The comment below, from Lillian Tillman, has been reposted with permission from the Reclaiming Futures discussion group on LinkedIn, "Juvenile Justice Reform & Adolescent Substance Abuse". --Ed.

Sharon my heart goes out to you, and I too appreciate your willingness to share what really goes on in the juvenile system. My son was in juvenile detetion, until he was transferred to an adult facility. While in the juvenile facility at age 16, they gave him seroquel; along with other anti-depressants, because he was having anxiety attacks. This was in San Antonio, Tx. When I asked why they were administering him meds I did not know about, I was told it was to calm him down due to the anxiety. My son told me they gave it to alot of the kids to keep them sleepy and druged up all day. The problem with that was, (1) that my son told me at visitation what he was taking, not the people at the facility, (2) some of the meds given to the children were to strong and caused other problems, like addictions. Thank God I found out when I did, Seroquel alone causes hallucinations and can be addictive if given to children. Victoria, I agree with you about the juvenile system, and I pray for a change to happen across the country. The United States is the only country that has these practices.