Teresa is a devoted mother to her only child, daughter Justice. A bright girl who previously loved school but struggled with anxiety, Justice started high school in a local public school district and soon became the target of bullies.
“She was being shoved into the walls,” Teresa said. “She was pushed down in the parking lot by a group of boys, things like that. And I kept talking to the school about it, and they would just deny it, deny it, deny it, deny it.”
Teresa asked the school to evaluate her daughter for an individual education plan (IEP), but the district refused, saying that because Justice was in accelerated classes, she couldn’t have an IEP.
While all this was happening, Justice, an avid softball player, suffered an injury that required surgery. The recovery added to her anxiety and, combined with the trauma of being bullied, she began to refuse to go to school.
“She was afraid that every time we went to the school, it got worse,” Teresa said. "So I had a meeting at the school, and basically they told me, 'How about she just doesn't come back for the rest of her sophomore year? You find something for her, and we'll just have her see if she can come back for her junior year.’”
Teresa enrolled Justice in an online education program, but the curriculum was not challenging enough and lacked engagement. That’s when her doctor at Akron Children’s made a referral to Community Legal Aid through our medical-legal partnership, the HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy and Law) project. A medical-legal partnership like this allows for a holistic look at the issues that impact a patient's health and may have a legal solution. These impacts can include housing, education, employment, domestic violence, income stability, and access to care.
Teresa had previously turned to Community Legal Aid after an issue with her Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Staff Attorney Sarah Wiley had successfully helped her with that, and she was again assigned to her case for the issues Justice was facing.
“When Sarah got assigned to me, I knew that I was in good hands,” Teresa said.
Attorney Wiley said at that point it was several weeks into the second semester of Justice’s sophomore year. Her priority was to get the support Justice needed at that time and put a plan in place so she could successfully start her junior year.
She first requested an IEP evaluation from the district, which they agreed to after some pushback. When the team met again for an evaluation, the school decided she was not eligible because she did not need “specially designed instruction” to access the curriculum. Attorney Wiley then pointed out several areas in which Justice needed specially designed instruction, such as coaching on pragmatic language skills, self-advocacy and emotional regulation, but the school refused to find her eligible. Instead, they offered to provide support through the 504 plan that was already in place for Justice.
In response, Attorney Wiley filed a due process complaint with the state, which led to mediation. Ultimately, the school agreed to a dollar amount to reimburse Teresa to cover the cost of alternative education and services for Justice for the school year.
This allowed Justice to add additional online college courses to her schedule, beyond the College Credit Plus classes she was already planning to take. It also covered the cost of an online program for her to fulfill her high school requirements and for an online program for specially designed instruction on speech-language issues, coping mechanisms, and dealing with anxiety.
With all that in place, Justice began her junior year of high school. And Teresa was beyond grateful for what happened.
“She did great,” she said.
Justice also became friends with two other teens whom she sees regularly, and she also socializes with her softball teammates.
Teresa said having Attorney Wiley by her side to advocate for Justice made the difference.
“I needed to keep fighting, but I didn't know how to keep fighting,” she said. “Sarah's just really, really amazing. She's so thorough, and she's a pit bull.”
Added Attorney Wiley: “Oftentimes, just bringing an attorney to the school makes the school suddenly start behaving. In this case, they needed a little bit more pushing.”
Today, as Justice begins her senior year, she and her mother feel optimistic about her future. Justice is continuing college classes through a community college and will have almost enough credit hours to earn an associate’s degree. She is considering a career in law enforcement.
“She has a bright future ahead,” Teresa said.
We use pseudonyms in this client story to honor our commitment to client confidentiality, as requested.
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