Rowell Family Empowerment of Northern California

Site Map

Support, Education, & Advocacy

RFENC
Rowell Family Empowerment of Northern California

Sam, Age 4
Loves the solar system
has Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Advocacy

Part of the mission statement at Rowell Family Empowerment is based on advocacy - and for good reason. You might say we're adamant about advocating! We believe that people with disabilities and special needs can be valuable members of society and surely valuable members of their communities.

RFENC staffs Family Advocates for the purpose of helping parents get the services their children need to be successful. We recognize that at times parents may want us to attend an important meeting for their child (an IEP Meeting, for example). Although this is impossible to provide in every community, for every family, thanks to one of our grants, we are able to provide this service free of charge. The ultimate goal is to provide parents the skills to advocate for their own children, so we ask that parents do three things before we attend meetings:

•	Give us advance notice of your request so we can schedule the time
•	Come to our IEP Prep Training class (See "Workshops")
•	Meet with one of our Family Advocates prior to the meeting

ad-vo-cate [v. ad-vuh-keyt; n. ad-vuh-kit, -keyt] verb, -cat-ed, -cat-ing, noun

- verb (used with object)
1. to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly: She advocated for those with disabilities.

- noun
2. a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc. (usually fol. by of): an advocate of loving families.