The Positivity Spectrum Legal Clinic
People with disabilities and their families often navigate complex legal and administrative systems throughout their lives—from securing appropriate educational services during childhood to accessing Medicaid, home- and community-based services, public benefits, decision-making supports, and appropriate financial and estate planning.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) guarantees eligible children with disabilities a Free Appropriate Public Education (“FAPE”). Families may need to navigate evaluations, eligibility determinations, Individualized Education Programs (“IEPs”), related services, accommodations, placement decisions, transition planning, and other issues to ensure their child receives the education and supports to which they are legally entitled. For families unfamiliar with special education law, navigating these systems and understanding their rights can be overwhelming.
Legal needs frequently continue beyond the school years. Individuals with disabilities and their families may need assistance navigating Medicaid and Medicaid Waivers, appealing adverse Medicaid or benefit determinations, evaluating guardianship and alternatives to guardianship, preserving eligibility for means-tested public benefits, and developing appropriate special needs estate plans. These systems are complicated, and access to knowledgeable legal assistance can make a meaningful difference in an individual’s ability to obtain necessary services, maintain benefits, exercise autonomy, and plan for the future.
The Positivity Spectrum Legal Clinic provides these disability-related legal services to eligible individuals and families at no cost. Through our clinical model, law students work under the supervision of licensed attorneys to help individuals and families understand their rights, navigate complex systems, and advocate for the services and supports they need.
Our expanded Clinic now provides assistance with special education and IEP advocacy, special needs estate planning, guardianship and alternatives to guardianship, Medicaid and Medicaid Waiver matters, Medicaid appeals, public benefits, and other related disability-law issues.
We are grateful for the support of law students, practicing attorneys, disability advocates, service providers, and community partners who make this work possible. Together, we are working to reduce financial and systemic barriers to legal assistance while also training the next generation of attorneys to serve the disability community.
DISCLAIMERS
Our services are provided at no cost and are limited in scope. The attorneys who supervise our Clinic staff and law students are not your personal attorneys unless and until an attorney-client relationship is established in accordance with the Clinic’s intake and engagement procedures. Acceptance of an application or request for assistance does not guarantee representation.
If a matter is too complex or falls outside the scope or capacity of the Clinic, we may provide referrals to private attorneys or other legal-service providers. If you separately retain a private attorney, those services may not be free, and you will be responsible for any fees agreed upon with that attorney.
For case-management purposes, we generally require approximately 30 days’ notice before an IEP meeting or other scheduled matter. We may consider requests involving shorter timeframes depending upon Clinic capacity and the circumstances of the matter.
We currently accept requests for assistance from residents of the following Northeast Ohio counties: Cuyahoga, Summit, Lake, Lorain, Ashtabula, Geauga, Trumbull, Portage, Medina, Stark, Wayne, and Mahoning.
TYPES OF CASES ACCEPTED BY THE LEGAL CLINIC
The matters below are examples of services the Legal Clinic may provide. This list is not exhaustive, and acceptance of any matter depends upon eligibility, Clinic capacity, conflicts review, complexity, available supervising attorneys, and the specific circumstances involved.
Special Education / IEP Advocacy
- Pre-K–12 special education questions
- Failure to Evaluate / Child Find concerns
- IEP development and review
- Inadequate IEP / Failure to Provide FAPE
- Denial of related services or accommodations
- Transition planning
- Transportation required as part of an IEP
- Functional Behavioral Assessments (“FBA”) and Behavior Intervention Plans (“BIP”), excluding Manifestation Determination Reviews (“MDR”)
- Transitioning from IDEA eligibility to Section 504 or graduation
- Least Restrictive Environment (“LRE”) concerns and classroom placement
- Parental participation and consent issues
Special Needs Estate Planning
- Special Needs Trusts
- Preservation of eligibility for Medicaid, SSI, and other means-tested benefits
- STABLE account information and planning
- Simple wills designed to coordinate with and fund a Special Needs Trust
- Related basic planning for individuals with disabilities and their families
Medicaid and Medicaid Waivers
- Medicaid eligibility questions
- Medicaid applications
- Medicaid Waiver applications and related guidance
- Assistance navigating home- and community-based waiver services
- Medicaid and waiver denials
- Medicaid administrative appeals and state-hearing matters
- Related issues involving access to Medicaid-funded disability services
Public Benefits
- Assistance understanding and applying for disability-related public benefits
- Benefit eligibility and preservation issues
- Denials, terminations, or reductions in benefits
- Administrative appeals, when within the Clinic’s scope and capacity
- Coordination of public benefits with special needs planning
Guardianship and Decision-Making
- Guardianship questions and planning
- Assistance with appropriate guardianship matters
- Alternatives to guardianship
- Supported and less-restrictive decision-making options
- Planning for the transition to adulthood and legal decision-making
Other Disability-Law Matters
The Clinic may consider other disability-related legal questions that fall within the knowledge and capacity of our supervising attorneys and law student clinicians. Individuals and families are encouraged to contact the Clinic even if their specific legal issue is not listed above.
CASE TYPES GENERALLY NOT ACCEPTED BY THE CLINIC
Special Education
- Early Intervention/Head Start matters outside IDEA school-age representation
- College or university matters
- ADA/Section 504 bullying and harassment claims
- Manifestation Determination Reviews (“MDR”) and general discipline matters
- Truancy matters
- Claims involving improper restraint or seclusion
- Private-school disputes unless public-district responsibility is clearly implicated
- Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship or Autism Scholarship disputes
- Transportation disputes arising solely from scholarship participation
- Certain district-proposed changes of placement requiring litigation or expedited proceedings
- Extracurricular or interscholastic athletic disputes
Estate Planning
- High-net-worth or complex estate planning
- Comprehensive estate plans beyond the Clinic’s limited scope
- Complex wills, tax planning, or other sophisticated estate-planning matters
Other Matters
The Clinic generally does not undertake matters requiring extensive litigation or representation beyond the capacity of our student-clinician model. Matters involving imminent deadlines, emergencies, highly specialized legal issues, or substantial litigation may require referral to outside counsel.
Because our services continue to expand, the Clinic may evaluate matters individually even when they do not fit neatly within the categories above. We encourage families to contact us so we can determine whether the Clinic can assist or help identify another appropriate resource.
Meet Our Legal Clinic Committee
Legal Clinic Intake Forms
To apply for assistance from the Legal Clinic choose the appropriate intake form below:
GENERAL INTAKE FORM– For questions about special education, IEPs, special needs estate planning generally.
CASE SPECIFIC INTAKE FORM– For specific legal services you are applying for the TPS legal clinic to provide- ex. IEP advocacy, preparation of a special needs trust, etc.
Completing an application for services in no way guarantees we will be able to assist you. We are a new service and our capacity will be determined on a multitude of factors. If we cannot assist you at this time, that does not mean we will not be able to assist you in the future. In order to build the Legal Clinic the community needs, we ask for your patience as we grow and scale our services.