Sonoma County does not adequately monitor the use of psychotropic drugs among local foster youth, raising the possibility the county may be inappropriately medicating children or over-prescribing the mind-altering medications, according to a report released Tuesday by the California Auditor’s Office.
County officials, however, strongly questioned some of the findings and insisted state auditors reviewed only limited documentation of the care foster youth received. The state did not review such documents as patient medical records and foster placement records, officials said.
Sonoma County was among four counties selected for review in the report, but the findings were indicative of statewide trends, the report said. The others were Los Angeles, Madera and Riverside.
Among the many findings, the audit found Sonoma County often failed to show that it properly tracked cases where foster kids were prescribed multiple psychotropic drugs from the same class, which the state discourages; failed to show it was reviewing cases where drug dosages exceeded state guidelines; and did not show that youth were receiving adequate follow-up visits after being prescribed new psychotropic medications.
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