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Le Bonheur
A client was referred to Memphis CHILD in March 2024 for a pressing educational concern for her son. He had graduated high school with a special education diploma in May of 2023 and was neither in school nor working at the time of referral. The client believed her son deserved a chance at a brighter future through enrollment in a local postsecondary vocational school that specializes in preparing students who have graduated with a special education diploma for life after high school through teaching independent living skills, participating in community outings, and preparing students for employment. The client knew a program like this would be the perfect fit for her son and may help him regain the skills he’d lost in his last two years of high school and post-graduation.
Continuing at his zoned school was not an option the client was willing to consider, because during her son’s last two years of high school, he was taught by a non-licensed teacher. When the client requested an IEP meeting to address her concerns , she was told it was not possible as assistant teachers cannot conduct them. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), eligible students may receive special education services until age 22, and postsecondary transition planning is a required component of every Individualized Education Program (IEP). However, these services were not being provided . Although the client actively advocated for her son, her requests were met with push-back and rejection.
Despite continual setbacks, the client wasn’t willing to give in . Instead, she spoke about her concerns with her son’s Le Bonheur medical provider, who then referred her to Memphis CHILD. As Memphis CHILD’s Lead Outreach Coordinator and Education Advocate started working with the client, they continued to hit the same roadblocks. Their emails and calls were directed from one office to another, without any solutions. That’s when they filed an Administrative Complaint, a dispute resolution avenue protected by IDEA. When an Administrative Complaint is filed, an investigation is opened by the TN Department of Education’s Office of General Counsel. A Complaints Investigator then collects information from the school district and the complainant to determine if there has been an IDEA violation.
Suddenly, within two business days, an IEP meeting was called! At this meeting, the team agreed the client’s son would be enrolled in Extended School Year (ESY) where data could be collected to determine if he was a good fit for the specialized postsecondary vocational school.
A few months later, after reviewing the son’s performance at ESY, the team decided to place him at the specialized postsecondary vocational school for the upcoming school year, where he would continue his education until aging out of IDEA services. The client was holding back tears of relief that her son would finally receive the quality education he deserves. When the meeting was adjourned, the client expressed deep gratitude to the MLP , saying, “Thank you for everything because I probably would have given up if it wasn't for you."
NNCC
A Nurse Home Visitor with one of the FAIR Project’s home visiting partner organizations, was seeking assistance for a home visiting participant. The client was pregnant and wished to leave a home shared with an abusive partner. The Nurse Home Visitor, sought guidance from one of the FAIR Project’s paralegals in his role as an Interpersonal Violence (IPV) Champion about the situation. He immediately recognized that legal advice was needed to address the intersection of IPV and housing law.
In collaboration with the Nurse Home Visitor and with consent from the client, he facilitated a referral to the FAIR Legal Team, who counseled her on her right to ask the landlord to remove her from the shared lease due to IPV, as well as provided general advice on seeking a Protection from Abuse order. Subsequently, the FAIR Legal Team also provided counseling on eligibility for public benefits (SNAP and TANF) as well as future custody questions that arose for her as her pregnancy advanced. With the benefit of that legal advice, the client took the difficult step of leaving home and moving in with family members.
When her prior landlord then filed for eviction on the overdue rent balance, she was understandably worried about how she could safely defend this housing case with her abuser as a co-defendant. The Legal team coordinated with the Family Support Fund in order to negotiate a settlement under which the landlord accepted $2,500 from the Fund and withdrew the eviction case with respect to the client, . This allowed her to move forward with no negative judgment or credit history, and without having to face her abuser again in a courtroom.
As she tried to settle into a new living situation, she had an array of other small financial needs that the FAIR Family Support Fund was able to help with, including public transportation, phone bills, state ID renewals, employment clearances, and general household supplies. When she reported a pest problem in her family member’s home, the FAIR Legal Team recommended city homeownership programs to help her grandmother with larger structural repairs and the FAIR Family Support Fund was able to help with the costs of short-term pest control. The client also went through several difficult job transitions in this same period. She was forced to leave her old job because her abuser knew the location, which did not qualify her for unemployment because it was deemed voluntary. She started a new job where she was treated unfairly and her employment was terminated late in pregnancy. Through a new legal referral, we were able to represent her in getting approved for Unemployment Compensation benefits. She was able to receive several weeks of Unemployment Compensation benefits before delivering her baby in April, which helped her prepare for the delivery.
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