For Pro Bono Legal Counsel
- Volunteer Lawyers for Justice: Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) provides FREE legal services to people with certain civil (non-criminal) legal issues.
- Legal Services of New Jersey: LSNJ coordinates the statewide Legal Services system, which provides free legal assistance to low-income New Jerseyans for their civil legal problems. Through is work, LSNJ strives to secure substantive and procedural justice for those living in poverty.
- The Education Law Center: Due to limited capacity, ELC can provide legal representation to only a small number of callers. However, its staff attempts to help all who contact them by providing information and referrals through ELC’s intake system.
- Disability Rights New Jersey : All requests for assistance are processed by DRNJ’s Intake Office. The vast majority of requests for assistance are received and processed by telephone or TTY. The Intake Office is available to conduct telephone or in-person intake interviews Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m, and includes Spanish speaking staff. In addition, DRNJ has telephone language interpreting services to facilitate communication with individuals in 150 languages and dialects.
- Education and Health Law Clinic at Rutgers University School of Law – Newark: The Education and Health Law Clinic, first established as the Special Education Clinic in 1995, provides free legal representation to indigent clients in special education, early intervention and school discipline matters. In addition, through a new medical-legal partnership (the HEAL Collaborative) with the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Outpatient Pediatrics Department, students in law and social work partner with medical professionals to address the legal and social needs of pediatric patients with disabilities and their families in an effort to improve overall child and family health and well-being.
Advocacy Support
- New Jersey Statewide Parent Advocacy Network: SPAN’s Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) helps families know their rights and best practices to ensure that infants, toddlers, children, youth and young adults with special needs receive the early intervention, education, and transition services they need for a productive life. SPAN helps families to work together with professionals across the systems that serve children. SPAN also works with families who have children at risk of inappropriate identification and classification.
- Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates: The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) is an independent, nonprofit unparalleled peer-to-peer network of attorneys, advocates, parents and related professionals dedicated to protecting and enforcing legal and civil rights of students with disabilities and their families at the national, state and local levels.
Informational Resources
- International Dyslexia Association – NJ Branch: Through IDA’s conferences, newsletter, programs, and website, it provides education, information and resources to serve dyslexics, their families and professionals in the community. IDA-NJ has been active in New Jersey for more than 25 years.
- WrightsLaw: Parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys come to Wrightslaw for accurate, reliable information about special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities.
- National Center for Learning Disabilities: The mission of NCLD is to improve the lives of the 1 in 5 individuals nationwide with learning and attention issues.
- U.S. Department of Education Publications: FREE U.S. Department of Education Publications