In 2021, as the impact of COVID-19 continued to deepen the racial, health, education, and economic inequities DC families experienced, AJE continued to support families through direct services, training, leadership development, and systemic advocacy to dismantle barriers and eliminate inequities. AJE staff helped nearly 2,000 families make informed decisions about and advocate for their children’s education, access to special education, related services, health services and more.

Specifically, AJE staff:

• Provided 315 new DC families with individualized expert assistance and supported families at 145 different meetings, including IEP/504 meetings, mediations, and school discipline hearings.
• Provided training to 739 parents, 343 youth, and 557 professionals to increase their knowledge and capacity to improve educational and health outcomes for DC children and youth.
• Supported 8 AJE Parent Ambassadors in hosting 9 Parent Cafes for 70 registered parents of children ages 0-5 and hosted 2 Parent Leadership Academies (English & Spanish) for 44 parents to strengthen parents’ leadership skills for systemic advocacy.
• Participated in 566 meetings working with coalition partners and families to improve the education and health care systems serving DC children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs.
• Provided free devices and internet access to 44 families and training (in English and Spanish) on how to access telehealth services.
• Launched a three-year campaign to improve equitable access to health care in DC for Black and Latinx children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs through parent-led advocacy efforts.

We could not have done this without your support, and we remain grateful for all the ways you helped us help DC families. However, our families still need your support today as we prepare for the work ahead in 2022. Please donate before midnight tomorrow to help us:

• Increase the ability of parents to advocate for their children.
• Ensure children have equitable access to education with the supports they need to learn and health care to thrive.
• Advocate for systems change to improve educational and health outcomes for children.

With gratitude,