High rates of foster kids given antipsychotic medications, study finds

[CrazyinVA]

Foster children are being prescribed cocktails of powerful antipsychosis drugs just as frequently as some of the most mentally disabled youngsters on Medicaid, a new study suggests.

Full article here:
NYT: Foster kids often given antipsychotic medications - Health - Children's health - msnbc.com

Seems to me many foster kids are more likely to suffer from mental illness, so this didn't surprise me. It's statistical, it doesn't mean that these kids are being irresponsibly medicated. But it's once again a "we're overmedicating our kids unnecessarily" kind of slant from people that don't know what it's like to raise a difficult child, and that sometimes medications are a last resort, or a means of stabilizing behaviors while you work on underlying issues. As the final paragraph says:

“The psychiatrists who are treating these kids on the front lines are not doing it for money; there are very low reimbursement rates from Medicaid,” said Dr. Ramesh Raghavan, a mental health services researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. “There’s enormous anguish because everyone knows that this is not what we should be doing for these kids. We as a society simply haven’t made the investment in psychosocial treatments, and so we are forced to rely on psychotropic drugs to carry the burden.”

 

[AnnieO]

'The kids in foster care may come from bad homes, but they do not have the sort of complex medical issues that those in the disabled population do,' said Susan dosReis, an associate professor in the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and the lead author.

ORLY?!
Maybe not all of them, but let's face it - there are a lot of reasons for kids to be in foster care - but what it boils down to is either 1) something went wrong with them or 2) something went wrong with their parents (and MI can be, after all, inherited). I'm not saying it's all bad kids/bad parents. But - a kid is orphaned - they can go into foster care - they would be the ones that probably don't need medicated... A kid with a bipolar Mom who self-medicates with alcohol and/or recreational pharmaceuticals and is therefore in prison, and a Dad who they never knew... Might. It all depends...

 

[CrazyinVA]

Exactly. It's also telling, to me, that the quote is from a pharmacy professor, not a psychiatrist.

 

[AnnieO]

Don't you love the way people "assume"?

I used to be so anti-medications... Till I got a little experience and learned a few things - now - if it's needed...!

 

[klmno]

And what about a parent who just can't get adequate services for the difficult child without putting him/her in the dss system? That always starts with a FH due to it being the LRE. Examplle- single mom, out of control difficult child and only thing available if kid stays with mom are short stays in psychiatric hospital. If kid goes to dss, the kid can get services thru medicaid and those pay for a WHOLE lot more. Don't assume that all single moms are on medicaid or qualify for it. If my son had been the high-maintenance difficult child he is now when he was 4,8, whatever...I would have had no choice but to consider DSS. I'm not saying I would have definitely done that, but my only 2 choices would have been dss or quitting work and living on welfare, etc. If you work as a prof, you don't get all that child care help and so forth and mainstream day cares won't take a kid who's that much of a difficult child so mom can go to work just to have a decent roof, food and insurance that covers the min.

 

[ready2run]

i also wonder how many kids that are abused and taken into foster care were abused because of their gfgness and parents not knowing what is wrong with them.(not an excuse but we can understand how that would happen) there seem to be alot of people who put their kids in foster homes on a temporary basis as well because they don't have the skills to deal with them or they get blamed for kid being as they are, abuse is suspected because of odd behaviour of MI kid or whatever. it's hard for 'normal' families to see that though. i have more than once thought of sending difficult child off to foster care just so i could have peace in my home.

 

[JJJ]

Many factors combine for that 'perfect storm' of higher than average medicated children:

1. Mental illness has a HUGE genetic component. Parent mental illness and substance abuse is a factor in nearly all cases.

2. Many foster children have suffered traumatic abuse and all have suffered from the traumatic event of being taken from their families.

3. All foster kids are on Medicaid so they have access to pysch medications that uninsured or underinsured kids do not have.

4. Foster parents receive training on recognizing mental health issues, are required/encouraged to proactively seek therapy for the kids and are less likely to be in denial that the child needs help.

 

[compassion]

As a parent who's difficult child recived no medications until age 15 and is on the highest dose of the anit-sycotic,abilify, I am grateful to these medications. GEG was just Baker acted last Sat. and in looking at options for longer term care, came acoss a Nar-anon faicility that appears to have Scintology ties. THey beleive in no medications, have the patients do6 hour detox sauna a day,eduction,etc. CBT and BA has been somewhat effrective but honestly the biggest help has been the antisycotic and mood stabilizers. The p-doctor at crisis stabilization lowered her abilifyto 15 and took her off topomax and on 300 lactimal a day. After 2.5 days she was released and she is back on her orignal medications. She is now taking 10 mg. ambian for sleep. I am very natural oriented and foundt medications for so many years but rally, nothing esle stopped the 3 hours rages but the antipyscotic. It is so ironic when I feel an overly drgged judggment. by the way, difficult child while she ahas medicaid becasue she has ssi-d, the medications are paid laregly by BCBS with realtively low co-pay from us. I am grateful for the medications.

 

[buddy]

And what about a parent who just can't get adequate services for the difficult child without putting him/her in the dss system? That always starts with a FH due to it being the LRE. Examplle- single mom, out of control difficult child and only thing available if kid stays with mom are short stays in psychiatric hospital. If kid goes to dss, the kid can get services thru medicaid and those pay for a WHOLE lot more. Don't assume that all single moms are on medicaid or qualify for it. If my son had been the high-maintenance difficult child he is now when he was 4,8, whatever...I would have had no choice but to consider DSS. I'm not saying I would have definitely done that, but my only 2 choices would have been dss or quitting work and living on welfare, etc. If you work as a prof, you don't get all that child care help and so forth and mainstream day cares won't take a kid who's that much of a difficult child so mom can go to work just to have a decent roof, food and insurance that covers the min.

Story of my life in one short paragraph. Luckily MN (as many states have) passed legislation to allow home caregivers to be paid thru the medical assistance waiver at pca rates. Not much but it is work, a salary, we pay taxes, and it is much cheaper for the system than foster care, rehab hospitals, Residential Treatment Center (RTC), on and on...

The USA is great in many ways, but there are countries that are so much further along when it comes to supporting families. From maternity care to elderly care and all of the things in between....including illnesses and disabilities.

 

[InsaneCdn]

The USA is great in many ways, but there are countries that are so much further along when it comes to supporting families. From maternity care to elderly care and all of the things in between....including illnesses and disabilities

Buddy -
Care to name names? as in, which countries, so we can move there?

Other than maternity care... which is reasonably accessible here...
Support for families? nope.

 

[TerryJ2]

Kipa, good for you! I wish there were more stories like yours.

Years ago, I really think there were more success stories.

But I agree, the people who write articles like this slant them, and they probably have no kids. So many kids now are damaged before they even get into the system.