Trauma History and Psychotropic Medication:

What Judges and Attorneys Need to Know

The Children’s Commission will host a webinar entitled “Trauma History and Psychotropic Medication: What Judges and Attorneys Need to Know” on Thursday, September 7, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

This webinar will cover how having a patient’s complete trauma history can assist medical professionals with providing proper medical diagnoses and treatment plans. The discussion will also focus on duties, responsibilities, and best practice tips for attorneys representing parents and children in child welfare cases when psychotropic medications are or may be prescribed to a child.

Speakers include Hon. Delia Gonzales, Associate Judge of the Dallas County Child Protection and Permanency Court; Dr. Anu Partap, Medical Director of Health Equity at Cook Children’s Health Care System; Tiffany Crouch Bartlett, parent and child’s attorney in Central Texas, and Michelle Latray, parent and child’s attorney in Groesbeck, Texas. MCLE and TBLS credits are pending.

Registration is limited and early registration is encouraged. The presentation and materials will be archived and available on the Children’s Commission website.

Launch of New Jail In-Reach Learning Collaborative Cohort

HHSC is launching Cohort Three of the Jail In-Reach Learning Collaborative (JIRLC). The JIRLC supports county forensic teams—representing local mental health authorities and local behavioral health authorities, county sheriffs’ offices, jail administration, jail medical and psychiatric providers, prosecution, defense counsel, and the judiciary—in identifying strategies to actively monitor people in county jails who have been found incompetent to stand trial and are awaiting admission into a State Hospital.

Participating counties will work directly with HHSC’s Chief of Forensic Medicine, Office of Forensic Coordination, and their teams to receive clinical consultations, forensic services, legal education, and planning support.

For more information, please review the application, visit the Texas Behavioral Health and Justice Technical Assistance Center website or reach out to jailinreach@hhs.texas.gov. The deadline to apply is September 5, 2023.