Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates
The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) is
an independent, nonprofit, §501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization of
attorneys, special education advocates and parents. COPAA's mission
is to be a national voice for special education rights and to
promote excellence in advocacy. Our primary goal is to secure high
quality educational services for children with disabilities. COPAA
is premised on the belief that the key to effective educational
programs for children with disabilities is collaboration -as
equals- by parents and educators. This is the premise of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504
of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, the federal statutes that guarantee
children with disabilities a free, appropriate public education.
COPAA was formed in 1998 and works to:
- Enable parents to work more effectively with school personnel
to plan and obtain effective educational programs for their
children with disabilities;
- Encourage more attorneys and advocates to undertake
representation of parents of children with disabilities in their
efforts to plan and obtain effective educational programs;
- Provide advocate, attorney, parent and other professional COPAA
members with the practical resources and information they need to
obtain effective educational programs for students with
disabilities;
- Enable members to network and share information and legal
resources;
- Provide training for lay advocates on all aspects of special
education advocacy and informal conflict resolution;
- Provide training for attorneys on legal practice: including due
process, litigation, and informal conflict resolution;
- Enable parents to locate advocates and attorneys through
COPAA's website directory;
- Files amicus curiae briefs in cases of national
significance.
The organization does not provide direct services, individual
advocacy or representation to children with disabilities. COPAA
does not limit its interest to any particular type of disability.
Rather, COPAA's chief concern is that parents of children with
disabilities have equal access to established legal protections by
ensuring the availability and quality of legal and advocacy
resources for parents of children with all types of
disabilities.