COPAA was formed in January 1998 to address this vast disparity. Its primary objective is to increase meaningful access to effective educational programs. When serious disputes arise in the planning and implementation of effective educational programs, COPAA'S objective is to provide access to competent advocate and legal representation, by creating a systemic method for increasing the quantity and quality of resources available to the parents of children with disabilities.
COPAA is pursuing the following objectives:
·Enable parents to work more effectively with school personnel to plan meaningful educational programs for their children with disabilities.
·Enable parents to work more effectively with advocates and attorneys to plan and obtain effective educational programs, thereby reducing the costs of representation of 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 attorneys and advocates with the basic practical resources and information required to plan and obtain effective educational programs for children with disabilities;
·Increase the qualitative level of representation for children with disabilities, by establishing methods to obtain and exchange necessary information, training and consultation relevant to planning and obtaining effective educational programs;
COPAA 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 the protections of the laws by ensuring the availability and quality of legal and advocacy resources for parents of children with all types of disabilities. This objective is emphasized by improving and integrating the unique strengths of parents, advocates and attorneys. Education and training programs are designed to inform parents of their rights and the rights of their children, and to improve the competence of advocates and attorneys representing them. The ultimate goal is to keep the costs of legal assistance manageable, while improving the availability and quality of legal assistance to children with disabilities.
While supporting interaction and dialogue with educators and their attorneys, membership in COPAA is not available to attorneys who represent, or persons currently employed by, education agencies receiving Federal or state funds under IDEA. Other organizations exist to serve those persons and entities.
