General Interest > Feed Your Head
NATSAP members dropping out
Whooter:
For those readers unfamiliar with the topic of NATSAP more information can be found here:
NATSAP Information
...
Dysfunction Junction:
More on NATSAP and its ineffectiveness:
--- Quote from: "Child Neglect and Abuse in Private Residential Facilities" ---Following the testimony by the parents, Ms. Moss of NATSAP, a trade organization of 180 residential
treatment programs that served 16,000 youth in 2006, described her organization and its efforts to work
to ensure that only programs of the highest quality are on the market. She indicated that early in 2007,
the NATSAP Board of Directors had passed a new requirement for membership. The Board now requires
that all prospective members must either be licensed by a state mental health agency, or accredited by an
appropriate mental health accrediting organization. Ms. Moss indicated that her organization was not an
accrediting organization itself, and did not look upon itself as providing a “Good Housekeeping Seal of
Approval” to programs.
Rep. Todd Russell Platts pointed that of the 10 programs studied by GAO, five were NATSAP members
at the time of the fatality, and that while two of these programs had since closed, three continued to operate.
Rep. Dale E. Kildee asked Ms. Moss about the number of complaints that NATSAP had looked into of
their member programs, and asked for records on this. While Ms. Moss indicated that the primary benefits
that NATSAP members receive are educational benefits, such as access to conferences and regional meetings,
Rep. Kildee noted that member programs “may gain a certain credibility” by belonging to NATSAP that
can be used for marketing. He indicated that NATSAP has “something to prove to this Committee and the
American public that you are supplying more than just credibility.”
Mr. Kutz noted that the NATSAP logo was displayed prominently in the marketing of the programs
that they had studied, and Dr. Pinto reported that parents with whom she had talked often referred to a
program’s membership in NATSAP, and were not sure how to interpret what it meant. Dr. Pinto also reported
that parents have no place to get accurate and complete information about programs, and that in earlier
correspondence, NATSAP had referred to concerns about the problem of abuse and neglect in residential
treatment as “the noisy complaint of a few individuals.” Ms. Moss indicated that NATSAP wanted to improve
the quality of residential treatment, that they had already taken some steps in this direction by strengthening
the membership requirements, and that their Board would take the input from the Committee under close
consideration.
Dr. Pinto reported that she had conducted an on-line survey of youth and parents in an attempt to
determine if in fact the complaints about residential treatment were restricted to a few isolated incidents, or
were more widespread. Over a six-month period she received more than 700 responses to a lengthy survey.
Respondents had participated in 85 different programs in 23 states, and while some respondents reported
having positive experiences, complaints of mistreatment were widespread and significant. The complaints
included deficiencies in health care and sanitation, unreported incidents of physical and sexual abuse, violation
of basic human rights such as privacy and dignity, requiring individuals to endure painful stress positions for
extended periods of time, providing very little food and inadequate nutrition, engaging in cruel and dangerous
thought reform procedures, and using seclusion and restraint procedures excessively. Overall, Dr. Pinto
indicated that the survey respondents had expressed “profound distress about their residential care experiences.”
--- End quote ---
In only six months Dr. Pinto received over 700 complaints. Staggering data.
Whooter:
NATSAP stands for: The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs
NATSAP Information
...
Anonymous:
I am tired of smelling your garbage disfuntion junction. You are very annoying, what program were you in?
Dysfunction Junction:
--- Quote ---Actually, many of the programs that had deaths and serious abuse problems *were* NATSAP members, including the one in which Paul Lewis’ son died. How did he die? He was sent to the program because he was suicidally depressed. He threatened to commit suicide. The program thought he was faking and ignored him. He hung himself. The program had *no* plan for dealing with suicides and Ryan’s threats were *not* evaluated by professional staff.
There is *no* evidence that these programs help *anyone*– and lots of risk. Anecdote is not evidence. If your child has a particular problem, find professionals who deal with *that problem* not with a one-size-fits-all punitive program that says it can treat Asperger’s with the same approach it uses on addiction.
And if a program will not let you talk to your child, makes your child “earn” the privilege of talking with you, or tells you to ignore your child’s complaints of abuse– run the other direction. If you are told to automatically ignore complaints, how would you know if they are true? Any program that sees all teens with mental health problems as “liars” and “manipulators” doesn’t empathize with teens and therefore will not be effective in treating them and will be dangerous, as real health complaints will be ignored.
--- End quote ---
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