Use of Meds Among Ohio’s Foster Kids Studied
PHOTO: A collaborative in studying the use of psychotropic medication among Ohio's foster children.
February 12, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Medications
that control mood and behavior are increasingly prescribed to children
in Ohio and other states, and experts say the practice is even more
prevalent for children in foster care. A new collaborative in Ohio is
examining the use of these drugs, which address problems such as
anxiety, ADHD and depression. According to the director of Trumbull County Children's Services, Tim Schaffner, sometimes these types of medications are used when they shouldn't be.
"Moms come in with their kids, having had them treated by the pediatrician who's not an expert in behavioral health issues, and we may be treating with medicine things that can be treated through counseling or through behavioral interventions."
Schaffner pointed out that some children do experience extreme trauma and have mental health challenges, and sometimes those children can benefit from psychotropic medications.
The Ohio Psychotropic Medication Quality Improvement Collaborative is working to raise awareness of the issue, develop guidelines for usage, and ensure the use of such medications is minimal and accompanied with alternative strategies. 70 to 80 percent of foster care youth have mental health problems and psychotropics are prescribed for them at two to three times the rate for other Medicaid children who are not in foster care.
As agency director, Schaffner said, he is personally responsible for the health and well-being of children in agency custody. That's why he signs off on any medication for those children.
"I always say I'm not acting like the doctor, I'm acting like the dad," Schaffner declared. "Any responsible parent is going to make informed-consent decisions about the medications that a doctor recommends, no matter what the condition is: medical, physical or emotional."
Schaffner has spent a good deal of his career in behavioral health care and has developed a model within his own agency for how to manage psychotropic medications. He is sharing that information with other agencies in Ohio, to help them create their own systems that work for their counties.
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