Training Institutes 2012 - National Technical Assistance Center for ...

INSTITUTES
INSTITUTE #20 8:30 AM FRIDAY • 1:30 PM SATURDAY • SUN B
The Use of Psychotropic Medications for Children and
Adolescents in Community-Based Child-Serving Agencies
OBJECTIVES—Participants will learn:
1. To describe standards for a quality assessment for the use of psychotropic medication as part of a treatment
plan for children and youth
2. To identify the phases in treatment when medication is part of the treatment plan
3. To explain special issues in prescribing medications
4. To examine the use of psychotropic medications in special populations served in community-based child-serving systems
5. To identify sources of information about medications
6. To describe federal and state efforts to promote proper use of psychotropic medication for children and
youth in foster care
This Institute will focus on the principles for quality assessment for and use of psychotropic medications in children and
youth with mental health conditions. Federal and state efforts to promote the proper use of psychotropic medication for
children and youth will be discussed with attention to the use of medications for children and youth in foster care.
The information and strategies to be highlighted are based on the efforts of two organizations—American Academy of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Committee on Community-Based System of Care’s work on the appropriate use of
medications and the U.S. Administration on Children, Youth and Families’ work on the social and emotional well-being
of children and youth in the foster care system with special attention on the appropriate treatment of trauma in this
population. The Academy recently developed a document, A Guide for Community Child-serving Agencies on
Psychotropic Medication for Children and Adolescents, and the Administration for Children and Families recently
published Information Memoranda entitled, Promoting the Safe, Appropriate, and Effective Use of Psychotropic
Medication for Children in Foster Care and Promoting Social and Emotional Well-Being for Children and Youth
Receiving Child Welfare Services.
Specific topics to be covered include:
• Context for prescribing psychotropic medications
• Phases in treatment when medication is part of the treatment plan
• Issues in prescribing psychotropic medications for children and youth
• Considerations for community-based child-serving systems
• Sources of information about medications
• Federal and state efforts to support appropriate and safe use of psychotropic medications in children and youth in
foster care
Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their own experiences in the use and monitoring of psychotropic
medication in children and youth. The faculty team for the session will offer the perspectives of a child and adolescent
psychiatrist who is a state children’s mental health director, the family perspective from a statewide family organization
executive director, and the federal agency charged with oversight and monitoring of psychotropic medication use among
children and youth in foster care, as well as other supporting federal agencies.
MODERATOR/PRESENTER: Albert Zachik, M.D., Director, Office of Child and Adolescent Services, Mental
Hygiene Administration, State of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Catonsville, MD
Joyce Pfennig, Ph.D., Program Specialist, Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Washington, DC
Jane Walker, L.C.S.W., Executive Director, Maryland Coalition of Families for Children’s Mental Health, Columbia, MD
52 Training Institutes 2012