Child Welfare Expert Witnesses in New Mexico

This highly qualified expert received her BA in Psychology and her MS in Clinical Social Work from the University of Texas-Pan American. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and she is a certified Family Trauma Professional, Suicide Prevention Counselor and Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). This expert previously worked as Supervisor II for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Here, she led and supervised a unit of caseworkers responsible for providing adult protective services to victims of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. She provided case management supervision and interacted routinely with the Texas Department of Family Services' clients, organizations' representatives, and the public. This expert then went on to work as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and as Executive Director of the Family Crisis Center of the Rio Grande Valley. She managed and lead the social services agency and provided individual and group mental health therapy and case management supervision. This expert is currently an Adjunct Professor of Social Work at two universities in Texas and she is a Psychotherapist at a women's emotional wellness center.

This expert has 10 years of experience as a litigator and more than 30 years of experience as a staff person and volunteer in agencies advocating for victims of abuse and neglect. In addition to her Juris Doctorate and Masters Degree in Human Relations, she also has a diploma from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics in Interdisciplinary Training in Child Abuse and Neglect. A nationally and internationally recognized expert in the area of child sexual abuse prevention, she played an integral role in the research, development, and implementation of a child sexual abuse prevention program that is delivered in 87 U.S. Catholic dioceses, representing about 75% of the Catholics in the U.S. Currently, this expert is the Owner and Principal of a consulting firm that provides programs and services to educate adults about the nature and scope of child sexual abuse and teaches adults how to recognize other adults whose behavior may indicate that they are a potential risk to children. Her consulting firm also works with corporations and agencies to create policies, procedures, and processes for screening and supervising employees and volunteers who work with children.

This expert is a vocational specialist and Certified Rehabilitation Counselor who has provided vocational evaluation, occupational counseling, and labor market evaluation services for the severely disabled since 2009. Her professional career includes work with work with several career services and therapy groups. Her professional associations include the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, the American Board of Vocational Experts, the Baylor Women's Council of Austin, and Junior League of Austin. Her academic and teaching appointments include lecturer and curriculum design positions at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Austin Resource Center for Independent Living. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and a Master of Education in Rehabilitation Counseling from The University of Texas at Austin.