Thousands of foster children may be getting powerful psychiatric drugs prescribed to them without basic safeguards, says a federal watchdog agency that found a failure to care for youngsters whose lives have already been disrupted. Foster kids are much more likely to get psychiatric drugs than children overall. The agency also said it is committed to making sure foster children get psychiatric medications only when medically appropriate. Foster children come into the mental health system with added complications. Compounding the challenge for foster children is the fact that responsibility for their well-being is often divided among foster parents, birth parents, relatives and case workers.

Source: ABC News September 17, 2018 04:41 UTC