VLJ proudly features Nina Peckman, Esq. as our July 2022 Volunteer of the Month. For over sixteen years Nina, a staff attorney with Advocates for Children of New Jersey (“ACNJ”), has provided legal assistance to parents, including advice and representation in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings and at mediations. In addition to supporting parents who have children with learning issues, Nina assists parents in school discipline and Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (“HIB”) cases. She also publishes on a wide variety of topics including the recently updated “Basic Guide to Special Education” for parents and professionals helping families. If that weren’t enough, Nina provides trainings for parents, school staff, psychologists, social workers, healthcare providers, and staff at community based organizations. Critically, Nina is one of very few parent attorneys in New Jersey who is bilingual in English and Spanish and provides free legal help to parents of children with education needs.
In addition to directly assisting parents, Nina plays an integral role in helping attorneys and staff serving children through various state agencies ensure that the educational needs of the children being served are appropriately addressed. Nina provides legal advice on education matters to the Office of the Public Defender-Office of the Law Guardian, caseworkers at the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and professionals working with children and youth through the NJ Children’s System of Care. Nina is an active member of the New Jersey Special Education Practitioners Workgroup and the School Law Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
Prior to joining ACNJ in 2006, Nina worked for the Community Health Law Project (CHLP) providing legal representation to adults diagnosed with mental disabilities. Prior to her time at CHLP, she was General Counsel at Engender Health, a non-profit organization working to improve women and children’s health services in developing countries. Nina earned her Juris Doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University.
VLJ is very grateful and fortunate for Nina’s partnership and support! Nina began her partnership with VLJ over a decade ago, initially referring cases. For those not familiar with special education cases, full representation in litigation requires significant resources and time. ACNJ partnered with the Education Law Center and VLJ to recruit and train attorneys who were willing to take cases pro bono. Through this partnership, ACNJ and VLJ are able to strategically provide more legal help to parents while also allowing amazing advocates such as Nina to do the important work of assisting clients in non-litigation matters. In recent years Nina has been accepting referrals from VLJ when a client’s legal goals could likely be resolved through negotiating an IEP rather than litigation.
Nina considers taking cases from VLJ as part of her personal mission as well as her mission as a staff attorney with ACNJ. If an opportunity to help a child comes along, and she is available, Nina is there. Nina loves VLJ’s unique model of placing cases with pro bono attorneys for full representation. She notes that there are simply very few organizations with any capacity to provide full representation to underserved parents. Nina shared that VLJ is always very responsive, supportive, and willing to facilitate solutions. Education issues can be very complex, and most parents do not have the resources to hire a lawyer. Even merely assisting a parent “behind the scenes” by writing a letter or informing an underserved district that a parent is consulting with a lawyer can result in a more positive outcome for the child/student.
Nina recalls a case referred through VLJ that involved both truancy and special education issues. The student was engaging in school refusal (school refusal describes the disorder of a child who refuses to go to school on a regular basis or has problems staying in school), but rather than evaluating the student and providing necessary services, the school district blamed the parent. Nina collaborated with another VLJ volunteer, who focused on the truancy issue, while she focused on the special education issue. In the spirit of “Teamwork makes the dream work,” Nina mentored the other volunteer to successfully resolve the truancy matter. As a result, the other volunteer was able to share information about the truancy matter that helped Nina successfully resolve the special education concerns. The truancy matter was dismissed, and after filing for mediation and assisting the parent in securing an Independent Educational Evaluation, Nina negotiated an appropriate IEP for the student. Importantly, with a long-term lens, Nina also took the practical steps necessary to develop a working relationship between the school district and the parent.
Nina cannot emphasize her appreciation of VLJ enough. She is thrilled when VLJ takes a case referred from ACNJ because VLJ will always try to help a parent in need of representation.
On behalf of VLJ’s clients, staff, and Board, we celebrate Nina and her dedicated passion for ensuring access to justice for people experiencing poverty. Thank you, Nina!