NATSAP Position on Miller Bill

Contact:
Jan Moss,
Executive Director of NATSAP
928-443-9505
jan@natsap.org

May 20, 2008

While NATSAP strongly supports the intent of this Bill and the need for legislation - to prevent child abuse and neglect in residential programs - NATSAP believes the Bill is flawed and will not be effective or efficient in fulfilling this intent. The Bill fails to protect children in all residential programs. This Bill also creates an entirely new federal bureaucracy that will duplicate current state-led child abuse and neglect enforcement programs and state licensing programs. The Bill sponsors litigation against programs because it has no limits on attorney's fees and punitive damage awards, and creates strict liability for standards that have not yet been drafted.

The Bill excludes programs operated by government entities and should be amended to afford this protection to all children served in residential programs.

States are better staffed and equipped to enforce existing abuse and neglect prevention statutes.

The Bill proposes an entirely new federal bureaucracy to enforce the statute. This new bureaucracy will duplicate existing state efforts and will be extremely expensive and inefficient to create and staff in all 50 states.

The Bill allows new access to federal courts and unlimited attorney's fees and punitive damage awards. Parties already have the right to access state and federal courts. These provisions may make liability insurance for member programs unobtainable or prohibitively expensive.

NATSAP has worked since our founding to establish ethical and operational principles for member programs. To this end NATSAP requires by January 1, 2009 that all member programs be state licensed or externally accredited by an approved accreditation organization. All 50 states have existing programs to investigate and enforce laws that prohibit child abuse and neglect.