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SALISBURY, MD---Dr. I. Eugene White, assistant professor of psychology at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ University, recently spoke at the 24th annual National Children’s Law Conference in San Diego, CA. The theme of the conference, “Moving from Sympathy to Empathy,” focused on working with children and their families involved in the legal process. 

During the conference White presented the paper, “Helping Separating and Divorcing Parents Remain Child-Focused: Growth and Development of a State-Mandated Protocol in Maryland Circuit Courts.” The presentation focused on a six-hour parenting course that he and Dr. Eileen Matlack, also of ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½, offer monthly to the community through ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½’s Center for Conflict Resolution. Both White and Matlack are certified as parent educators through the Center for Children of Separation and Divorce Inc. in Columbia, MD.

Maryland Rule 16-204, passed by the Maryland Court of Appeals in 1998, mandates that each county offers a six-hour education experience to teach both mothers and fathers developmentally appropriate responses to lessen the trauma to their children. Since its inception in Wicomico County in 1998, approximately 700 parents have completed the course.