The federal audit examined Medicaid prescription rates of foster children and discovered in 5 states (Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, and Massachusetts) that kids (including infants) in the fostercare system are prescribed psychotropics, drugs used to treat mental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia, at rates 2.7 to 4.5 times higher than their non-fostercare counterparts. Some of these kids are prescribed as many as 5 drugs at a time, often times exceeding FDA dosage guidelines. Scarily enough, this treatment is dolled out to kids at young as 1.
Investigations uncovered that in all 5 states monitoring programs for psychotropic treatment all fell short of the guidelines issued by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, which disturbingly enough, NO STATE IS REQUIRED TO FOLLOW. Check out the article and video for more info: Foster children in FL prescribed Psychotropics at far Higher Rates 2008 Foster Kids Prescribed Psychotropic Drugs
