Parents of Children with Disabilities in Georgia Fight for

June 13, 2020 (Georgia) — Over 160,000 children in Georgia’s education system have individualized education programs, or IEPs, which are written plans for students with disabilities.

Parents new to special education often need additional resources to understand the IEP process and their rights, and sometimes during IEP meetings, parents are not always provided all of the options available to children by the school.

Viviana Fernandez, a Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) advisory member, fought for two years for her son, Cameron, and his rights as a student to attend the school of his choice.

IEPs also hold a role in the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Supports (GNETS) system, a statewide program currently under litigation under a lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice versus the State of Georgia for being in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act by funding, implementing and supporting a statewide, segregated school system for students with disabilities.

Along with resources for parents like Parent to Parent of Georgia, a mentorship program that is free and available to parents of kids with disabilities throughout the state, there are programs to allow the student to get involved as well, that prepare self-advocates to participate in their IEP processes and know how to advocate for what they need.