Officials in Texas hope to decrease the rate of foster care children on mood-altering drugs

By Staff Writer

Despite the state's aggressive effort to reduce the number of foster children who are on psychotropic drugs, Texas has seen little progress.

News 8 Austin reports that the number of foster kids prescribed the mood-altering drugs has decreased by only 6 percent over five years. Officials believe the slow rate is due to a lack of mental health professionals who can adequately treat and diagnose these children.

The news provider said that the medications have debilitated foster children. For example, 19-year-old Mercedes Mitchell said that she became lethargic and inactive when she was given the medication. When she was 16, she refused to continue taking the pills against the orders of caseworkers, psychiatrists and foster parents.

Since she stopped taking psychotropic drugs, she has started to enjoy activities in life - like jogging - that she could not do while on the medication.

According to The Associated Press, there were 57,000 adoptions of foster care children in the U.S. last year, and many of them had special medical and psychological needs. The data was included in The Donaldson Institute's report "Keeping The Promise."

The report said that a majority of children come to their new families with elevated risks for developmental, emotional and behavioral problems.