National Center for Youth Law | Mental Health Archives

Mental Health

Our collective failure to provide children and adolescents appropriate and effective mental health services has tragic consequences on their ability to succeed in school, form healthy relationships, and thrive as adults. The National Center for Youth Law works to expand access to appropriate mental health services for low-income children and to limit dangerous practices such as the overuse of psychotropic medications on children in foster care.

Campaigns

Ensuring Adequate Oversight for the Safe Administration of Psychotropic Medications to Youth in Foster Care - Missouri

June 15, 2017

NCYL is partnering with Children’s Rights, and Saint Louis University School of Law Legal Clinics to ensure Missouri enacts policies and practices that reduce the risk of harm to the children in its custody.

Reducing the Over-Medication of Children and Youth in Foster Care - California

December 21, 2016

California foster children are being prescribed dangerous and unnecessary doses of psychotropic medications. Often the drugs are used as chemical restraints, rather than for medically accepted purposes. Over-medicated children face serious, life-long damage to their health, including morbid obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular damage. Foster youth…

Implementing a System of Home and Community-Based Mental Health Services - Washington

December 21, 2016

This campaign has worked to establish and implement of a system that focuses on intensive home and community-based mental health services for all Medicaid-eligible children under the age of 21 in Washington State.

Latest News

Overprescription of psychotropics for foster kids drops in California - KPCC - FM

April 3, 2018

Life for children in the foster care system can be tough. Not only is there a lot of moving around between homes, facilities and schools, there’s the emotional impact of being separated from family and siblings.…

Big drop in drugged foster kids in California - San Jose Mercury News

April 1, 2018

After years of efforts to crack down on the rampant use of psychiatric drugs in California’s foster care system, the number of youth prescribed the potent medications is plummeting — a major turnaround in how the state cares for some of its most vulnerable children.…

Lawsuit over drugs for Missouri’s foster kids proceeds - Associated Press

January 13, 2018

“There are clearly plausible allegations that (the Missouri officials) … actually knew of the serious risk of harm,” Laughrey wrote. “Yet they have not adopted any systematic administrative review because (Missouri) can’t find the medical records of the children. But the absence of the medical…

Lawsuit Over Psychotropics and Foster Youth Will Move Forward - Chronicle of Social Change

January 12, 2018

U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey ruled this week that a class-action lawsuit over Missouri’s use of psychotropic medications for youth in foster care can continue. The decision moves forward a case that could potentially set some precedent on an issue that heated up in the…

Missouri Can’t Dodge Claims of Overmedicating Foster Kids - Courthouse News Service

January 10, 2018

A federal judge refused to dismiss a landmark child advocacy case accusing Missouri of overprescribing psychotropic drugs to children in foster care and failing to maintain adequate medical records to monitor the potential abuse of such drugs.…