Rate of Foster Kids on Psychotropic Drugs Falls
In a 2004 report titled “Forgotten Children” that highlighted the overuse of psychotropic medication by foster children in Texas, then-state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn wrote of a foster child who was prescribed 11 medications in one month, including two antidepressants and two stimulants to treat ADHD, at a cost of $1,088 to the state’s Medicaid program.
Since that critical report, Texas has instituted massive reforms. And though the changes have improved the state’s health care system for foster children, child welfare advocates say, the rate of foster kids prescribed psychotropic drugs remains high, and accountability gaps regarding ...
Comments (3)
Christine Lund
This is also being done in nursing homes where they charge the government thousands each month for a patient to be kept practically comatose. Whenever they move these patients from one unit to another, they toss thousands of dollars of pills down the toilet if the patients family won't take the meds with them to dispose of them. Our water is being polluted with these drugs and other people are denied medicine they need to live while pills are being thrown down the drain. The pharmacy industry has us by the 'youknowwhat'.
Christine Lund
Back to the kids. Who is prescribing these drugs? If we can spend thousands on these kids each month, why not just use that money to establish a real home for these kids. Foster parents are not always taking care of these kids. I don't want to put a harsh light on the many good people who do this work out of the goodness of their heart but many are doing it for the money. Not good. These kids will grow up and we will pay for torturing them as children. Texas is promoting birth of children that no one is able or willing to pay for. What kind of people would demand mothers give birth to children that will grow up and grow old and may never have enough to eat or a home to live in. Texas also gives people who receive less than a thousand dollars a month from S.S. or Disability a whole $16 a month in food stamps. Wow! That gives you about 50 cents a day to eat on.
Eileen Garcia
It's important to note that foster care redesign is not a panacea to fix system-wide challenges, just as it wasn't last session when it was brought up time and again by the agency as a reason not to pass further reforms. "Redesign" is a pilot -- one that is already a year behind schedule --within two very limited areas, only one of which has been contracted for. There isn't a silver bullet solution, and redesign may offer some good guidance on a small scale, but let's not forego addressing this issue under a false assumption that something is already underway that has potential to impact all children in the system. One part of the fix should at least be helping make sure the needs of foster kids are assessed acurately and with accountability -- a solution we support and that will be under consideration this session.