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How CASE Can Help You An Effective Network Providing Paralegal Support and Services An Up-to-date Information Source How CASE Helps All Parents of Disabled Children How CASE Helps All Special Education Professionals How CASE Helps The Community At Large How You Can Help CASE Related resource: Parents Helping Parents, Inc. A Non-Profit Organization How CASE Can Help You If you are a member of the Bay Area special education community, CASE is for you. CASE is a non-profit organization composed of: Parents. Teachers. Psychologists. Social workers. Attorneys. Human service professionals. Concerned citizens. And we all share common aims: To protect the lawful education rights of disabled children and their parents. To foster the fair and just implementation of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142), as well as the California Master Plan for Special Education. To promote better understanding and cooperation among parents of disabled children, the special education community, and the public school system. AN EFFECTIVE NETWORK PROVIDING PARALEGAL SUPPORT AND SERVICES. If you are a parent wondering what your child's educational rights are, CASE is for you. We provide individual consultations and paralegal representation through our network of educational and legal specialists. CASE helps you make practical sense out of special education laws and issues that affect your child. AN UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION SOURCE. If you are a parent or professional who has difficulty keeping up with changes in special education laws and procedures, CASE is for you. CASE keeps you informed of local, state, and federal legislative policies, issues, and resources. CASE delivers the tools that help you become a more effective advocate for children with special needs.
How CASE Helps All Parents of Disabled Children Legal consultation and assistance can be expensive, sometimes as much as $175 an hour. Not all parents can afford such fees--yet all parents want to ensure their child's educational needs are met. CASE provides paralegal and legal expertise, as well as educational consulting on your child's educational program--all on a sliding fee basis. So all parents--no matter what their child's disability--have access to the resources and services they need. We can help you with: Classroom program and placement concerns. The Individual Education Plan (IEP) process. Mediation with public school agencies. The Fair Hearing Process. Our services are available to you through our network of legal and educational specialists. And because we work cooperatively with parents, public educational agencies, and the community, we are often able to resolve problems--before they become more complex. In fact, since 1982, CASE representatives have achieved over a 90% success rate for CASE clients. CASE is also a member in good standing of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
How CASE Helps All Special Education Professionals CASE is a common meeting ground for all who work with disabled children. It is a link to the broad network of services in our community that serve disabled children and their parents: the public schools, human service resources, Regional Centers, and private educational programs. We meet together to discuss key special education issues, to problem--solve common concerns, and to promote mutual respect. We do this through our: CASE Community Forum Meetings. Special Education Workshops. Consultations by telephone or appointments. Information networking on special education rights, policies, and procedures. Special Education Handbook. CASE Newsletter. We also keep channels of communication open with legislators, elected local officials, and other policy-makers. As a result, CASE has been able to provide community comment on pending special education issues.
How CASE Helps The Community At Large CASE PROVIDES BAY AREA WIDE SERVICES. CASE serves clients in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo and San Francisco counties, as well as in the Palo Alto, San Jose and Sacramento areas. We utilize a network of specially selected consultants who are able to meet with parents at the CASE office, in the home, or other convenient meeting sites. CASE SERVICES ARE UNIQUE. CASE is the only Bay Area organization solely dedicated to the area of special education and to providing paralegal services to disabled children and their parents. Our services are non-litigatory and preventive in nature. Our service goal is to find constructive solutions to the disagreements that can occur between parents and local school districts. CASE SERVICES ARE COST-EFFECTIVE FOR PARENTS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS. The CASE Sliding Fee Scale assures that quality paralegal representation is available to parents of all income levels. Our paralegal approach also provides savings to local school districts. Most cases can be successfully resolved without resorting to costly Fair Hearings. This translates into significant savings to local school districts--savings that can be channelled directly to educational services for our disabled children. CASE SERVICES ARE VITALLY NEEDED.
How You Can Help CASE Contribute to Case. CASE is a non-profit organization. CASE works for our community and depends on community support for our work. We are partially funded by local foundation grants. Community-oriented corporations and our low cost fees for services. But to continue to serve the community, CASE needs your contributions. Your tax-deductible contribution means: More children can be helped. More parents can be served. Fees for services can be kept low. More CASE events can educate our special education community. You also enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you made a difference.
CASE Helps Disabled Children

Copyright © 1996, 1999 Legal Aid Society of Santa Clara County Directing Attorney, Antonio Estremera \| E-mail: info@legalaidsociety.org