Grassley, Kaine Urge HHS to Move Forward on Recommendations to Help Foster Youth

Statement

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, along with Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, led a bipartisan group of senators in sending a letter to Assistant Secretary for Family Support Lynn Johnson, urging her to implement recommendations from a recent Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that would help foster children prescribed psychotropic medications.

Iowa was one of five states studied by the OIG. More than 35 percent of Iowa's foster youth are being treated with psychotropic medication, one of the highest rates in the country. The OIG found that 30 percent of these children did not receive a treatment plan, which is required by law in Iowa. Additionally, 48 percent of children in foster care did not receive medication monitoring by a prescribing professional.

"We are concerned to learn that the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined that thirty-four percent of children in foster care who have been prescribed psychotropic medications did not receive treatment planning or medication monitoring.

"When children are removed from their homes and placed into foster care, the government is accepting, at minimum, the responsibility of providing a safe environment. It is critical that the Administration for Children and Families immediately take steps to ensure that states are providing treatment planning and monitoring to ensure that children are being prescribed psychotropic medications safely and appropriately."

Grassley is the co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth and has been working to improve the lives of foster children and families for more than two decades. In 2008, Grassley introduced the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, which provided additional federal incentives for states to move children from foster care to adoptive homes. That legislation also made it easier for foster children to be permanently cared for by their own relatives, and to stay in their home communities.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which passed late last year, preserved the Adoption Tax Credit, making it easier for families who want to adopt children in foster care to do so. Also last year, Grassley introduced the Strong Families Act of 2017, legislation to prevent child abuse and improve maternal and child health.

In 2011, Grassley worked to reauthorize grants that support families who struggle with substance abuse, and that improve the well-being of children who are not in their homes or are likely to be removed because of parental substance abuse. His bill, the Building Capacity for Family Focused Residential Treatment Act, was recently signed into law as part of a bipartisan, bicameral effort to reduce opioid addiction.