Popular on Rezul
- Tampa-Based Social Media Marketing Agency Launches New Website to Help Local Businesses Grow Online
- The Tide Project Opens at Biennale Architettura 2025 in Venice Amplifying Youth Voices
- Aureli Construction Sets the Standard for Seamless Home Additions in Greater Boston
- Pathways to Adulthood Conference May 17 at Melville Marriott Honoring NYS Assembly Member Jodi Giglio, Suffolk County Legislator Nick Caracappa
- The Paris Court of International Arbitration Elects Dr. John J. Maalouf as its New President
- Divorce-Online Marks 25 Years Transforming Family Law Services in the UK
- Adster Techologies awarded US Patent for breakthrough innovation in reducing latency in Ad Serving
- Georgia's Traditions of Braselton to Host Spring Open House Event
- Visa Named Title Sponsor of Ascending Athletes' Business Owners Summits for NFL Entrepreneurs
- Harvest Properties Acquires Two San Francisco Bay Area Self Storage Facilities for $44.2 Million
Similar on Rezul
- Non-Citizen NY Travelers Face Extra Scrutiny at Local Airports: Attorney Robert Tsigler Featured in Gothamist
- Chosen Launches Mobile Family Closet to Serve Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Families Across Southeastern Wisconsin
- June Is Men's Health Month 2025:
- Inframark Expands Its Capabilities and Presence in Arizona, Adding Wastewater Experts Mehall Contracting
- ARCH Dental + Aesthetics Unveils New Website for Enhanced Patient Experience
- Juventix Regenerative Medical Announces Strategic Partnership with Juvasonic® to Expand Needle-Free Biologic Delivery Platform
- Group Seeks End to Mandated Community Psychiatric Programs, Citing Global Alarm
- GENIUS EDGE DEFI™ Distributed Energy Flexible Infrastructure
- Enable Accessible Haircare Wins Bronze at 2025 NACD Packaging Awards
- Spiritually Transformative Events Based on Bhagavad Gita – Path to a Fulfilling Life
Foster Care Children Vulnerable to Maltreatment, Including Psychotropic Drug Use
Rezul News/10673276
CCHR, a mental health industry watchdog, praises OIG report
highlighting states' failed oversight of foster children's treatment and calls for immediate action to address ongoing drugging concerns.
highlighting states' failed oversight of foster children's treatment and calls for immediate action to address ongoing drugging concerns.
LOS ANGELES - Rezul -- The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services delivered a critical report on the inadequate protection of foster care children in residential behavioral treatment centers. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), which has long exposed the mistreatment and psychotropic drugging of foster children, commended the OIG report titled "Many States Lack Information To Monitor Maltreatment in Residential Facilities for Children in Foster Care."[1] CCHR emphasized the report's candid assessment of the poor state of oversight and stressed the urgency of implementing its recommendations to prevent the failures of past reform efforts.
The report says, "Policymakers, news media, and advocacy groups have raised concerns about the effectiveness of oversight efforts to protect children in these settings." It surveyed each state child welfare agency to determine how they monitor child maltreatment that occurs in residential facilities. This is because "States oversee residential facilities, and ACF [Administration for Children and Families] provides funding and oversight to States for children in foster care who meet certain eligibility requirements."
The OIG's findings show a failure to meet these requirements. Nearly one-third of states could not identify patterns of maltreatment in residential facilities within their state. States also had limited awareness of maltreatment that occurred across chains of residential facilities operating in multiple states.
Instances of abuse and neglect (collectively referred to as maltreatment) have been reported as occurring in residential facilities, including cases of physical violence, sexual assault, and improper restraints across nationwide chains of facilities.
CCHR filed Freedom of Information Act requests to each state asking for the numbers of Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) child beneficiaries who were drugged in 2023. To date, 28 states have responded, revealing that 2.3 million underprivileged children and teens ages 0-17 were prescribed psychiatric drugs under Medicaid at a cost of $1.4 billion.
Stimulants are the predominant class of psychiatric drugs prescribed to them, followed by anti-anxiety drugs for 0-5 year-olds, both of which are documented to cause addiction and other dangerous adverse effects.
More on Rezul News
In 2011, the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) found that foster children aged 0-17 in Medicaid were drugged at rates 2.7-4.5 times higher than were non-foster children in Medicaid. A sample of five states revealed the following percentages of foster children on psychotropic drugs:
CCHR lists some of the past government findings regarding this:
2008-2010: The Congressional Research Service found that nearly one out of every four children in foster care was using a psychiatric drug.[3]
2011: The GAO determined that the federal government had not done enough to oversee the treatment of foster children with powerful mind-altering drugs.[4]
ABC News' story, "Generation Meds," revealed foster children were more than nine times more likely than non-foster children to be prescribed drugs for which there was no FDA-recommended dose for their age.[5] Diane Sawyer and Sharyn Alfonsi uncovered that many foster children, even one-year-olds, were prescribed mind-altering drugs up to 13 times higher than that of other children.[6]
2012: Senator Charles Grassley sent letters to 34 states asking what steps they had taken to investigate doctors whose prescribing of antipsychotics, anti-anxiety drugs and painkillers to Medicaid patients far exceeded that of their peers.[7]
2014: A Congressional hearing acknowledged that at disproportionately higher rates over other children. The GAO estimated numbers as high as 20 to 39%.[8]
In a 2020 study published in Psychiatric Services, the effects of this reliance upon drugging were noted, "Psychoactive medications are the most expensive and fastest-growing class of pharmaceutical agents for children. The cost, side effects, and unprecedented growth rate at which these drugs are prescribed have raised alarms from health care clinicians, patient advocates, and agencies about the appropriateness of how these drugs are distributed to parents and their children."[9]
More on Rezul News
CCHR wants accountable oversight of congregate mental health and behavioral facilities, especially identifying the drug and treatment practices that foster care and Medicaid/CHIP child beneficiaries receive, as well as isolating top prescribers. Tough penalties are needed for child maltreatment involving psychotropic drugs or other psychotherapeutic practices.
About CCHR: It was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and eminent professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz. Helping achieve hundreds of laws to protect individuals, the 2004 federal Prohibition of Mandatory Medication Amendment banned children from being forced to take psychiatric drugs as a requisite for education.
[1] "Many States Lack Information To Monitor Maltreatment in Residential Facilities for Children in Foster Care," June 2024, oig.hhs.gov/documents/evaluation/9920/OEI-07-22-00530.pdf
[2] Kelly O'Meara, "National Child Abuse Prevention Month: Stop Mass Drugging of Foster Care Kids," CCHR International, 28 Apr. 2015, www.cchrint.org/2015/04/28/national-child-abuse-prevention-month-stop-mass-drugging-of-foster-care-kids/
[3] Kelly O'Meara, "Congress Saying Foster Kids are 'Over-drugged' is Like Saying Nuclear Waste is 'Overly-toxic,'" CCHR International, 3 June 2014, www.cchrint.org/2014/06/03/congress-saying-foster-kids-are-over-drugged-is-like-saying-nuclear-waste-is-overly-toxic/
[4] "New Study Shows U.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs: GAO report released today caps off year-long investigation by ABC News," ABC News, 30 Nov. 2011, abcnews.go.com/US/study-shows-foster-children-high-rates-prescription-psychiatric/story?id=15058380
[5] "New Study Shows U.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs: GAO report released today caps off year-long investigation by ABC News," ABC News, 30 Nov. 2011, abcnews.go.com/US/study-shows-foster-children-high-rates-prescription-psychiatric/story?id=15058380
[6] "ABC News Investigation: Diane Sawyer and Sharyn Alfonsi to Report on the Overmedication of Children in the U.S. Foster Care System," ABC News, 20 Nov. 2011, abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/11/abc-news-investigation-diane-sawyer-and-sharyn-alfonsi-to-report-on-the-overmedication-of-children-in-the-u-s-foster-care-system
[7] "Senate Watchdog Targets High-Prescribing Medicaid Docs," ProPublica, 24 Jan. 2012, www.propublica.org/article/senate-watchdog-targets-high-prescribing-medicaid-docs
[8] Kelly O'Meara, "Congress Saying Foster Kids are 'Over-drugged' is Like Saying Nuclear Waste is 'Overly-toxic,'" CCHR International, 3 June 2014, www.cchrint.org/2014/06/03/congress-saying-foster-kids-are-over-drugged-is-like-saying-nuclear-waste-is-overly-toxic/
[9] Kelly J. Kelleher, M.D., "Policy and Practice Innovations to Improve Prescribing of Psychoactive Medications for Children," Psychiatric Services, 19 Mar. 2020
The report says, "Policymakers, news media, and advocacy groups have raised concerns about the effectiveness of oversight efforts to protect children in these settings." It surveyed each state child welfare agency to determine how they monitor child maltreatment that occurs in residential facilities. This is because "States oversee residential facilities, and ACF [Administration for Children and Families] provides funding and oversight to States for children in foster care who meet certain eligibility requirements."
The OIG's findings show a failure to meet these requirements. Nearly one-third of states could not identify patterns of maltreatment in residential facilities within their state. States also had limited awareness of maltreatment that occurred across chains of residential facilities operating in multiple states.
Instances of abuse and neglect (collectively referred to as maltreatment) have been reported as occurring in residential facilities, including cases of physical violence, sexual assault, and improper restraints across nationwide chains of facilities.
CCHR filed Freedom of Information Act requests to each state asking for the numbers of Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) child beneficiaries who were drugged in 2023. To date, 28 states have responded, revealing that 2.3 million underprivileged children and teens ages 0-17 were prescribed psychiatric drugs under Medicaid at a cost of $1.4 billion.
Stimulants are the predominant class of psychiatric drugs prescribed to them, followed by anti-anxiety drugs for 0-5 year-olds, both of which are documented to cause addiction and other dangerous adverse effects.
More on Rezul News
- Deadline Extended: More Time to Submit Your Proposal for the OpenSSL Conference 2025
- "We Don't Give a Crap About Interest Rates." Baby Boomers are Flexing Their Equity Muscles
- Pulitzer Prize Nominated Lauren Coyle Rosen Releases New Album, Covers and Veils in Blue
- Central Florida Real Estate Prices Decline: What It Means for Buyers and Sellers
- Detroit Grand Prix High Profile Media Exposure, $100 Million Financing for Major Acquisition & Growth Strategy; Remote Lottery Platform: Lottery.com
In 2011, the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) found that foster children aged 0-17 in Medicaid were drugged at rates 2.7-4.5 times higher than were non-foster children in Medicaid. A sample of five states revealed the following percentages of foster children on psychotropic drugs:
- Massachusetts 39.1%
- Texas 32.2%.
- Florida 22%,
- Michigan 21%,
- Oregon 19.7%[2]
- Florida: 185,428 0-17 year-olds (at a cost of $178.45 million), of which 18,938 were 0-5 years old (with drug costs of $2.78 million)
- Michigan: 100,364 0-17 year-olds ($73.37 million), of which 6,839 were 0-5 ($2.27 million)
- Massachusetts 59,169 0-17 year-olds ($68.81 million) of which 1,890 were ages 0-5 ($557,827)
CCHR lists some of the past government findings regarding this:
2008-2010: The Congressional Research Service found that nearly one out of every four children in foster care was using a psychiatric drug.[3]
2011: The GAO determined that the federal government had not done enough to oversee the treatment of foster children with powerful mind-altering drugs.[4]
ABC News' story, "Generation Meds," revealed foster children were more than nine times more likely than non-foster children to be prescribed drugs for which there was no FDA-recommended dose for their age.[5] Diane Sawyer and Sharyn Alfonsi uncovered that many foster children, even one-year-olds, were prescribed mind-altering drugs up to 13 times higher than that of other children.[6]
2012: Senator Charles Grassley sent letters to 34 states asking what steps they had taken to investigate doctors whose prescribing of antipsychotics, anti-anxiety drugs and painkillers to Medicaid patients far exceeded that of their peers.[7]
2014: A Congressional hearing acknowledged that at disproportionately higher rates over other children. The GAO estimated numbers as high as 20 to 39%.[8]
In a 2020 study published in Psychiatric Services, the effects of this reliance upon drugging were noted, "Psychoactive medications are the most expensive and fastest-growing class of pharmaceutical agents for children. The cost, side effects, and unprecedented growth rate at which these drugs are prescribed have raised alarms from health care clinicians, patient advocates, and agencies about the appropriateness of how these drugs are distributed to parents and their children."[9]
More on Rezul News
- Tomorrow's World Today Shines Bright with Four Telly Awards at the 46th Annual Telly Awards
- Flexi-View Lending Closes $9.5 Million Commercial Loan for Property Acquisition in Dallas, TX
- Greenfield Communities Honored with Eight 2025 MAME Awards
- Lake life awaits on Long Lake!
- Welcome to this well maintained home in the heart of Champlin!
CCHR wants accountable oversight of congregate mental health and behavioral facilities, especially identifying the drug and treatment practices that foster care and Medicaid/CHIP child beneficiaries receive, as well as isolating top prescribers. Tough penalties are needed for child maltreatment involving psychotropic drugs or other psychotherapeutic practices.
About CCHR: It was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and eminent professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz. Helping achieve hundreds of laws to protect individuals, the 2004 federal Prohibition of Mandatory Medication Amendment banned children from being forced to take psychiatric drugs as a requisite for education.
[1] "Many States Lack Information To Monitor Maltreatment in Residential Facilities for Children in Foster Care," June 2024, oig.hhs.gov/documents/evaluation/9920/OEI-07-22-00530.pdf
[2] Kelly O'Meara, "National Child Abuse Prevention Month: Stop Mass Drugging of Foster Care Kids," CCHR International, 28 Apr. 2015, www.cchrint.org/2015/04/28/national-child-abuse-prevention-month-stop-mass-drugging-of-foster-care-kids/
[3] Kelly O'Meara, "Congress Saying Foster Kids are 'Over-drugged' is Like Saying Nuclear Waste is 'Overly-toxic,'" CCHR International, 3 June 2014, www.cchrint.org/2014/06/03/congress-saying-foster-kids-are-over-drugged-is-like-saying-nuclear-waste-is-overly-toxic/
[4] "New Study Shows U.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs: GAO report released today caps off year-long investigation by ABC News," ABC News, 30 Nov. 2011, abcnews.go.com/US/study-shows-foster-children-high-rates-prescription-psychiatric/story?id=15058380
[5] "New Study Shows U.S. Government Fails to Oversee Treatment of Foster Children With Mind-Altering Drugs: GAO report released today caps off year-long investigation by ABC News," ABC News, 30 Nov. 2011, abcnews.go.com/US/study-shows-foster-children-high-rates-prescription-psychiatric/story?id=15058380
[6] "ABC News Investigation: Diane Sawyer and Sharyn Alfonsi to Report on the Overmedication of Children in the U.S. Foster Care System," ABC News, 20 Nov. 2011, abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/11/abc-news-investigation-diane-sawyer-and-sharyn-alfonsi-to-report-on-the-overmedication-of-children-in-the-u-s-foster-care-system
[7] "Senate Watchdog Targets High-Prescribing Medicaid Docs," ProPublica, 24 Jan. 2012, www.propublica.org/article/senate-watchdog-targets-high-prescribing-medicaid-docs
[8] Kelly O'Meara, "Congress Saying Foster Kids are 'Over-drugged' is Like Saying Nuclear Waste is 'Overly-toxic,'" CCHR International, 3 June 2014, www.cchrint.org/2014/06/03/congress-saying-foster-kids-are-over-drugged-is-like-saying-nuclear-waste-is-overly-toxic/
[9] Kelly J. Kelleher, M.D., "Policy and Practice Innovations to Improve Prescribing of Psychoactive Medications for Children," Psychiatric Services, 19 Mar. 2020
Source: Citizens Commission on Human Rights
Filed Under: Consumer
0 Comments
Latest on Rezul News
- New Website Launch Positions TekTone Builders As Tulsa's Commercial Construction Leader
- Explore Luxury Homes for Sale in Las Vegas with Blue Heron
- Inframark Expands Its Capabilities and Presence in Arizona, Adding Wastewater Experts Mehall Contracting
- FilmHedge Is Letting A.I. Into the Deal Room—And Hollywood Will Never Be the Same
- This Artificial Intelligence Platform Could Change How Hollywood Gets Funded Forever
- $100 Million Financing Unlocked for Aggressive Acquisition and Growth Strategy Including Plan to Acquire Remote Lottery Platform: Stock Symbol: LTRY
- ARCH Dental + Aesthetics Unveils New Website for Enhanced Patient Experience
- Juventix Regenerative Medical Announces Strategic Partnership with Juvasonic® to Expand Needle-Free Biologic Delivery Platform
- A-One Janitorial Grows El Paso Operations Amid Meta and Microsoft Expansion
- Upper Westside Gem: Don't Miss This Rare Opportunity for ITP Living at an OTP Value
- Hunters Run GM Optimistic About Future Of Club's Real Estate
- Final Building Release at Popular Townhome Community, The Collection at Wolf Creek in Lawrenceville
- Prymax Media & Technology Group Acquires 'Hidden Treasures' From Estate of Jewel Records Founder Stan Lewis
- Cooking with the Godfather Blends Family Tradition, Italian Flavor, and Leadership Wisdom
- Group Seeks End to Mandated Community Psychiatric Programs, Citing Global Alarm
- CoreIntegrator Announces Sage Intacct Approved A/P One Integration, Becoming an Official Sage Partner
- GENIUS EDGE DEFI™ Distributed Energy Flexible Infrastructure
- Enable Accessible Haircare Wins Bronze at 2025 NACD Packaging Awards
- Grand Opening Abrazo at Rice Hope on June 18
- Deshawn White and Oceans Chest Unveil Country Single "What I Can" from Upcoming Album Let God and Let Go