The President Signs the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 into Law!

I was perusing like-tagged articles, (as indicated by the small blue box found in some posted-pieces), and I noticed how this announcement got linked to a recently published study done by the University of Illinois.  ["Study looks at how mental health care affects outcomes for foster children"

In this Presidential-signing article, major provision # 4 reads:

Improving Oversight of Health Care – Includes overseeing plans for the health care needs of foster children, accounting for the assessment and treatment of health conditions and ensuring the continuity of care, medical records, and prescription drugs.

Given the over-medicating of so many foster children, the dangers these adult-size medications bring young developing minds and bodies, and the not-so-hidden dangers found in Attachment Therapy, I wonder how our new administration is going to address "health care and safety", as it relates to those placed in the child welfare system?

For those who don't know how the drug industry operates in America, I suggest you see:  Prescription Pill Safety, remembering two comments made in the "outcomes for foster children" article:

Despite the prevalence of mental health problems among foster children, little is known about how pre-existing mental health conditions affect their outcomes in foster care.

and,

The study also suggested that there was limited access to and underutilization of mental health services among African-American children.

“Children with a history of inpatient mental health treatment, especially when placed in foster care, benefit from continued follow-up and referrals to community mental health agencies to reduce placement disruptions and facilitate timely permanence,” Park said.

Foster-care placements come at considerable cost to taxpayers: Placement in therapeutic foster care can cost $30,000 or more annually, and placement in residential psychiatric care considerably more.

“Early identification of service needs and related interventions for children and youth with intensive mental health needs can be cost-efficient by helping them achieve placement stability and permanence,” Park said.

The phrase "cost-efficient" caught my eyes, so I went digging....    According to a 2008 social policy update, (CRS Report for Congress:  Prescription Drug Coverage Under Medicaid ),

Medicaid continues to be an important source of funding in the nation’s pharmaceutical markets, and Medicaid drug coverage an important source of drugs for many low-income and disabled Medicaid beneficiaries.

Outpatient prescription drug coverage under Medicaid is an optional benefit.

If states choose to cover prescription drugs, they must be provided to Medicaid enrollees who are categorically needy, that is, to individuals who qualify for Medicaid on the basis of being in certain groups. In addition, states have the option choosing to provide prescription drug coverage to medically needy individuals, persons who are not poor by cash welfare standards, but who require help with medical expenses. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia provide prescription drug coverage to all Medicaid beneficiaries.

Prescription drug benefits under Medicaid are very broad. States can create formularies, or lists of preferred benefits, but certain federal rules keep actual coverage very comprehensive. Even in Medicaid managed care organizations, which are not subject to those rules, current practice ensures a generous drug benefit. There are 11 categories of prescription drugs that states are allowed to exclude from coverage.

Two of those allowed to be excluded from coverage include Barbiturates (powerful depressants that slow down the central nervous system) and Benzodiazepines (medications that are frequently prescribed for the symptomatic treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders). 

For those who are nerdy-nerds like me, Andrea Tone's "The Age of Anxiety" is an excellent read as it gives the history of "treatment options" and how barbiturates ("the poor-man's alternative to psychoanalysis") and Pharmaceutical companies led to the self-medicating (drug-taking) craze so many see today.

While I strongly believe there are many children brain damaged at birth, (for a variety of reasons), I also believe damage is being done to children because they are being treated so badly by so many people... parents, doctors, and businessmen alike.