This guide is designed to help professionals better understand and work with psychiatrists as well as with children receiving psychotropic medications and their families/caregivers.

Creation of this guide was prompted by a research study led by Curtis McMillen, PhD, and facilitated by the Research Network Development Core (RNDC) – a partnership initiative between the Center and the Missouri Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services. The RNDC and this “Psychotropic Meds” project are funded through a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
Preparation of this guide was a joint effort involving RNDC Committee members, qualified writers, reviewers and advisors.
Authors include:

• Drew Sylvester, MD, a child & adolescent psychiatrist employed both by BJC Behavioral Health and Hawthorn Children’s Psychiatric Hospital in St. Louis
  
  
• Curtis McMillen, PhD, social work professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis
  
  
• Chris Knoepke, MSW, RNDC Research Assistant at the Center for Mental Health Services Research at Washington University in St. Louis