"Like a zombie": Ontario group home chain accused of overmedicating kids in care

Welts and bruises from the whip of a belt. Sexual abuse that leaves lasting emotional scars. Behavioural problems that leave parents feeling helpless. These are among the reasons kids are placed in Ontario’s child-welfare system.

Experts say intensive therapy is needed for kids to heal from the trauma of abuse, or to live with mental health disorders. But Jamar Morrison, who lived in a group home operated by the for-profit company Hatts Off, said help didn’t come in the form of therapy – it came in a handful of pills.

A Global News investigation spoke to dozens of former workers and youth who have lived or worked at Hatts Off homes. Roughly 20 said they felt that kids in the company’s homes were “overmedicated” and had little access to therapy.

Tisheena Burnette, who arrived at a Hatts Off group home at the age of 12, said the pills she was prescribed left her feeling like “a zombie.”

In a statement, Hatts Off denied that it failed to provide kids with proper counselling and said it relies on healthcare professionals to determine what prescriptions a child needs.

Carolyn Jarvis has more.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/9287018/ontario-group-home-chain-hatts-off-overmedicating-kids-in-care/

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