Saturday 3 December 2011

Foster Kids Get More Psychiatric Drugs


A Government Accountability Report released this Thursday showed America's foster children being prescribed powerful psychotropic drugs, at doses beyond what the Food and Drug Administration has approved. At a congressional hearing the same day, Thursday saw lawmakers discussing both the problems and possible solutions.

Obviously, those in foster care are more likely to have had elements of abuse or traumatic experiences during their upbringing, thus they are more likely to end up on medication, especially once they are labeled as problem children, hopping from one home to the next.

By way of example, three-quarters of the children who enter Maryhurst's program, a nonprofit agency for neglected or abused children in Kentucky, are on psychotropic drugs, but by the time they leave, well over half are on reduced or no medication at all.

Maryhurst president and CEO Judy Lambeth continued :

"Our children come to us on many medications, but over time we want to reduce the medication as much as possible and hopefully, to where they wouldn't need any at all. That's a fine balance, but we want them to be able to participate in the treatment and if they're overmedicated, they can't do that

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