Hawai’i Parents Taking Action
Parent-led resources, advocacy tools, and community support for families navigating disability, education, and systems accountability.
Who We Are
Parent Advocates United (PAU) is an independent, parent-led network connecting families through shared experience to better understand how disability, education, and public systems affect children and families across Hawaiʻi.
PAU exists to create space for parents to share their experiences, recognize recurring patterns, and strengthen the collective parent voice. Through collaboration, documentation, and informed discussion, we encourage greater awareness of systemic issues while promoting transparency, accountability, and meaningful improvement.
Our work is grounded in the belief that parents’ lived experiences are a powerful source of knowledge. By bringing families together, we help identify common challenges, elevate parent perspectives, and foster informed dialogue that contributes to stronger advocacy, greater accountability, and better outcomes for children with disabilities across Hawaiʻi.
Our Values
At PAU Hawaiʻi, we believe every parent voice matters. We value lived experience, respectful dialogue, informed advocacy, transparency, and accountability.
We believe families should be able to participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their children and engage in advocacy without fear of being marginalized or discouraged.
By sharing knowledge and lived experiences, we encourage informed conversations and a stronger collective parent voice.
How We Help
Parent Voices
The challenges families face while navigating disability, education, and public systems are not unique to Hawaiʻi. Across the country, parents are increasingly sharing their lived experiences, asking difficult questions, and participating in conversations about how educational systems can better serve children with disabilities.
This video features Joey Ford’s testimony before his local school board regarding his own child’s educational experience. It was selected because it reflects a growing movement of parent voices nationwide, demonstrating how lived experience can contribute to public dialogue, increase awareness, and encourage thoughtful consideration of the issues affecting children and families.
Disclaimer
The information, resources, and parent testimonials shared by Parent Advocates United (PAU) are provided for educational and informational purposes only and are intended to promote awareness and informed advocacy.
PAU is a parent-led advocacy organization and does not provide legal advice, legal representation, medical, psychological, or professional educational services. Nothing on this website should be considered a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.
Parent testimonials reflect the personal experiences and opinions of the individuals who shared them. Every family’s circumstances are unique, and these stories should not be interpreted as legal conclusions or guarantees of similar outcomes.
To protect the privacy of contributing families, testimonials may be published anonymously or with identifying details removed. Use of this website does not create a professional or attorney-client relationship with PAU or its contributors.