Drugs In Foster Care

In 2014 there were 650,000 kids in foster care, that’s almost twice as much as Kansas City’s population of 467,007. Roughly 58,000 of these children were placed in an institution or group home instead of a traditional foster home. While these children will age out of the system 40% of them will find themselves homeless, 50% will have substance addiction, 25% will have not received a diploma or GED, only 3% will have received any college degrees and 17% of the young women will be pregnant. Even before they are blessed with their so called “independence” the average child in foster care will have an IQ 20 points lower than a child not in foster care and 33% of them will have moved elementary schools more than 5 times. The foster care system in

Not only are they being medicated with harmful drugs against their will, they are being classified as someone who can’t function without them. One of the most commonly used drugs is Seroquel, Seroquel is a mood stabilizer used in severe cases of depression, Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia. Despite being used for severe cases, Seroquel is one of the most commonly used drugs. While there may be cases in foster care where certain children need the medication it’s hard to believe that the majority of foster kids are bipolar or schizophrenic. Along with severe side effects such as increase in suicidal thoughts these medications leave a great toll on these children’s physical health. 35% of foster kid’s BMI increases tremendously upon entering care and being medicated. So how are these minors being prescribed medication for disorders they are too young to be diagnosed with? And why is the government spending billions on paying for these hospitalizations and medications? Instead of investing in these children for tomorrow and their future the only thing they get today is a number in a

Foster kids can spend their entire adolescent years in a hospital. Regardless of how inhumane their imprisonment is the state’s priorities when it comes to financially supporting these children is repulsive. While the state does technically provide money for foster kids in college, only 3% of foster kids will receive a degree due to incompetent education provided by the state and not being allowed to focus on school. Money is only spent to oppress and belittle the kids instead of raise