Initiating the process of providing behavioral services to foster children in inpatient facilities

Abstract

The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (2011) mandated states to monitor psychotropic medication usage in foster care systems. In response to that legislation, the Deputy Director of the Alabama Department of Human Resources developed the Alabama Psychiatric Medication Review Team (APMRT). To date, our team has engaged in actions to target relevant personnel in foster care systems including caseworkers, foster parents, biological parents, and prescribers of psychotropic medication. One component of APMRT services involves tracking psychotropic medication prescriptions in Alabama foster care through our state Medicaid base. This process led the APMRT to include residential facilities as a target for services. What follows is a detailed account of the steps the APMRT initiated within a specific inpatient residential facility to improve (a) behavior tracking systems and (b) staff members' implementation of general behavior interventions.