I thought I'd bring this important Denver Post series, "Prescription Kids," to the group's attention. The articles focus on the rate at which antipsychotic and antidepressant medications are prescribed to foster children in Colorado.
The articles raise a compelling question: Are these children, many of whom have been traumatized, receiving the appropriate treatment for their symptoms and conditions when they are prescribed multiple medications to help control their behavior? The medication may surely help in some cases, but the reporters who authored this series look at how Colorado is trying to adopt a trauma-informed approach to identifying and treating trauma in foster children. This may include prescription medication, but it increasingly includes different types of play and talk therapy to help reduce chronic stress and anxiety in these children.
The third piece in the series, "New thinking on brain-science therapies could help foster kids," outlines the concerns and solutions in Colorado quite well.
We'd like to hear from you on this topic. Are you troubled by the rate at which foster children are medicated? Do you see a shift in other foster care systems across the country from a medication model to a therapy model that includes different types of interventions? How do you feel the system can maintain a healthy balance between medication and other therapies? Please share your thoughts!
Rebecca Ruiz
Community Manager, ACEs Connection
Series link: http://www.denverpost.com/fostercare/
Article link: http://www.denverpost.com/fostercare/ci_25567075/new-thinking-brain-science-therapies-could-help-foster