June 3, 2015
Page 7
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O PINION
Overmedicating Children in Foster Care
Other treatments
can build on
better outcomes
M ARIAN W RIGHT E DELMAN
On any given day
nearly one in four chil-
dren in foster care is
taking at least one psy-
chotropic medication
— more than four times
the rate for all children.
Nearly half of children
living in residential
treatment centers or group homes
take psychotropic medications.
Children in foster care are more
likely to be prescribed multiple
psychotropic medications at very
high doses, although research
shows higher doses can result in
serious side effects.
Viewers of the ABC News
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Ke’onte Cook from a few years
ago, a 10-year-old who had al-
ready spent four years in foster
care being treated with a dozen
different medications for condi-
tions including seizures, bipolar
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had never been diagnosed with
the conditions some of the med-
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der his adoptive parents’ care he
stopped taking all the medications
and started relying on therapy, and
with that new treatment
plan he was transformed.
Why are some children
in foster care being over-
medicated, and what steps
do we need to take to do
something about it?
Psychotropic medica-
tions act on the brain and central
nervous system to cause changes
in mood, behavior, or perception.
They can be effective treatments
for certain serious mental health
conditions but there is a growing
concern that too many children in
foster care are overmedicated —
in some cases as a form of behav-
ior control.
Children who come into foster
care often have been exposed to
multiple traumatic events includ-
ing the removal from their fam-
ilies, and may be at higher risk
for mental health problems and
emotional disorders. Too often
multiple medications may be used
without other kinds of effective
treatments that might better ad-
dress the underlying trauma chil-
dren are experiencing. There’s ev-
idence some children in foster care
are subjected to powerful medica-
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combinations and amounts that
are unsafe for children of any age.
pany the use of such powerful
drugs — all essential considering
the serious side effects from some
that can include nightmares, hal-
lucinations, suicidal thoughts, and
even death.
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the heartbreaking story of Gabriel
Myers, a Florida seven-year-old
who hung himself in his foster
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but there is a growing concern that
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Many psychotropic medications
are not approved for use in chil-
dren at all.
Often children in foster care
are prescribed drugs without any
psychotherapy because resources
aren’t available. They may not re-
ceive a proper initial diagnosis or
any of the ongoing monitoring or
extra services that should accom-
family’s bathroom. A state inves-
tigation concluded the use of psy-
chotropic drugs was a contribut-
ing factor in his death. His foster
father said the doctor who pre-
scribed the many drugs Gabriel
was taking — some so strong that
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little boy before sending him out
the door with another prescription.
We must do better. Too many
child welfare agencies lack the
proper non-pharmacological treat-
ments to address the mental health
needs of children in foster care.
The Administration seeks to
reduce the over-reliance on drugs
and increase the use of appropri-
ate screening, assessment, and
interventions. It wants incentives
to states that demonstrate im-
provements to reduce inappropri-
ate drug prescribing practices and
overutilization of psychotropic
medications, increase access to
evidence-based and trauma-in-
formed therapeutic interventions,
promote child and adolescent
wellbeing, and improve outcomes
for children in the child welfare
system.
These common sense and nec-
essary steps build on best practic-
es already in place in some states.
Now is the right time to ensure
children in foster care get the
treatment and care they truly need.
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To the Class of
2016
M ARC H. M ORIAL
If you are disposed
to using the Internet as
your guide, a diploma
will generally be de-
scribed as the proof of
your successful com-
pletion of a course of study, or the
bestowal of an academic degree.
Speaking from personal experi-
ence, I can tell you that diploma
in your grasp, occupying a promi-
nent space on a wall or waiting to
be pressed into your eager hand
is so much more than the sum
of your years-long efforts to be
where you are today. Your degree
is a key that opens a new door, a
new phase of life and a new set of
challenges.
Your life’s journey—and its
achievements—does not end here.
Celebrate, because you’ve earned
it; bask in your well-earned feel-
ing of accomplishment today, be-
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there is much work to be done.
On the other side of that new
door is a staircase, and that stair-
case may not be the kind fash-
ioned from crystal with smooth,
reliable, clear-cut steps. Obstacles
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may slow or impede your climb.
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boards and torn up carpet that
would trip, or at worst, defeat
someone without the training
you have been so fortunate to
attain.
There is no shortcut here, no
elevator, or bypassing of these
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is, however, the choice to apply
the perseverance and commitment
to excellence you have already
shown in your higher education
journey.
On the one hand, there is much
to celebrate in our country when
it comes to academic achievement
in African-American communi-
ties. Today, we enjoy the highest
high school graduation rates in
history. More students of color are
in college and dropout rates are
at historic lows. But the wealth
and unemployment gap between
blacks and whites remains wide.
While the black unemployment
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gle digits, it stubbornly remains
more than twice as high as the job-
less rate for whites. As our coun-
try’s economy continues to make
steady gains after the debilitating
2008 recession, millions in black
and brown communities are be-
ing left behind. In this country—
founded largely on the principle
of economic progress through
hard work—the American dream
of upward mobility remains only a
dream for too many of its citizens.
Your education, drive and di-
ploma, may likely shield you from
the harsh economic realities expe-
rienced throughout communities
of color across our nation, but it
does not strip you of an obliga-
tion to be an actor, rather than a
spectator, in our country’s struggle
to create one nation with liberty,
justice and economic opportunity
for all.
No one gets to where they are
on his or her own. You have par-
ents, grandparents, friends and
family members who invested
in your future success, put you
on this path and made sure you
stayed the course. How will you
repay their commitment to you?
Whether your ancestors came
here by plane, by train, by ship or
shackled underneath the hull of a
ship; whether the continent they
called home was Asia, Europe or
Africa, what they did when they
reached the shores of our nation,
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is debt incurred. How will you
choose to compensate them for
their struggles?
Among you are the teachers
who will lift the standard of ed-
ucation in poor communities and
begin to close the achievement
gap; among you are the preach-
ers who will heal the wounds of
communities torn apart by vio-
lence; among you are the elected
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and policies that promote social
and economic fairness for all of
America’s citizens. Herein lies the
answer. The answer our nation has
been searching for is you and your
talent, put to a higher purpose.
I cannot promise you that your
climb to success in this life will
be a crystal stair. You may very
well encounter dark corners and
obstacles. What I can promise you
is that you have been prepared to
meet these challenges head on.
And more than meet these chal-
lenges, you have also been pre-
pared to be an actor in solving so
many of the longstanding issues
and inequities facing our nation,
so “don’t you turn back.”
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The Law Offices of
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C.
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon
Portland:
Hillsoboro:
Facsimile:
Email:
(503) 244-2080
(503) 244-2081
(503) 244-2084
Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com