Keynote Speaker – Dr. Bruce Perry – Effects of Domestic Violence on Children’s Brain
Chemistry
Dr. Bruce Perry, MD, PhD is the Senior Fellow of The ChildTrauma Academy, a not-forprofit organization based in Houston, TX (www.ChildTrauma.org), and adjunct Professor
in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of
Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
Dr. Perry is the author, with Maia Szalavitz, of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, a
bestselling book based on his work with maltreated children and Born For Love: Why
Empathy is Essential and Endangered. His most recent multimedia books, BRIEF:
Reflections on Childhood, Trauma, and Society and RESILIENT: Six Core Strenths for
Healthy Development were released in 2013. Over the last thirty years, Dr. Perry has
been an active teacher, clinician and researcher in children’s mental health and the
neurosciences holding a variety of academic positions.
Dr. Perry has conducted both basic neuroscience and clinical research. His experience
as a clinician and a researcher with traumatized children has led many community and
governmental agencies to consult Dr. Perry following high-profile incidents involving
traumatized children such as the Branch Davidian siege in Waco (1993), the Oklahoma
City bombing (1995), the Columbine school shootings (1999), the September 11th
terrorist attacks (2001), Hurricane Katrina (2005), the FLDS polygamist sect (2008), the
earthquake in Haiti (2010), the tsunami in Tohoku Japan (2011), and the Sandy Hook
Elementary school shootings (2012).
Dr. Perry is the author of over 500 journal articles, book chapters and scientific
proceedings and is the recipient of numerous professional awards and honors. He has
presented about child maltreatment, children's mental health, neurodevelopment and
youth violence in a variety of venues including policy-making bodies such as the White
House Summit on Violence, the California Assembly and U.S. House Committee on
Education. Dr. Perry has been featured in a wide range of media including National
Public Radio, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Nightline, CNN, MSNBC, NBC,
ABC and CBS News and the Oprah Winfrey Show. His work has been featured in
documentaries produced by Dateline NBC, 20/20, the BBC, Nightline, CBC, PBS, as well
as dozen international documentaries. Many print media have highlighted the clinical
and research activities of Dr. Perry including a Pulitzer-prize winning series in the
Chicago Tribune, US News and World Report, Time, Newsweek, Forbes ASAP,
Washington Post, the New York Times and Rolling Stone.
In this presentation, Dr. Perry will address the delicate balance between a child’s need
to have access to a parent and the parent’s right to pursue that access, with the
concerns for the child’s mental and neurological health in exposure, past or present, to
domestic violence.
“Domestic Violence Advocates and Child Advocates: How Can We Work Together?”
Scott McCown is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Children’s Rights Clinic
at the School of Law at the University of Texas. In the clinic, students represent children
as attorneys and guardians ad litem in cases brought by Child Protective Services.
Previously Scott served as a state district judge and by special assignment
presided over a child protection docket. He is widely recognized for his expertise in
child protection and remains a member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family
Court Judges. After retiring as a judge, Scott served as executive director of the Center
for Public Policy Priorities, a think tank focusing on the challenges facing low-income
Texans.
Throughout his career, Scott has been an advocate for low-income children and
families. In 2007, the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin
presented Scott with its Vision and Valor Award of Distinction for exemplary
accomplishments in the promotion of social justice. In both 2011 and 2005, Texas
Monthly named Scott one of “the 25 Most Powerful People in Texas Politics,” calling him
a “voice for the voiceless.”
Scott earned a B.S. cum laude (Psychology) in 1976 from Texas Christian
University and a J.D. with Honors in 1979 from The University of Texas School of Law.
Jeana Lungwitz is a Clinical Professor in the Domestic Violence Clinic at the
University of Texas School of Law and a shareholder with the Lungwitz Law Firm, P.C.
Ms. Lungwitz graduated from Texas Tech School of Law in 1989 and was licensed in the
state of Texas that same year. She co-founded the Domestic Violence Clinic at the
University of Texas School of Law with Sarah Buel in the fall of 1997.
While volunteering at the Center for Battered Women (currently Safeplace) in
Austin, Texas in 1991, Ms. Lungwitz began her work with survivors of domestic violence.
She went to work as a Family Violence Staff Attorney with the Women’s Advocacy
Project, Inc. (currently the Texas Advocacy Project, Inc.), a non-profit legal corporation.
She later became the Legal Services Director of that organization and went on to open a
private practice, Wright & Lungwitz, P.C., focusing on representing victims of domestic
violence. Since 1991 Ms. Lungwitz has given presentations across the state of Texas on
legal issues affecting Texans who are abused by their intimate partners.
Ms. Lungwitz was appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to the Supreme Court
Protective Order Taskforce in 2003. She has received many awards through the years.
These awards include: Lotus Award presented by Saheli – Asian Family Support Services
of Austin – 2013; Pathfinders Award presented by the Travis County Women Lawyers’
Association – 2010; Regina Rogoff Award presented by the Austin Bar Association –
2009; Texas Law Fellows Excellence in Public Interest Award – 2008; Travis County
Women Lawyers’ Association Public Interest Law Award – 1999; and Texas Law Fellows
Excellence in Public Interest Award – 1996.
Panel Presentation: Parenting Plans When Domestic Violence is Involved”- Q&A
Judge Andrew Hathcock served as the co-director of the Children’s Rights Clinic at the
University of Texas School of Law for 11 years before taking the bench as the associate
judge for the Child Protection Court of Central Texas and then for the Civil District
Courts of Travis County. Board Certified in family law, Judge Hathcock has been a
regular lecturer, speaker and panelist regarding children’s issues and is past chair of the
State Bar Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Roslynn C. Pitre, MSW has been with Travis County Family Court Services for over
twenty years, serving as a Guardian Ad Litem for over a decade before stepping into her
current position as Assistant Director. Ms. Pitre continues to focus on the best interest
of children in the court system and has a special interest in educating families and the
public about domestic violence and its effect on children.
Donna Bloom, JD, had a long history of working with and providing assistance to
families in crisis as a result of domestic violence. She continued her mission after
obtaining her law degree in 2006 and has served as a staff attorney for the Texas
Advocacy Project, Inc. and is currently the Director of Advocacy and Legal Services in
Denton County, Texas where she is responsible for designing and implementing the
delivery of legal services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. She is widely
considered an expert regarding domestic violence and child maltreatment and consults
throughout the state on best practices related to the effective and safe delivery of
services to victims.
Charles Bowes, JD is a board certified family law specialist and partner in the firm
Coldwell Bowes LLP. Mr. Bowes is actively involved in the Travis County Bar
Association’s Family Law Section and has served as a director for several years. In two
decades of working in the family law courts, Mr. Bowes has a wealth of knowledge and
experience to bring to the table regarding children and adults who have suffered trauma.
Tammy Corrales, MA, LPC-S has worked extensively with families in various settings
ranging from an adjudication center, to family shelter, foster care, treatment centers, and
the public school system. Over the past ten years she has worked in private practice,
collaborating with other mental health professionals and members of the legal
community to establish standards of practice for therapeutic intervention with families
involved in high conflict divorce disputes. Ms. Corrales has developed a passion for
educating parents, teachers, and the general public about the challenges facing those
living with ongoing, destructive conflict within the family system.