Why are so many foster care children on medication?

Most foster children need to see a therapist just to deal with the family separation that they are experiencing. Siblings get separated too, if a foster family cannot be found that is willing to take the sibling group. This cause extreme stress for the children. Not only are they being taken away from their parents, but they are being separated from their siblings too. Also, the abuses these children suffer are not always visible. Sometimes the children suffered from severe neglect and have no idea how to function in a family setting. Sometimes they just need someone to help them understand that the problems and traumas that they have experienced are not the fault of the child. Not all foster families are loving families. I have known foster kids and former foster kids and sometimes the families they are placed with are no better than the families they were taken away from. I knew a girl who when she was younger she was a foster kid. The family she was placed with went to Disney World when she was 8 years old. They left her behind because it was a family vacation and she wasn't family, she was the foster kid. They didn't beat her, sexually molest her, verbally abuse her nor did they mentally abuse her. They treated her very well, but they never let her forget that she wasn't a member of the family. She spent 5 years with those people and when I met her when we were 15, she didn't believe that she was worth anything nor did she think she deserved to be loved. She actually told me that if her own parents hadnt loved her enough to get clean and sober, the she probably wasn't worth loving. When child thinks that they are worthless because of things beyond their control, they need to see someone who can help them realize that they are worth something. That they are worth loving and deserve to be loved.

Some foster kids are special needs and have some developmental problems but, I can agree with you that some people use children as test subjects instead of children. I guess some of the people that the kids come in contact with them misdiagnose them or just give them meds in order to receive a state check but it makes it really hard for people who really want to care for the children and provide them with a stable home.

I'm guessing it's because foster kids have been through a lot. Other kids might have too, but then it's their parents who have to take them in, and a lot of times parents don't think their child needs therapy. Or if a parent is the problem, they're certainly not going to think that their kid needs therapy. With foster children, I'm guessing it's more available to them and the foster care system is trying to figure out if there is something else they can do to improve the childrens lives. It does seem a bit odd about medication though, I could understand the therapy more. It doesn't seem like they should be more likely to have disorders requiring medication, despite possibly having traumatic experiences.