By Daily Mail Reporter
December 2, 2011
A 12-year-old boy has bravely told how he was medicated into a near-stupor as he was passed between foster care homes.
The seventh grader, known only as Ke’onte, told Congress that being given the mind-altering drugs was ‘the worst thing anyone could do to foster kids’.
He revealed that he could barely eat while on the medication and was so exhausted ‘it felt like I would collapse wherever I was in the house’.
Ke'onte, 12, tells Congress that he was wrongly diagnosed with bipolar disorder and ADHD and given four different medications that left him in a 'stupor'
‘I think putting me on all these stupid meds was the stupidest thing I’ve ever experienced in foster care,’ he said.
Ke’onte’s plight came to light as a Government Accountability Office report was released that found the federal government had not done enough to oversee the treatment of foster children with powerful drugs.
The study found cared-for children were up to 13 times more likely to be prescribed anti-psychotics and anti-depressants than other children.
Ke’onte, who was adopted in 2009, said he had tantrums as a foster child and was inaccurately diagnosed as bipolar and having ADHD.
‘I’ve been in the mental hospital three times during foster care, and every time I had to get on more meds or new meds to add to the ones I was already taking,’ he said.
Medicated: The Government study found children in foster care were 13 times more likely to be on anti-pyschotics and anti-depressants than other children
He was on four different types of medication during his four years in six foster care and the drugs made him feel irritable, gave him stomach aches and affected his appetite, reports ABC.
‘I remember having a bowl of spaghetti and had three bites and then I was done,’ he said.
He has since been taken off the medication and given therapy, and is thriving.
He plays clarinet in the school band, competes in cross-country and has had roles in the school play.
He said: ‘In therapy, you talk about the deepest thing and it hurts, but you can deal with it better the next time.
‘I’m not only more focused in school… I’m not going to the office anymore for bad behavior and I’m happy.’
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Tags: ABC, ADHD, anti-depressants, antipsychotics, bipolar disorder, child drugging, Congress, federal government, foster care, foster kids, GAO, Government Accountability Office, Ke'onte, medicated, mental hospital, mind-altering drugs, stupor
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Probably a major issue for the majority of children who are “in the system”. Psychotropic drugs may have become the cheaper alternative to manage children. Among the vulnerable, are adolescents who have been subjected to years of trauma and consequently display problematic behaviors in most placement environments. Private therapy is expensive, outsiders providers are reimbursed at ridiculously low rates after mounds of bureaucratic red tape, and many who counsel for non- profit organizations are overwhelmed by the lack of resources, high caseloads, and low wages. With states cutting budgets on the backs of education and mental health as well as mores psychotropic meds going to cheaper generics, it’s a disturbing prognosis for these kids.