Artist Statement

On the first day of class in film 150 we were told that we would be working with a local non-profit organization involved with foster children in order to research a topic of our choosing and create a blog. From that day forward, I knew that it would be a journey to get to the point of a finished product that would be both interesting to me and the readers of this blog.

My idea to focus on the psychiatric health of children in foster care came following my first interview with a CASA volunteer named Susan. Going into the interview I had no clue as to what I wanted my main topic for this blog to be. I began by asking general questions about the program and found myself constantly drifted away from my prepared questions and back to the changes of the children both socially and psychologically. I Left the interview knowing that I had found my topic of interest, Psychological change in foster children. As the days went on, I began to research on the broad topic, looking for something that would allow me to look more in depth into the problem. My research led me to an article from the Associated Press via MSNBC online. In this article I found what I was looking for, a major problem that I would be able to take a strong stance on. Prior to this point in the semester, my fellow classmate David and I had been working together on a topic relating to changes in children when they transition into the system. Although this was also an important problem, I never connected to the material that I researched. My new topic, the overuse of psychiatric drugs, was both intriguing and thought provoking. The topic, while very specific, has aspects that cover many different social and political arguments. The main beneficiaries of this legal, large scale drug use are the drug companies which represent corporate America. The companies are not alone however, it seems as though Psychiatrist have no other options available to them but prescription drugs. The reason for this is largely financial and is pushed forward by parents and case workers who are ill-equipped to deal with children with anger problems. A vicious cycle has been created that involves courts, foster parents, mental health professionals, and drug companies. The main losers in this cycle are the foster kids that have already been through mental and physical abuse. The interviews with Aisha and Andrew helped to enlighten the average person, like myself, about the failure of the foster care system to properly diagnose and treat and mental issues that children in the foster system may have. While these online interviews did enable me to further understand the mentality of a foster child, a firsthand interview was required for this blog. For this in person interview David and I spoke with a man named John who was a foster parent of a two year old boy. While this interview didn’t contribute to my topic, I gained valuable information about the foster care system in general. Overall, my experiences with Kids Matter and my research on the topic of psychiatric drug use in foster children has given me insight on one of the most important issues facing the foster care system today.

Why is This Happening?

This is an easy The prescribing of psychiatric drugs to a large portion of the foster care population does not benefit most of the children who are forced to take them. Although most children don't benefit, there are a number of people who do benefit. Foster parents are placed into an unbelievably difficult position because they need to care for a child that in many cases has anger problems and acts out. Due to these difficult circumstances, the foster parents seek the quick fix. Psychiatric drugs are an alternative to counseling, which would take months and results would come little at a time. So the easiest solution for the parents is to allow these drugs to be prescribed and administered to the children. Most children who see psychiatrists are then told that they have a " problem" and are often given drugs the help them cope with this "problem." It is very difficult to gauge what percentage of these children actually need these drugs because such a large number of them are prescribed. The Psychiatrists and drug companies benefit from drugging foster children financially. In 2007, drug companies made about 37.9 million dollars on psychiatric drugs given to foster children. The psychiatrists benefit because for every child they see and prescribe to, they receive money from the government through public health programs such as medicaid. As we know from the recent scandals on wall street, financial benefits outweigh moral obligations in most cases. These three groups all rely on each other which has created the current dangerous cycle of over drugging foster children.

Interview with Foster Children- Aisha

Although i have watched a half dozen interviews with former foster care children, I have chosen to blog about two specific cases. The first was Andrew's interview, where he tells the story of his addiction to psychiatric drugs. My most recent post is an interview with a girl named Aisha, who goes more in-depth about her interactions with psychologists and her opinions and personal experiences regarding the widespread use of drugs in the foster care system. I chose these specific interviews because each focuses on different issues within my topic.

Aisha was placed into a foster home that had 13 kids living in it, all of whom were taking large doses of medication. Aisha was the only child who was not on drugs when she moved in, but soon after, she was prescribed 200 mg of Prozac, an anti-depressant, as well as a 200 mg of Seroquel, a drug for bi-polar disorder. She was prescribed the pills the first time she went to the psychiatrist he told her that she was depressed because didn't interact much with other children in the home. In order to make make her "fit in" she was prescribed the anti-depressant and the Seroquel was used to regulate her sleep within the house. She claims that the Seroquel would knock her out within minutes. The side effects of these pills were evident to her when she couldn't stay awake at school.

The most intriguing part of Aisha's story comes when she talks about her experience with psychologists throughout foster care. She dreaded her regular meetings with the doctor because she claimed that he places too much of an emphasis on drugs. The first and last thing that the doctor mentioned at her meetings was "how are the drugs?" and "are the drugs working." It was obvious to Aisha by the doctors attitude that the drugs were the most important thing to the doctor. She didn't know how to answer the questions and the fear that she would receive a higher dosage forced her to keep her negative feelings about the drugs to herself. According to Aisha, the fear of a higher dosage arose when she saw the way the other foster kids in the home were acting on the drugs, she never wanted to be like that. She was helpless because she was placed into a system in which she has no choice but to take the pills. There was no alternative for her because she felt that the doctors relied on the drugs to fix any problems and believed a higher dosage or new drug could solve anything. As i mentioned previously, only 3% of mental health professionals are trained to deal with the issues that foster children have, so in an effort to save time and resources, foster children are predetermined to have mental health issues and are prescribed drugs that will mask the problem in the short term while proving to be detrimental in the long term.

Aisha eventually sought counseling, and she claims that ,in just a short period, it has helped her more than any drug ever did. Both foster parents and doctors are looking for a quick fix and these drugs provide that fore both groups. When only considering that fact that all 13 of the children in Aisha's home were on psychiatric drugs, it is obvious that the foster care system is far too reliant on drugs.

Interviews With Former Foster Kids- Andrew

The drugging of foster children is one of the most important issues in the foster care system. Throughout my research of the topic I encountered many cases such as Andrew's. Andrews case is similar to cases of many children in the foster system. Andrew was placed into the foster care at the age of sixteen for unspecified reasons. He describes himself as an intelligent individual who was placed into a foster home environment in which taking psychiatric drugs was the norm. Andrews story is troubling because he quickly became a drug addict who was determined to do anything for drugs, including gang banging and fighting. Many foster children like Andrew are prescribed drugs as soon as they enter the system even though they have no prior experience with psychiatric drugs.
Andrew directly blames the drugs for his downward spiral because as he claims in the interview, "the drugs took over me." There are also several other instances in which he places the blame on the system that made him take the drugs saying "It wasn't my fault" "I'm not the one who wanted them." These quotes are extremely meaningful because it is coming from someone who's life was changed by his exposure to drugs at the age of 16. At this age, most people can think rationally about their actions in particular what they put in their bodies; so when he naturally questioned his need for the drugs he was told that he needed to take them or else he would get in trouble or have mental issues. Ironically, prior to taking the drugs he had no history of violence or instability and the drugs led to addiction, which in turn caused the exact problems that he was told they would prevent.
Andrew's story makes me question the reasoning behind the mass drugging of foster children. These children are told that they need to take the drugs because it will benefit them and keep them out of trouble. As you will read in my upcoming posts there are many people are benefiting from prescribing psychiatric drugs to foster children

On a Lighter Note....

On Saturday afternoon I was watching the NFL draft when the story of first round draft pick Michael Oher came on the air. "Big Mike" is a foster care success story. Now a multimillionaire, Michael Oher was placed into foster care at the age of 8 when his father was murdered and his mother became a heavy drug user. He bounced around to four different foster homes before the age of 16 when he was adopted by the Tuohy family, a rich white family from Memphis. With the help of the Tuohys the 6'6 330 lb Oher, overcame major learning disabilities and attended college at the University of Mississippi where he was a standout Offensive Tackle. "Big Mike" has had an amazing journey and has one of the most heartwarming sports stories of the year.

research on overmedication of foster children

There are over 500,000 children currently in the foster care system and according to the child welfare league of America more that half have mental illness or serious behavioral problems. I will be posting an MSNBC report from 2007 that has answered the majority of my questions about what the courts are doing to ensure the safety of these children. I found that many states have implemented policies that requires court review of any psychiatric drugs that are prescribed to foster children. Every state has either passed or has a proposed bill to have legal review of medications prescribed to foster children. Although this is a sign of progress, legislators believe that it will be very difficult to have proper oversight of these programs. The issue of medication of foster children will become more prevalent in our legal system as public outrage builds over cases of overdose and suicide of foster children. If you would like to read more about the issue, i have posted several articles on my links section including the MSNBC report.

Phychiatric Drugs for Foster Children

Through my recent research, i have found that foster children are more likely to be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder than the average child. There is currently a major debate concerning whether or not psychiatric drugs should be prescribed to these children at the high rate that it is currently being used. critics claim that psychiatric drugs are being overused in all children and could have major negative side effects such as a risk suicide. Sadly, in the process of researching i stumbled upon a case from April 22nd that dealt directly to my research. A 7 year old foster child in Florida committed suicide in the shower and doctors blame the suicide on the use of a three drug cocktail that was prescribed to the child by a medical professional. The article i have posted claims that the boys psychiatrists used "problematic practices" when prescribing three very powerful drugs the a seven year old boy. This horrific case is the most recent of a number of deaths that have to due with the overuse of psychiatric drugs in children.

Lack of Mental Health Training

Through my recent research, I have encountered multiple articles by CASA and medical professionals that claim that there is a lack of training among mental health professionals as well foster parents. Foster parents are the most affected by the lack of training because they usually don't have any formal training in dealing with mental health issues. I have also posted a web page that deals specifically with ways to help foster parents deal with these issues. There are also specific case studies done by CASA in the first link I posted. Hopefully in the upcoming week i will hopefully be able to interview a mental health professional that deals with foster children. Only 3% of mental health professionals are trained to deal with foster children. Therefore, interviewing one of these rare individuals will surely add to my knowledge and research on the subject.

First Post

In my first post i wanted to go over what I have done as far as researching and interviews and also give a brief overview of what i have planned for the next few weeks . For my first interview I went over to the Kids Matter offices to interview a woman named Susan who works closely with foster children through the CASA program. It was in this interview where I began to develop an interest in the effects that the foster system has on a child's mental health. Susan, who works with foster children on a daily basis, informed me that the most prevalent issue with these children is anger management. Through research that I have done since the interview I have learned that while many children in the system deal with anger problems anywhere between 40-80% of children in the system have a mental health disorder. Many of these disorders even require psychiatric treatment. I have posted my first link to my page so please take a look at it. It is a journal article from CASA and has a lot of useful information about mental health issues in foster children. Hopefully sometime in the next week i will be interviewing a mental health professional who deals directly with the foster kids. I will be posting to this page frequently in the next few weeks.