Psychotropic Drug Abuse in Foster Care Costs Government Billions

Psychotropic Drug Abuse in Foster Care Costs Government Billions
Reposted from: http://www.infowars.com/psychotropic-drug-abuse-in-foster-care-costs-government-billions/
June 22, 2010 @ 3:02 pm
Politics Daily | According to a number of foster care experts, children in foster care, who are typically concurrently enrolled in Medicaid, are three or four more times as likely to be on psychotropic medications than other children on Medicaid.

http://truthiscontagious.com/2010/06/22/psychotropic-drug-abuse-in-foster-care-costs-government-billions-2

Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children

Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Joshua
Posted under residential weight loss by admin on Sunday 27 June 2010
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Joshua

I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state.

One thing they all had in common was massive over drugging with psychiatric drugs.

Child placement agencies, foster parents, RTCs (Residential Treatment Centers) and Therapeutic Foster Homes get paid a certain amount of money each day for taking care of a foster child. The amount of money they get paid depends on a level of care system. The more difficult the child or the more problems that child has, the more money you get.

A child at the basic level of care is worth about 17 dollars a day where as a child in the highest level of care could be worth as much as a 1000 dollars a day. This puts the incentive on diagnosing children with behavior problems to justify raising their level of care. A child on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems.

It is not uncommon for a foster child to be placed on many different psychotropic drugs at the same time. Some investigations have found children on as many as 13 mind altering drugs prescribed by a psychiatrists at one time.

These drugs include all categories of psychiatric drugs; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications, anticonvulsants medications, etc.

The SSRI drugs are commons such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc. Also a number of these children described taking Risperdal, Zyprexa, Geodon and other new generation antipsychotics which have been linked to weight gain, obesity and diabetes.

Visit the website for the Foster Care Alumni of America.

http://www.fostercarealumni.org/

This video was produced by psychetruth.

http://www.youtube.com/psychetruth

http://www.myspace.com/psychtruth

http://www.livevideo.com/psychetruth

The video may be copied, publicly displayed or used for any strictly non-commercial use provided it remain in it’s full unedited form. Alteration or commercial use is stickily prohibited. Copyright 2007 Zoe Sofia.



http://weightlossspasite.com/1241/psychiatry-drugs-foster-care-children-joshua/

A Dark View Of Foster Care

THURSDAY, JULY 01, 2010
A Dark View Of Foster Care
Panel is given a dark view of foster care


Many of the most troubled end up far from home, lawmakers are told

By TERRI LANGFORD

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

AUSTIN — Many of the most troubled foster children in Texas, some of them depressed and suicidal, are shipped hundreds of miles from home to residential treatments centers in Houston - where they have no family, no visitors and little hope of leaving state care.


These children are so afflicted with mental and emotional issues that caseworkers have little choice but to place them in the most restrictive of foster care centers, known as RTCs, one stop short of a psychiatric hospital, Anne Heiligenstein, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services commissioner, told members of the House Human Services Committee Wednesday.

Half of the RTCs in the state are in the Houston area. At least 1,600 children live in RTCs in Texas, representing 10 percent of the state's foster care children.

"What they don't understand and they will never forgive us for is why they can't be with their siblings," Heiligenstein said. "To separate siblings is another wound to children besides taking them from their own home that they really don't get over."

Six of 10 children who live in 33 Houston area RTCs, aren't from the Houston area.

By shipping children hundreds of miles from their families, the goal of eventually releasing them from state care becomes more elusive. Visits to siblings or non-abusive family members becomes too expensive, transportation-wise.

Press reports cited

Heiligenstein said one 17-year-old girl, placed in an RTC after she had been sexually abused, was transferred from one center to another because she was difficult to control, physically aggressive, suicidal and often engaged in self-mutilation.

"That means 26 times we had to remove her from her caregiver," she said.

Another child has had 50 placements.

Heiligenstein discussed the problems of RTC care as she fielded questions from members of the House Human Services Committee over conditions at the facilities, and outlined her plans to redesign the foster care system, untouched since 1991.

The care of children inside RTC's led the committee agenda as lawmakers questioned agency staff about steps that have been taken since a Chronicle/Texas Tribune report detailed 250 confirmed abuse incidents - from physical beatings to humiliating punishments - that have occurred in centers in the past two years.

In one 2008 case, staff at the Manvel-based Daystar Residential Inc. encouraged seven developmentally disabled girls to fight one another, rewarding the winners with snacks. In another incident at Houston's Serenity RTC, staffers forced residents to strip down to their underwear and take off their shoes so they wouldn't run away.

"Why did members of the Legislature have to initially find out about this problem, this issue, through the press?" asked Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin. "We need to know about these things."

Though Heiligenstein said the information was publicly available, she also conceded that lawmakers "have every right to be frustrated when you get caught by surprise."

Since the Chronicle/ Tribune report last month, the Department of Family and Protective Services has suspended placements at Daystar and hired an on-site monitor to help with training and check on conditions for Austin.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7088843.html


What About Our Sons? We Must Save Our Sons and Daughters

FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION PART 3 POOR ATTACHMENT BY ANY OTHER NAME…TRAUMA

FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION PART 3 POOR ATTACHMENT BY ANY OTHER NAME…TRAUMA


FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION – PART 3

POOR ATTACHMENT BY ANY OTHER NAME… TRAUMA

© 2010 By Deborah Beasley, ACPI CCPF

In the last two decades more attention has been focused on children and trauma than at any other time. New scientific understanding of the brain emerged which shed new light on how trauma changes the brain and interrupts healthy development in a child. Trauma has been defined as “any unexpected, overwhelming, or prolonged event which goes unprocessed, unexpressed, and misunderstood.” Dr. Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger Healing Trauma states that, “Trauma is not in the event itself; rather, trauma resides in the nervous system.”

What is Trauma?

Trauma is more than a catastrophic event. Trauma can happen at any time, or at no particular time. It damages some and leaves others untouched. It can occur though the person is not physically present at the time of the event. It can leave its dark imprint through hearing, seeing, smelling, or the feeling of it. Examples are broad and sometimes not what we might expect:

Illness
Abuse
Violence
Adoption
Foster Care
Medical Procedures and long hospitalizations
Difficult birth
Abandonment and Neglect
Loss of a Caregiver/or many caregivers
Separation from Caregiver
Divorce
Accidents (e.g. falls from bikes or down stairs, automobile accidents)
Trauma has the potential of occurring whenever the body/mind system is triggered into believing it is in a life threatening environment. Many have experienced being at home alone, perhaps late at night. Everything is quiet; most of the lights are off. We hear a noise from another room, or we think we hear something. All of our senses swell in heightened alert. We feel changes in our bodies. We may become aware of perspiration, rapid shallow breathing, and thumping heartbeat. Our eyes grow wide trying to take in as much light as possible. Our hearing becomes acute to every sound. Internally, our blood rushes away from our digestive organs and pushes into our extremities. We are preparing to run…or fight, if need be. This is who we are at our deepest functioning level. One moment calm, the next triggered by a small sound into full survival mode. Fight, flight, or freeze. But, wait! We discover only that the sound was the refrigerator turning on, or the dishwasher we pre-programmed earlier, or the normal sounds of a settling house. We believed ourselves to be threatened and in danger of our lives. This example sends home that , “What we perceive to be true we believe to be true.” Our brain does not distinguish the difference.

Recent Studies

In 2001, the horrendous tragedy of 9-11 brought renewed attention to how children (and adults) experience traumatic stress and its effects on their lives. According to the New York School of Medicine 1.2 million children from New York City alone were directly affected by the 9-11 attacks. Prominent scientists, neurologists, and psychologists throughout the United States began intensive studies on the affects of trauma on these children.

The study focused on school-aged kids from 6-18 years. Children with no prior psychopathology developed significant life crippling fears with diagnosable psychological and behavioral disorders after the 9-11 events. Some of these developed within one month. One year after this study, 1 in every 6 children continued to experience nightmares, bedwetting, fears of losing parents, fears of going out, and school bus aversion. There was a notable increase in risk taking behaviors among this groups teenagers disproportionate to the general adolescent population. Rises in cigarette smoking, drug and alcohol involvement, and oppositional behavior were prevalent, along with marked decline in academics. The sudden and catastrophic effects the experience of traumatic stress leaves on the mind and bodies of children was understood clearly as a result of this and other intensive studies following the 9-11 attacks.

Trauma at the Body Level

The old adage: “Time heals all things” no longer applies in these and many other cases. We used to believe kids would ‘just get over it.’ We used to believe the younger they were the sooner they would forget. After all, we know the plasticity of the brain and kids are born to be resilient. The prevailing thought was that much of the infant and child’s brain was not yet functioning to full capacity. The child was then not aware and therefore suffered less from the negative effects of life. How far from true this is! “The event may have disappeared from conscious memory, but the body does not forget,” Dr. Peter Levine. Trauma, which goes unprocessed, unexpressed, and misunderstood, then develops at the cellular level and in the deepest sensory memories stored within the brain.

The brain suffering the psychological and emotional insults and injuries of trauma was incapable of being healed; so was the prevailing thought little more than two decades ago. We now know that healing the brain is possible. Dr. Susan Bradley, author of Affect Regulation and the Development of Psychopathology states; “It is through the sensory pathways that the damage occurred- and it is through the sensory pathways that healing can happen.” Relationship is the key to healing. A child’s relationship with a loving and supporting caregiver can create many opportunities for healing past traumas in a child’s life. The work is hard, and demands draining commitment and parental dedication.

Tell me…are you up to it?

Look for my next installment…

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

LOST IN TRAUMA Where Are Haiti’s Children?
RAD WITH BROKEN HEARTS AND FRAGILE WINGS CAN THESE BIRDS LEARN TO FLY?
UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA AND BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN

http://howdoesyourchildgrow.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/foster-care-and-adoption-part-3-poor-attachment-by-any-other-name-trauma/

Judges criticise social workers

Judges criticise social workers in Devon and Greenwich

A judge at the Court of Appeal has criticised attempts by Devon social workers to take a baby away from his teenage mother and have him adopted.
Lord Justice Aikens said it was likely to be perceived as "more like Stalin's Russia... than the west of England."
Lawyers for Devon County Council later withdrew their appeal.
In a separate case social workers in Greenwich, London, were criticised for their lack of support for a mother who was trying to get her children back.

The first priority had to be for the welfare and protection of a vulnerable child
Devon County Council
The Devon case involved teenage mother S and her baby son H.
County council lawyers were appealing against a previous judgement that the mother should be allowed a last chance to prove she was fit to keep her child.
They argued that she formed relationships which put herself and her baby at risk and it was in his best interests that he be placed in foster care and adopted.
Lord Justice Aikens, sitting alongside Lord Justice Wall, said there was no evidence that the mother had maltreated her baby in any way, or that the violent father of her first child would have anything to do with him.
He said the perception might be that social workers were effectively saying to the mother "whatever you do doesn't make any difference, we are going to take your child away".
"That is more like Stalin's Russia or Mao's China than the west of England," he added.
Final chance
The judges said they were not saying S could keep her baby but wanted her to have a final chance to prove her son would be safe with her.
A spokesperson for Devon County Council said: "This is a difficult and complex case in which the county council's first priority had to be for the welfare and protection of a vulnerable child.
"It was the view... that a care order was the most effective way of providing an appropriate level of protection for the child concerned."
The council is now planning to review its position.
The Greenwich appeal case involved a mother seeking the return of her five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter.
They were taken into care after the girl was taken into hospital with a broken arm and doctors decided the injury was not an accident.
In October a judge made a full care order in favour of Greenwich Council after concluding that the children's father was to blame for the injury and the mother was still in contact with him.
Denied help
On Friday Lady Justice Smith, Lord Justice Wall and Mrs Justice Baron set that judgement aside.
Lord Justice Wall ruled the local authority ought to have made it clear to the mother that she was expected to prove that she was no longer in contact with the father.
He said: "Here was a mother who needed and was asking for help to break free from an abusive relationship.
"She was denied that help abruptly and without explanation. That, in my judgment, is very poor social work practice."
He added that social workers were perceived by many as the "arrogant and enthusiastic removers of children from their parents" and that their aim should be to "unite families rather than separate them."
However, he did acknowledge that social workers faced "difficult tasks" and were often "damned if they do and damned if they do not."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/8616570.stm

Baby Mikaela Please Read!!! It's very important.

Baby Mikaela Please Read!!! It's very important.

On May 21, 2010, a blind couple in Missouri gave birth to their first child, Mikaela. A few hours after Mikaela was born, the mother experienced some difficulty breastfeeding, a common problem for first-time mothers. She asked her nurse for advice, but instead of offering guidance, the nurse called Child Protective Services. That evening, newborn Mikaela was taken into foster care. Why? Not because the parents used drugs, showed signs of abuse or were found to be living in substandard conditions. The only reason CPS cites for their intervention is the mere fact that the parents are blind and, therefore, are not fit parents. This in spite of hundreds of blind parents, including single parents and blind couples, who have successfully raised children to adulthood. Leaders in the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri also interviewed the parents extensively and determined that they are indeed skilled in the adaptive techniques needed to parent without sight.



Amazingly, no federal laws exist at this time to protect disabled parents from this kind of blatant discrimination. So the burden of proof now rests on the parents to demonstrate that they are capable of taking care of their daughter. With the help of the NFB of Missouri, they have hired an attorney at $250 per hour to represent them in court, and are also paying to get official evaluations showing that they are fit to raise a child. We are optimistic that with a sympathetic judge, baby Mikaela will be able to come home. But we need money to continue fighting this battle, not only for Mikaela's family, but also so that people like me will be able to have kids one day without fearing that this tragedy could happen to us as well.



If you would like to make a donation to help defray the tremendous legal expenses, and are going to convention, you can stop by the NFB of Missouri table in the exhibit hall. If you aren't going to convention but would still like to contribute, please send a check to:

Carol Coulter

1613 Blue Ridge

Columbia, MO 65202-1759

Please make checks payable to "National Federation of the Blind of Missouri" and write "baby Mikaela" in the subject line.

http://community.livejournal.com/nfb_federation/10058.html

Mother suing couple, agencies over abuse

Mother suing couple, agencies over abuse
By DEBORAH CIRCELLI, Staff writer
June 28, 2010 12:05 AM Posted in: East Volusia - West Volusia Tagged: Robert Clinton
Clinton
DAYTONA BEACH -- A local mother is suing the state and two local foster care agencies, claiming they failed to keep her daughter safe when she was sexually assaulted by a former Deltona foster parent.

The 40-year-old Daytona Beach single mother, Lisa, whose last name is not being used by The News-Journal to protect the child's identity, has filed a civil suit on behalf of her daughter and son against the state Department of Children & Families, Community Partnership for Children, Neighbor To Family and former foster parents Robert R. Clinton and Betty Dease-Clinton.

Robert Clinton is serving life in prison after being convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation involving the foster daughter, 10 counts of possession of pornography involving a child and 40 counts of promoting sexual performance of a child under 12.

Dease-Clinton, who has since divorced Robert Clinton, could not be reached for comment.

The suit filed last week states the then 2 1/2-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on a regular basis in the home between June 29, 2006, and July 14, 2006, by Robert Clinton and that 41 separate pornographic photos were taken of the assaults on the child and displayed on the Internet for public viewing.

The suit, which is seeking in excess of $15,000 in damages, says the child has and will continue to suffer severe bodily harm, pain and suffering, mental anguish and "loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life" and will require treatment the rest of her life due to the "severe psychological trauma."

The girl's brother, who was 5 at the time, witnessed the assaults on his sister on numerous occasions, according to the suit, and suffered and will continue to suffer emotional distress, mental anguish and pain and suffering. The mother, who now has custody of her three children but has still been dealing with the state over whether she can properly care for them, said in a phone interview that her daughter, who is now 6, has gone through counseling but continues to have issues.

"I just don't want this to happen to no one else," she said.

DCF, Community Partnership for Children and/or Neighbor To Family, the suit states, were required to perform weekly face-to-face visits until the placement was stable and secure. The suit also says the agencies should have met privately with the children to address any problems or concerns.

"They should have known there were things going on in that home," the mother said. "They didn't do their job properly."

Her personal injury attorney, William Chanfrau Jr. in Daytona Beach, said they tried to resolve the case before filing suit but the state denied any liability.

"If you're going to put a child in a foster home, you better make sure the kid is going to be protected," Chanfrau said.

Reggie Williams, local DCF administrator, said he can't comment on the suit except that "the situation itself was unfortunate."

The agencies also failed, according to the suit, to use reasonable care in screening the prospective foster parents "who have knowingly provided false and misleading information regarding their criminal background" and their character.

The suit also says Betty Dease-Clinton failed to provide a safe and secure environment and failed to prevent the abuse by her then-husband and "failed to timely report" the abuse "which she knew or should have known about."

Police had previously stated they didn't think the wife was involved and she was never charged. But Chanfrau believes she is liable for "failing to supervise and watch the children."

Gordon Johnson, CEO of Neighbor To Family, which oversaw the foster parents and case workers, said "this was a very unusual occurrence" and that the agency did an "extensive" background check and nothing was found.

"We did everything to protect them," Johnson said. "We were very shocked to have this happen. It wasn't something we had known about before."

Bill Babiez, CEO of Community Partnership for Children, which contracts with Neighbor To Family, also said two reviews were made following Clinton's arrest and found all proper background checks were done.

According to the mother and her dependency attorneys, the three children were placed in foster care in 2006 because one of the daughters was hospitalized after she got into a hair product. The children were later returned and removed again after the two daughters were sexually acting out in day care, which the mother and her attorneys had said was based on the molestation in foster care.

Her three children, now 4, 6 and 9, were returned in intervals at the end of last year. But a dependency case remains open and case workers from Community Partnership for Children have monitored the home on a weekly basis and are moving to biweekly visits, officials there said. Agency officials have stated in the past they were concerned with her parenting because tests show she has a low IQ.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2010/06/28/mother-suing-couple-agencies-over-abuse.html