Foster children live in constant survival mode. There is no stability in the system, especially in group homes. An average day in a group home consists of fights, runaways, self-harms, suicidal ideations, and hospitalizations. Let’s not forget about the medication these children are placed on. The majority of children are placed on psychotropic medication that is tested and changed until they have the correct dosage and combination to ensure they remain calm. This is commonly known in the foster system as the “perfect cocktail.”
Children/ youth in foster care are placed on psychotropic medications without the knowledge or consent of the biological family. There are several reasons a child is placed on psychotropic medication. The trauma of being placed in foster care causes anxiety, insomnia, and/or depression. Often the child may have all three symptoms which will cause all three types of medications to be administered. Certain types of medications combined together can cause major side effects which include aggression and suicidal ideations. These side effects can sometimes be more life-threatening to a child.
According to ACF (Administration for Children and Family), "There has been a steady rise in the use of medication to address children’s emotional and behavioral problems over the last decade, even among preschoolers. 2 For example, one study found that, in 1996, approximately four percent of youth in the general population received psychotropic medication: almost three times the usage rates reported in 1987.3
At this time, there is no comprehensive source of data regarding psychotropic medication usage rates for children and adolescents in child welfare, including data on those in foster care. Rather, existing data: 1) is not current, lagging behind by as much as a decade; 2) is often geographically specific (e.g., from one State); and 3) comes from research conducted on the broader population of children who are involved with child welfare agencies (including children served in their own homes, as well as children who are in foster care). Despite these deficiencies, published studies consistently reveal even higher rates of use for children involved in child welfare than in the general population, with usage rates between 13 and 52."
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