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Reply to "Are Foster Care Children Excessively Medicated?"

This really has been an ongoing issue for several years. I see the biggest problem here being time for appropriate assessments, time with the right people involved with the child(ren) to get adequate history, and then payment for the services of the professionals who conduct the evaluations. The current modus operandi is that anyone (even a driver) can deposit a child at a clinic for an evaluation by a psychiatrist who is given very little time. Yes, I had a 3 y.o. brought in by a driver for a psychiatric evaluation. Needless to say, I spent my time holding and consoling the poor child who was traumatized for the third time in a matter of days being taken from one place to another by strangers. My feedback to the child welfare agency was highly critical of this practice.  So this becomes what I call "checklist" medicine which does our foster kids a disservice. Foster parents have to be educated about the brain behavior of the kids and why that is so, and how best to intervene behaviorally. Medications can be useful when used judiciously, but we must allow more time for assessment, education and behavioral training, even when meds are used. Marilyn benoit, M.D. Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist

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