Drugging Our Kids

I had always been a good student, getting A’s and B’s, but everything changed in tenth grade when I failed English, one of my favorite classes. Although we were reading books I had read before and loved, like Brave New World, I couldn’t stay awake to participate in class discussions.

At the end of March, Rochelle Trochtenberg began her new job as California’s new foster care ombudsperson, the first time a former foster youth has held the post. The Office of the Foster Care Ombudsman investigates and resolves complaints on behalf of foster youth.

More than a year after a landmark San Jose Mercury News investigation exposed the impact of the over-prescription of mind-altering drugs given to foster youth, Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a package of bills into law that would place limits on those practices.

The multimedia series “Drugging Our Kids,” published by the San Jose Mercury News, won the Edward R. Murrow Award for an online news video documentary by a large online organization last week.

On Sunday, a powerful part 1 of the San Jose Mercury News series “Drugging Our Kids” shed light on the many facets of the overuse of psychotropic (mind-altering) medications with foster kids.