Also, being prescribed medication does not change the payment. There is an additional payment for children with certain specific diagnoses, but that is only loosely related to medication; a child with a generalized anxiety disorder, for example, would not qualify for extra payments, but might be prescribed anti-anxiety medication.
Also, w.r.t. the one-in-three statistic, the most common side effect of prenatal exposure to methamphetamine is ADHD, and if you send an elementary-school aged boy with ADHD symptoms to public school, you are likely to have medication recommended.
> The statistics on child abuse in foster care are alarming as well.
I'm not going to say there aren't abusive foster parents (because obviously there are), but it is probably hard to measure the level of abuse. I lost count of the number of (unsubstantiated) allegations made against me, and I can assure you I didn't abuse any of my children (foster or otherwise).
I understand California had this particular scandal in 2016 and passed some reforms. This is probably a consequence.
Not particularly surprising to me. 1) Everyone I met experienced some horrific stuff growing up, and 2) psychiatric evaluation and care was pretty much mandatory.
My experience in foster care was more positive than with the family members I was placed with who kicked me out after a few months. And yes, I had a prescription for antidepressants. I didn't take them.
Unfortunately, there may be reasons that they assume this. Just for instance: one of every three kids in foster care are prescribed psychotropic medications, gravely alarming the American Academy of Pediatrics. Notably, foster parents taking care of a child on such a medication are paid much, much more than they would if the child is not. The statistics on child abuse in foster care are alarming as well.