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INCLUDE Pro Bono Programs

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW

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The INCLUDE Pro Bono Project:

  • Supporting Parents’ Education, Advocacy, and Knowledge (SPEAK)
  • Special Education counseling and advocacy (SPED)
  • Supported Decision-Making (SDM)
  • Medicaid (MED)
  • Psychiatric Advanced Directives (PAD)

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SPECIAL EDUCATION 101

  • Basic special education law
  • How to prepare for ARD meetings
  • New considerations for special education during a global pandemic

1:1 COUNSELING

  • Families work with a UT Law student to tell their story, ask case-specific questions, and discuss concerns
  • Families and students develop strategies the family can use to prepare for an ARD meeting and other advocacy tools

SPEAK: Supporting Parents' Education, Advocacy, and Knowledge

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PAD: Psychiatric Advance Directives

WHAT IS A PAD?

WHY PADS?

  •   Legal document elaborating preferences for psychiatric treatment in advance
  •   Also known as Declarations of Mental Health Treatment 
  •   What is in a PAD?
    • Medications
    • Preferences for ECT treatment
    • Preferences for Emergency Treatment
    • Medical Power of Attorney

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  •  Coordinating care 
  •   Treatment compliance
  •   Provide patients with a voice during medication hearings
  • Provide patients with sense of bodily integrity
  • Prepare for the worst-case scenario!

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REVIEW 

  •  UT Law students review and prepare summaries of evidence packets

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SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

  •  Law students use the evidence summaries to draft letters of medical necessity, interrogatories, and complaints
  •  Law students also may interview clients and/or their families via phone

Medicaid Workshop 

The workshop helps Medicaid recipients obtain medically necessary nursing, services, or equipment through the fair hearing administrative process

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PREPARE & EDUCATE  

  •  Law students work directly with parents of special education students to prepare and educate them regarding special education law and disputes
  •  Law students ensure parents are familiar with the IEP process and aware of their children’s legal right to receive a free and appropriate legal education (FAPE)

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CASEWORK 

  •  Parents can request additional casework support, including representation in mediation and due process where necessary

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SPED: Special Education Counseling and Advocacy 

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Supported Decision-Making (SDM)

WHAT IS AN SDMA?

A Supported Decision-Making Agreement (SDMA) is a document that gives certain permissions or privileges to a group of supporters.

WHY GET AN SDMA?

  • They preserve autonomy
  • They are an alternative to guardianship
  • They take effect immediately
  • They are 100% free

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THE CLINIC

The clinic helps form an understanding about SDMA's and their alternatives. If desired, an SDMA can be filled out and signed during the clinic.