The Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities is a scholarship offered by Step Up For Students. The FES is “an Educational Savings Account (ESA) and functions like a bank account where you can withdraw funds to pay for your child’s education, including Tuition/Fees for Private School or Homeschooling, textbooks, tutoring, therapies and more”(Florida Department of Education).

Eligibility Requirements

• Must be a Florida resident

• Must be at least 3 years of age before September 1st of the current school year

• Must have a copy of an IEP, have a diagnosis of a disability by a physician or be considered “high risk”(3-5 years of age with a developmental delay, a survivor of a catastrophic infectious or traumatic illness associated with a developmental delay, have parent/guardian with developmental disabilities who requires assistance in meeting the child’s developmental needs, or have a physical or genetic anomaly associated with developmental disability)

• Must not be attending a public school

How it works

1. Apply for a scholarship through Step Up For Students. You will need to show proof of your child’s age, diagnosis and residency

2. Once approved, funds will be deposited into an ESA

3. Go to MyScholarShop to find pre-approved services and products Payments to providers and vendors are made directly from the ESA. Bay to Beach Speech is a pre-approved provider.

4. Purchase preapproved services and products for your child’s education and request reimbursement