILDREN.  

There are many positive outcomes via our Mobile Sensory Museum Community Events: 

• The Museum creates an inclusive environment for children with and without Mental Health needs to play, work, and explore together.
• Caregivers who have children with Mental Health needs and caregivers who do not socialize and learn from each other, which reduces stigma and encourages understanding and inclusion in communities.

Traveling to different locations makes sensory-friendly activities more accessible, helping children with Mental Health needs develop their senses, build confidence, and enjoy meaningful interactions through tactile, visual, and auditory exhibits. And, best of all, experience authentic inclusion.

Our Mobile Sensory

Museum & Foam Blaster helps build resilience, creativity, inclusion, and confidence in a fun way.

Our Vision

Our vision for the mobile sensory museum is to create an inclusive space that makes sensory experiences accessible and enjoyable for ALL children, fostering curiosity, learning, and confidence wherever we go,

Whether a child has something that makes them different or not, every parent and teacher wants the same thing for the child: to have true friends, to know they are accepted for who they are, and to feel they truly belong.

Parents and teachers want every child to learn in a safe classroom, where they have opportunities to build compassion at home and in the classroom.

The Jordan Project is for all ages and locations, such as home, church, and school. It is meant to be an interactive experience that sparks conversations with and for the children in your world.

Student Reviews:

• "You taught me so much! I am not afraid to play with and be friends with kids that are different anymore."
• "Mr Jordan & Ms Katrina, i learned how to communicate with other kids who cannot talk. I love you so much."
• "My brother has autism, and I learned that he isn't different he is just a little quirky, and so am I."

Book Jordan and his Mom to visit your classroom, church, or organization.

• Contact us through our website: familyfirstcommunity.org
• Or call or text Jordan's mom (Katrina) at (217) 898-1058

We charge a flat fee of $350.00 for our Professional Trainings & Workshops for a maximum of 30 staff members.  We have the ability to customize our trainings to fit the needs of your organization.

Available trainings include but are not limited to:

• Signature IEP Bootcamp
• #End Bullying - How to advocate for a student who is being bullied
• How to read an IEP
• Trauma Informed Leadership
• Parent and Student Rights
• Understanding the IEP Process
• The Difference Between a 504 Plan and an IEP

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.

Mental Health Life-Coaching session, as needed.

Katrina is an experienced and dynamic public speaker.  As the Founder of Family First Advocacy and the mother of seven children of whom several have special needs Katrina is full of passion to educate and encourage both families and professionals who serve and support the very special population of children with learning, social, emotional, behavioral, and other mental health challenges and their families.

Katrina’s experience as a foster-adopt parent and her difficulty in navigating the public school system for her children who have challenges built in her a clear understanding of resiliency, authentic inclusion, what success is, and the lifesaving need for every family to be a part of a community of people who have walked where they walk.  Her children’s successes in spite of some impossible odds inspires and encourages everyone who hears them to dream big and never accept “no” or “can’t” as an answer to any question.