Hadassa has played a huge part over the years in helping my child and I navigate IEP's , educating us on our rights and also showing us the benefits available though the Department of Rehabilitation even after high school! I am thankful everyday. She is someone who has an eye for detail and discrepancy. The kind of person you want on your side helping you advocate for your child. She is direct and no nonsense and not everyone is comfortable with always hearing the truth. You don't end up in her office because everything is going well. Most parents like myself try our hardest to advocate for our own children. Sounds simple right ? Have you ever been bullied by educators , your opinion disregarded, told no to what your child actually needs to learn ? I have. Hadassa is making a change and standing up for children worth every dime. She is a gift. read more

I'm not quite sure where to begin. This was an emotional roller coaster spanning quite a few months and I'm sure I'll live with some considerable psychological sequelae from it all for the foreseeable future. This is someone who is adept at playing manipulative emotional games with frustrated, vulnerable people; disabled people and caregivers at the end of their rope who feel lost in the shuffle. At first, it felt like she "got" me in a way I had never experienced with a service provider. Slowly, she started to feel more and more like the coolest aunt ever, and maybe even a friend. It felt like I could tell her anything and like it was us against the world. Professional boundaries eroded incrementally enough that it was hard to notice until things had long since gotten out of hand and some kind of twisted bond made it all feel that much worse to confront. Meetings got longer and longer, and later and later. More and more gossip about other clients started to slip and in increasing levels of detail. She even started to float the idea of us taking an overnight road trip together with her child, who she highly recommended for me to hire as a service provider alongside her, possibly staying with some of her family, and it just felt wrong. Since this trip would have been for a conference relevant to my disability, I said that I would rather say with my own family in the area of the conference and was thinking about taking a long-distance train, but she kept pushing. I was exposed to some things I shouldn't have been and in hindsight, it also felt like she also could have kept her immediate family much more separate from what we were doing. Her mastery of the finer points of love bombing, empty promises, and future faking toward someone who has faced lifelong social rejection and difficulty navigating institutions made it way too easy for me to overlook how little she actually got done in the time I was her client. She was really good at keeping me thinking that something she could unlock or facilitate was always just right around the corner, but that there was always some unexpected roadblock or way that something turned out to be very different than initially claimed. I gave her the benefit of the doubt for way too long. That provider she said she had an "in" to couldn't get back to her week after week. I needed to get just one more document ready before she could help me with that form. Suddenly that person she was going to introduce me to doesn't work somewhere anymore. She was always "so sorry" to misgender me after several months of corrections. And just when I would begin to be able to feel some weird feelings about things or wonder if certain things needed to take the time that they did, she would benevolently employ DARVO to make me question whether I was being reasonable, and whether my disability was actually to blame for how things were going. It felt like tough love, with an eerie veneer of a gentle, caring correction from a parent, while insidiously chipping away at my basically nonexistent self-esteem. I was in school at the time and started to catch myself getting in the habit of feeling like I was beneath my classmates and didn't really belong in my program. There was a cycle of putting me up on a pedestal, showering me with frequent compliments on my intelligence and overall character. She implied to me that I was basically "one of the good ones" with my qualifying condition. She convinced me that she cared deeply about the rights of disabled people and admired my family. Then it was followed by "reminders" that if she could just find certain services for me, my disability wouldn't be "in the way" as much, that I was "more difficult" than her other clients, and even giving advice that discouraged me from pursuing certain goals before she could "find" certain providers for me. Often, me catching her making a small mistake or not doing something set off her more critical, pathologizing side. The scary thing is that until a few months ago, she would have easily gotten five stars from me. I'm just glad there have been no financial consequences for me since I paid her using my SDP funds. Don't let her make you think she's someone she's not. read more

Review based on a pricey consult - only. ‼ Also from a parent from a special needs child with over a decade of experience. This "advocate" didn't even want to take up our child's case, she said she doesn't do anymore "sitting in" IEP's. She did offer us a consult to review my child's old IEP's. Due to my desperate state in wanting to hire an advocate for my child's IEP, I entrusted a close friend's advice - who was a supervisor's for my child's ABA Therapy. She described this advocate as an aggressive advocate who would help us maintain our child's services and that everyone "feared" her. I thought - hey, why not give it a shot? I know for a fact that what I emailed her important documents for my child (assessments and reports) - she didn't take the time to even review or bother to read them at all. During our consult meeting, she seemed annoyed at the fact that I would even ask questions. I paid her to pretty much skim read my child's assessments indicate my child needed services to be in place and or have more timing for in services therapy. She was a very discouraging person, heavy energy during our zoom, and if anything an advocate is supposed to give you hope and encouragement; she did nothing of the sort. Gave no resolutions and zero hope. I am RELIEVED I never hired this advocate for any representation. If she placed this much energy for just our one on one consult. Imagine what it would have been like to hire her. I also advice you take the time to carefully read the 1 Star reviews below. Do not hire this advocate, you will pretty much waste money and time. I highly advise other agencies and there are also free advocacy attorneys in LA for special needs kids. Check out NAVLAW; these attorney are very good at what they do. Don't make the mistake I did. read more

Hadassah has time and time again shown an amazing understanding for the needs of children and excellently demonstrates what it means to be a special needs advocate. She works professionally and diligently when meeting with school board individuals to fight for proper treatment and ensuring that a student's IEP goals match their own personal needs. The school system is designed to give as little as necessary to students to save costs and avoid effort on the individual level. Hadassah and H&H Associates exhibits the assertiveness and dedication needed to win cases, properly defend your child's needs, and more than anything ensure a proper and well deserved education. read more

Knowing your rights and being told the truth is so important. Thanks to this association I got both today. I truly appreciate the time and the process that went into my conversation we had. I very much recommend thy if you need help with understanding your child's rights you need to set up an appointment and have her help you. Thank you read more

Hadassah helped me with both my kids. I was having a hard time getting them evaluated and IEP's in SCV. She's exceptionally knowledgeable when it comes to what services, your kids can and should get. With her help both my kids received their services. Once we moved to Torrance she helped getting our kids established in their new schools. With her help my kids are getting their educational needs met and we're so grateful. read more

Haddasah was great while we were paying hourly. When we chose to put her on retainer, however, our experience was quite different. As we are currently still engaged in resolving this issue, I'm going to hold off on providing specifics, and for now, will say only that we were ultimately extremely unhappy with Haddasah's handling of our case, and do not recommend her. This is my second review. The first was pulled down because I questioned the validity of one of the glowing reviews. I highly recommend reading Stacy K's review. read more

Hadassah Foster is a strong advocate for your child and is flexible and considerate to her clients. She is an amazing person and is hard working and professional. She should be your number one choice for your child/student's rights. read more

Hadassah Lynn Foster was very professional and was able to help me withing the same day. she helped clarify alot for me and gave me the hope and tools I need to successfully approach my daughter's IEP meeting. read more

Please note that the response by Hadassah is not true in our opinion. She said she gave us a discount but in fact charged me additionally after I posted a negative review. We are absolute in our opinion and there is no spin to any of it, and we wish her well. read more

My experience with Hadassah (H&H Associates) was horrible. I paid $3000 up front and signed a one year contract to supposedly receive unlimited hours/services (not including mediation and/or due process) of education advocacy. My first in-person encounter with Mrs. Foster occurred at an IEP meeting. Her behavior was an embarrassment to me and my husband. She was so unprofessional that we felt it necessary to apologize to the school staff. She was quite unprepared for the second IEP. She had been in possession of my daughter's school records but hadn't taken the time necessary to review them prior to the meeting. She even made a mockery of herself by getting her clients mixed up and suggesting services for our daughter that were meant for someone else. Once again embarrassing herself in front of the school and district personnel. She required me to sign a document granting her permission to obtain my daughter's school records from the district. I told her I would do so, but I too wanted copies of those files. After seventeen (17) days and several verbal requests along with three written requests she finally sent copies of our daughter's records to us. However, the records were not organized and/or labeled. Her reasoning for the disorganization was because we were in a "rush" to get them. Later, she produced a statement showing that she billed us $75 to organize, prep, and scan those records. In my opinion that's an unethical way to run a business. Ultimately, we fired her a month into our contract. We told her that she can bill us her hourly rate for the services provided. I must say though, during the time she spent at two IEP meetings and answering a few questions between a couple of phone calls and emails, we got no further along in our process than when we started with her. I have several emails sent to her that did not get the dignity of a response. At times she would respond that she's too busy with other clients that have more urgent issues. My contract stated unlimited services; my issues are urgent to me. She spends more time on Facebook doing her live discussion and responding to Facebook groups than providing services to those who have actually paid her. The school districts are money hungry and in my opinion Hadassah is no different. Unfortunately for me, the money wasted with Hadassah should've gone to my daughter's education, but instead my innocent daughter suffers, at the hands of a Mom no less. DO NOT use the services of H&H. Based upon my experience, my only opinion of Hadassah and her company is that she behaves unethically and promotes a fraudulent business. read more

I have been using Hadassah for 12m now on a very challenging advocacy. Having used several other advocates and lawyers, I find her to be excellent. She does have a very busy schedule and in demand. Highly intelligent and passionate regarding special education. read more

Hadassah Foster works individually with every parent to determine the best possible avenue to advocate for the specific needs of each child when it comes to their schooling. Hadassah holds years of experience in fighting for families. Hadassah is second to none when it comes to making sure that students with special needs have a voice and rights to an education which would otherwise be ignored or brushed under the carpet. read more

I am not the type of person who would normally post a negative comment. However, in this case, I think folks should know of our experience. Hadassah took a $1000 deposit (standard, ok) and then absolutely made our daughter's 504 meeting the worst experience I could imagine. We stopped it midway and asked her to leave the room. In the end, we decided not to employ her further (obviously). I have contacted her multiple times via email, voicemail and text, just to get an itemized bill of her "services" rendered to get an accounting of what money she might owe us from our deposit. She will not respond. At first, I gave her benefit of the doubt, but now I understand she has no intention of providing us of any accounting. I am absolutely disappointed with her. She is not professional and I can never get that moment back for my daughter where she was supposed to be advocated for properly. I seriously can't understand how you, Hadassah, can't woman up and just give us an accounting and refund for services/hours not rendered. Shame on you. read more