Child-Maltreatment-Research-L (CMRL) List Serve

Message ID: 10082

Date: 2016-11-14

Author:Blakney, Cheryl L (HSS)

Subject:RE: Psychotropic Medication - Children in Foster Care - Informed Consent

Dr. Opton, Part of my job as the Psych nurse for the Office of Children's Services in Alaska is to oversee psychotropic medications and ensuring that informed consent is given by the medical provider to parents. I never allow the caseworkers to be involved in giving informed consent. That is not their job and opens liability issues for OCS when we have non-medical providers giving information about medications for consent purposes. Our current policy indicates that for youth who parental rights have been terminated, that all consents for psychotropics are approved by the caseworker after informed consent is received in writing and they consult with the psych nurses in that region. There have been a few occasions where the psych nurses are not in agreement w/ the medication that is being recommended and we talk w/ the providers directly about this. I hope this is helpful. Cheryl Blakney RNIV, BSN      Regional Psych Nurse - Southcentral Region Office of Children's Services - DHSS Phone:  (907) 352-8909 Fax:         (907) 357-9763   -----Original Message----- From: bounce-120993127-73569657@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-120993127-73569657@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Edward Opton Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2016 8:15 AM To: Cornell listserve for child maltreatment researchers Subject: Psychotropic Medication - Children in Foster Care - Informed Consent What does "informed consent" mean in the context of psychotropic medication for children in foster care? Is the person who provides consent always the foster child's assigned social worker? In practice, is it possible for social workers to withhold consent? Do you know of instances when consent was withheld? Edward Opton, Ph.D. National Center for Youth Law 405 14th Street, 15th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 Phone: (510) 899-6583 Fax: (510) 835-8099

Dr. Opton, Part of my job as the Psych nurse for the Office of Children's Services in Alaska is to oversee psychotropic medications and ensuring that informed consent is given by the medical provider to parents. I never allow the caseworkers to be involved in giving informed consent. That is not their job and opens liability issues for OCS when we have non-medical providers giving information about medications for consent purposes. Our current policy indicates that for youth who parental rights have been terminated, that all consents for psychotropics are approved by the caseworker after informed consent is received in writing and they consult with the psych nurses in that region. There have been a few occasions where the psych nurses are not in agreement w/ the medication that is being recommended and we talk w/ the providers directly about this. I hope this is helpful. Cheryl Blakney RNIV, BSN      Regional Psych Nurse - Southcentral Region Office of Children's Services - DHSS Phone:  (907) 352-8909 Fax:         (907) 357-9763   -----Original Message----- From: bounce-120993127-73569657list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-120993127-73569657list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Edward Opton Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2016 8:15 AM To: Cornell listserve for child maltreatment researchers Subject: Psychotropic Medication - Children in Foster Care - Informed Consent What does "informed consent" mean in the context of psychotropic medication for children in foster care? Is the person who provides consent always the foster child's assigned social worker? In practice, is it possible for social workers to withhold consent? Do you know of instances when consent was withheld? Edward Opton, Ph.D. National Center for Youth Law 405 14th Street, 15th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 Phone: (510) 899-6583 Fax: (510) 835-8099