Thousands of children in foster care are taking powerful psychiatric drugs without sufficient clinical oversight, according to a recent report from HHS' Office of Inspector General.
For the report, HHS analyzed data on a sample of 625 children in foster care across five states who demonstrated high utilization of psychotropic medications. The agency used foster care case files and Medicaid claims data to assess how children's treatment aligned with state requirements. States involved in the study were Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Virginia.
Researchers found 34 percent of foster kids prescribed psychiatric drugs did not receive treatment planning or medication monitoring, as required by their respective states. Twenty percent of children did not receive treatment planning, 23 percent did not receive medication monitoring and 8 percent received neither.
"We are worried about the gap in compliance because it has an immediate, real-world impact on children's lives," Ann Maxwell, an assistant inspector general for HHS, told STAT.
Nationally, an estimated 120,000 children in foster care take at least one psychiatric drug, according to STAT.
The OIG urged HHS' Administration for Children and Families create a national strategy to help states meet existing prescribing requirements for psychiatric drugs.
"Improved compliance and stronger state requirements will help protect children who
are at risk for inappropriate treatment and inappropriate prescribing practices," OIG wrote in the report.