Imagine —
. . . You discover that one of your campers has been pretending to be someone else — under the direction of her parents.
. . . Guests of a rental group on your property steal a canoe and one of the guests drowns in your lake.
. . . A ten-year-old transgender female (biologically male) wants to attend your all-girls camp.
. . . Bed bugs have infested your camp.
. . . You discover that a suspended employee has been purchasing items in the name of your camp.
. . . A female camper discloses that she was the victim of date-rape prior to camp and believes herself to be HIV positive.
. . . Two adult staff accuse each other of sexual harassment, each pertaining to the same incident of physical contact between the two.
 
These and many other calls were fielded this year by ACA’s confidential Camp Crisis Hotline team. Year after year, camps tell us that the Hotline is one of the most important services AC provides to members. This year-round, twenty-four-hour-a-day, confidential service can act as an important third-party, outside support for camps in crisis. We provide support by talking through key questions, providing experiences from other camps, and connecting callers with the resources they need to handle their crisis professionally, legally, and with the best interests of their campers and staff in mind. While the Camp Crisis Hotline is not a legal or medical hotline, we do help camps understand legal and medical implications and encourage them to connect with legal and medical professionals as a next step, if warranted. As a learning tool, ACA provides an annual overview of the lessons learned on the Hotline for the year, case studies to help camps prepare for a crisis, and a list of our most-used resources. We hope you will learn from the lessons of other camps and discuss our case studies as you prepare for future staff, campers, camp families, and user groups.
 
Breakdown of Call Categories
Medical Issues      28%
Employment Issues      21%
Allegations of Abuse (at home)      9%
Allegations of Abuse (camper-to-camper)      8%
Camper Behavior      6%
Parent Behavior      4%
Allegations of Abuse (staff-to-camper)      4%
Other/Miscellaneous      20%
 

Medical Issues

The trend from previous years has continued — calls of a medical nature are by far the most frequent topic of concern.
While ACA does not supply medical advice, we do have familiarity with a wide range of common camp injuries, illnesses, and infestations. The common denominator in our conversation with callers is that they do not have nursing or medical staff on-site who are familiar with many of the common childhood diseases and infestations. We received calls about lice (our most common topic!), conjunctivitis, scabies, and viral meningitis, to name a few. (Fortunately for everyone’s health, there were no H1N1 calls or outbreaks this year!)
 

Health/Medical Lessons Learned

  • Competencies: The competencies of your nursing and medical staff should be evaluated when you are making your hiring decisions. Many health/medical calls to the Hotline concerned common childhood illnesses and afflictions (such as pink eye); however, in many cases, the camp healthcare staff were not familiar with these issues. Camp nursing has its own set of skills and competencies, and most importantly, familiarity with working with children and their common issues is critical. When hiring, you should talk to your applicants about their experience working with children and their familiarity with common childhood diseases and afflictions. The Association of Camp Nurses is an excellent resource: www.acn.org.
 
  • Distribution of Medication: A number of callers wanted to discuss procedures for the distribution of prescription and non-prescription medication. Distribution of medication laws vary by state. Often a caller will ask us something such as “Can my counselors distribute medication if they are out on a night hike with campers?” We cannot provide the definitive answer, but we can direct you to your state/local resource. It is important that you know this information before camp starts and have set up appropriate procedures. Helpful resources are listed below.
 
  • Lice: Experts disagree about whether a person infested with lice should be treated (along with examining those around them for infestation and taking other preventative methods) and kept with other people to continue their camp experience, or sent home until all evidence of “nits” are gone. Because the culture of each camp is different, you need to decide if you want to have a “no-nits” or “treat and prevent” policy. There is no single “right” answer. What is important is that you understand the facts about lice (there is a lot of misinformation out there, and the “grossness” factor often overcomes the facts). Because this topic is such a frequent call to the Hotline, ACA has developed a special resource focused solely on lice.
 

Most Referenced Health/Medical Resources

 

Employment Issues

Most calls pertaining to employment issues were questions about staff behavior issues, with the remaining being about hiring/firing practices. The off-season is the time for you to consider your staff policies — before you begin hiring staff for next season. (If you are a year-round operation, fall is still a great time to consider lessons learned over the past year.) We have identified that most issues resulted from a camp not having crystal-clear written policies and consequences about staff behavior.
 

Employment Lessons Learned

  • Staff Policies: Be as inclusive as possible in your employment agreements and your personnel policies. Learn from other camps about what they wished they had included in their policies. Here’s a short list of issues camps called about and did not have clear policies regarding:
    • Acceptable/unacceptable personal, physical relationships between adult staff members
    • Acceptable/unacceptable physical contact between staff and campers (for example, are hugs, pats on the back, sitting on laps, etc., acceptable in your camp?)
    • Acceptable/unacceptable topics of discussion between staff and campers
    • Acceptable/unacceptable picture taking and picture posting by staff
    • Time-off activities and expectations of staff when they return to camp after that time off
    • Cell phone and Internet usage by staff
  • Termination Procedures: Plan ahead. Many camps have termination policies, but no accompanying procedures. That is, if you terminate an employee, what are your procedures for physically getting them out of camp? Many staff do not have their own transportation. Plan now for what you will do in the future.
  •  Background Checks:
    • Result Thresholds: As you hire staff and perform criminal background checks, it is important that you develop your thresholds before you perform any checks. Your organization should sit down and consider what types of past criminal records would be acceptable to you — for each different type of position at your camp. For example, you might find it acceptable that someone applying for an activities director job had a petty theft conviction twenty years ago, but would that be an acceptable background for your bookkeeping position? There are no definitive right-or-wrong answers (except in some states that tell you who cannot work with children), so you need to set your thresholds based on the culture of your camp. It is very important that you work with your legal advisors as you develop these thresholds, as you must comply with hiring laws while you protect the safety of those in your care. Then, it is critical that you be consistent, follow your own thresholds, and make sure not to treat people who are interviewing for the same job differently (e.g., “I like her, so she’ll be fine.”). Only you know your program and what is acceptable.
    • Awaiting Results: If you have submitted a background check for a potential staff member or volunteer and have not received the results by the time the camp season opens— what do you do? If you allow the individual to work with children or vulnerable adults and later the check reveals a criminal history as a sex-offender — what then? What is critically important is that you discuss your background check policies with legal counsel and camp leadership. Make sure your hiring process leaves enough time for you to check results prior to any opportunity for the individual to work with children or vulnerable adults. ACA and many other organizations that serve youth and vulnerable adults are advocating for changes in background check laws that will make the checks more accessible, complete, timely, and affordable. Read more about it at: www.ACAcamps.org/publicpolicy/cbc. 
  • Plan for temporary replacements: Prior to the camp season, consider what you will do if a shorter-term staff member (like a nurse who will work for just one week) does not show up at the last minute — or if you have to fire a key staff member (such as the director). What network of ready-to-call volunteers might you call upon at the last minute to assure supervision ratios and the safety of campers?
 

Resources

 

Allegations of Abuse at Home

Campers often see camp as a safe emotional place. In fact, camps work very intentionally to create this environment! Therefore, in our experience, it is not unusual for abused children to reveal at camp that they have been abused at home (or somewhere else outside of camp). Many children feel safe at camp because they feel that people there care — thus what they might not have revealed at home is sometimes more easily revealed at camp. In these situations, children often say “Please don’t tell anyone.” You cannot promise them that. Instead, you need to assure them that you care and that you must tell the people who can help. Most often, those who call the Hotline want help understanding what steps they should take after the child reveals the information. Camps are mandated reporters. It is in the best interest of the child for you to immediately connect with those who are trained to investigate and handle these types of situations. Your goal is to provide a safe haven to the child while connecting with the authorities who can take the next steps. Often camps will ask us: “Should I call the parents first and tell them that I am calling the authorities?” There is no definitive answer here. While you are in partnership with parents, you also have a legal obligation to contact the authorities. If the accusation is against a parent, callers find it clearer to make the call to the authorities without informing the parents. However, if the accusation is against another family member or friend, callers are more challenged to determine if they should inform the parents before calling the authorities. The answer lies in knowing your camp families and culture. Unfortunately, sometimes camps have called the parents first and the parents have demanded that the camp not call the authorities. This places the camp in a difficult situation as legally they are mandated to contact the authorities whether the parents approve or not. Understanding that your priority is protecting the child will help make options clearer for you. Because of the sensitivity of this issue, ACA has asked a number of experts to provide guidance. See the following resources.
 

Resources

 

Allegations of Camper-to-Camper Abuse

Unfortunately, we hear of situations where campers have abused other campers. These types of situations range from things like verbal abuse and bullying to sexual abuse. Not unique to the camp environment, this alarming trend is found across America. According to the organization Stop It Now, over one-third of all sexual abuse of children is committed by someone under the age of eighteen. For camps, an answer to preventing campers from harming other campers is clear — it is absolutely critical that your staff be vigilant about identifying situations where campers could be alone and potentially abuse each other. All of the calls to the Hotline about this issue allegedly occurred in those brief moments when staff were not directly in contact with campers. Sleeping time, overnights in tents, trips to the bathroom, and times when campers change clothes for the pool are clearly the times when camps need to be ever-more attuned for the possibilities of camper-to-camper inappropriate activities. Provide training and policies that do not allow campers to be alone without staff supervision — ever — ever — ever!
 

Resources

www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/PreventingChildAbuse.htm

 

Other Situations

We can’t cover all the topics we’ve handled on the Hotline, but we do want to share with you the excellent resources we use. We’ve created a new resource online that gives you more links and topics related to Hotline calls. We encourage you to visit the site and use the materials in your staff training. The site is: www.ACAcamps.org/camp-crisis-hotline.

 

Case Studies

We have selected a number of case studies from this year to serve as learning tools for your camp. We encourage you to talk through these situations with your leadership and discuss what you would do if a similar situation was presented at your camp.

 

Case Study One — Camper Assuming a False Identity

A director got a call from a family that said they received a postcard sent home from camp (the camp provides pre-addressed postcards home for enrolled campers to send). These parents were confused because their child was not at this camp (although she was going to be, but cancelled). While the camp was trying to figure out what happened, a camper with the name of the child who did not come to camp (let’s call her “Mary”), had a problem with her inhaler and the camp staff called the parents’ number (listed on the health form) to work on that problem. The parents that answered the phone responded to the call about Mary but they were not the people who received the postcard. After investigation, the director came to learn that the girl at camp was a cousin of Mary. The girl who was sent to camp answered to the name Mary all week, and all her other cousins, who were also at camp, spent the week calling her Mary as well. The camp was concerned about who this child really was and whether they should be concerned that this might be a missing or exploited child since she was obviously instructed to go by the name Mary. The camp speculated that since they have a no-refund policy, someone from the extended family sent a cousin in Mary’s place without telling Mary’s parents.
 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • How can the camp determine the true identity of this child and her parents/guardians, especially when everything has been falsified? Who and what is the director to believe? In this case, the director was considering working with the local police for assistance in determining the identity of the child and to verify that this child wasn’t on a missing persons list somewhere.
  • Who should the camper be released to at the end of the session? The camp does not want to release the camper unless they are certain the child is going to her legal parents/guardians. Who can the director believe?
  • What could be the cause of this issue? Most likely the cause was the camp’s no-refund, no-substitution policy. In this case, it appears that someone in the extended family found a substitute and asked the child and her cousins to lie by assuming the identity of the originally enrolled camper. Especially in a struggling economy, ask yourself if your refund policy is one that protects your business but also allows some options for families.
 

Resources

 

Case Study Two — Accidental Drowning of a Rental Group Guest

Two adult male guests, who were part of a user group renting the camp’s facilities, stole a canoe and took it onto the lake without paddles and personal floatation devices. The canoe was not locked up, but all safety equipment was locked up. Posted signs clearly indicated that the lake was off limits and was not to be used without a lifeguard present. When the canoe capsized and the men began screaming for help, two camp staff responded and saved one man but could not locate the second man. Police conducted a search and found the second man’s body. He was rushed to the hospital but was deceased.
 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • How can camps control access to watercraft and related equipment? In this case, the safety equipment was locked but the canoes were not. ACA Standard PA-12 addresses controlling access to natural bodies of water, and recommends techniques such as education, posting regulations, and locks/barriers. Although using locks to control access to watercraft may not be necessary in all instances, camps may want to explore how both watercraft and related safety equipment can be locked when not in use.
  • What’s the role of signage in communicating safety hazards and what’s the best location for the placement of signs? In this case, signs were clearly posted. However, it’s a good procedure to review waterfront signage and assess if signs need to be replaced, refurbished, or installed in new areas of the camp property.
  • How do camps respond to questions from the community and from the media when a drowning occurs? What communications policies and procedures are in place? In this case, the camp director had developed crisis communications procedures and key messages and was able to compare the camp’s communications plan with recommendations from ACA’s Communications Toolkit (available at www.ACAcamps.org/members/toolkit/crisiscomm). Fall is a perfect time ofthe year to review and update your communication plansbased on recent incidents at your camp or based on situationsdescribed in this article.
  • What are your camp’s waterfront safety policies and procedures and how are these policies and procedures communicated to user groups that rent your facilities? Take the opportunity to review your user group contract and information packet and consider if changes are needed. Assess any incidents or issues that you’ve experienced with user groups during the past year and update your user group contract information packet accordingly.
 

Resources

 

Case Study Three — Suspended Employee (Background Check Not Yet Confirmed) Purchasing on Behalf of the Camp

The camp required that all camp staff submit background check documentation by a specific deadline. In this situation, a cook who had been hired for the summer failed to submit her background check documentation by the deadline. The cook’s supervisor suspended her until her background check documentation was received and approved by the camp. Approximately a week later, the camp learned that the cook had been working from home (ordering food, etc.). When confronted and told that she should not be working (she was not being paid while suspended), the cook became upset because she did not understand that she was not supposed to work and was not being paid.

 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • How are you communicating deadlines and hiring requirements to staff? Communicating specific requirements and deadlines for background check documentation to all camp staff is an important practice, as it demonstrates the camp’s commitment to ensuring the safety of children, youth, and vulnerable adults. In this case, the camp had established specific background check policies and camp staff were aware of their responsibilities. For more information about developing background check guidelines, see the “Resources” section.
  • How do you document supervisory actions? Maintaining documentation of supervisory action (in this case, the suspension and what the employee needed to do before returning to work) is critical. In this situation, there was a discrepancy between what the camp perceived it communicated to the cook and what the cook perceived had been communicated to her. Requiring staff to sign a letter outlining the details of the suspension and indicating that they understand the reason for the suspension and the specific steps necessary to return to regular employment may have reduced the differences in perception that this camp experienced.
  • What are your camp’s personnel policies and procedures? If this was your camp, would your personnel policies and procedures require you to provide written documentation to the employee? Are all supervisors at your camps trained in the proper way to document employee contacts? Consider this: If the employee was eventually terminated and filed a wrongful termination claim, what documentation would your camp have to back up your actions?
 

Resources

 

Case Study Four — Sexual Harassment of a Camper by Other Campers

The director was notified by a counselor that one of his elevenyear- old campers reported a group of older boys (twelve- to fourteen-years-old) had “tea-bagged” him (when a person is restrained so a male can bounce his bare genitals up and down on his/her face). It was the last night of camp and happened while the counselor was in the bathroom (the cabin’s second counselor was helping with preparations for an all-camp activity). The victim was embarrassed and wanted to “just forget about it.” The other boys involved in the incident were called in the office and reluctantly disclosed a few details.
 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • What are the immediate needs of the children? The well-being of the victimized child is primary, so having the healthcare staff talk with the child is critical. The crisis team will likely discuss the approach to use when talking with the victim’s parents. The other children involved also need to be talked with (individually) about their knowledge of what happened. The crisis team will need to establish the dialog they want to have with the parents of the other boys involved with agreement on the message. For example, the boys need to be picked up that evening, they will not be allowed back at camp, etc.
  • When is the camp a mandated reporter? Whenever there are allegations of sexual misconduct, the camp is required to report it to the authorities. The camp need NOT investigate or make any judgments. The director may want to consider contacting their insurance company as well as their board president, particularly if there is any possibility for media coverage.
  • What was the breakdown in their supervision plan? The administrative team will likely need to review their staff supervision plan and figure out how to prevent similar incidents from occurring. In this case, the camp policy of two staff at all times with the campers was overridden when the two cabin staff decided that one of them could cover the cabin alone for an hour while the second staff went to help with the all-camp activity.
  • Does the camp have a “crisis team”? This camp did not have a plan for how to deal with an emergency like this one. In the future, they can have a plan that details who is on the crisis response team as well as some key information for likely crisis scenarios.
 

Resources

 

Case Study Five — Transgender Camper Enrolling in an All-Girls Resident Camp

A camp was contacted about a ten-year-old (biologically male) transgender girl who wanted to attend their all-girls resident camp. The camp wanted to accommodate the request, but was unsure of all the things they needed to consider. The child was being recommended to the camp by her psychologist, and the staff had not yet had a conversation with the child’s parents. The child was living as a girl at school and at home. The camp was pleased that their camp was considered a “safe” place for the child, but was unsure of how to accommodate her needs.
 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • What is needed to make the camp experience “safe” for the child? One of the first questions usually centers on how to meet the privacy needs of the transgender child. Physical accommodations need to be considered, such as showers, sleeping arrangements, and changing areas. In this case, the directors felt that they could ask the staff to help generate ideas on how to guard the privacy of the child without making her “special” or different from the other girls. A conversation with the parents will also help the staff understand how the needs of the child are handled at school, with friends, etc. Lastly, the directors wanted to find out if the girl was coming to camp with any of her friends, as they might make good cabin mates.
  • Can you discriminate based on sexual identity? Camps need to contact their legal counsel for guidance around their state’s laws and any repercussions if they exclude a child based on sexual identity.
  • Are there any special medical needs? In some cases the healthcare staff may need to be informed about any special medications the child might be taking to help with the biological transition process. The staff may also need to know about any emotional needs that the child may have.
  • What local resources might they contact? The camp directors felt that they needed to talk with their supervisors (part of a governmental agency) to find out what resources and policies might already be in place. They also had a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Center not far from their main office. They were going to contact them for resources and training ideas.
  • Who needs to know the transgender status of the child? Since this camp found out early enough, they decided to cover the topic during their staff training so they could role play likely scenarios and conversations that may occur during camp. The directors felt that direct counseling staff would need to know that the child was transgender. Each camp has to decide who else should know and how best to inform them. For example, should the parents of the girls in her cabin be notified? Should other campers / cabin mates know? Since the girl was only ten-years-old, the other campers may not need to know, but the staff need to be prepared in case privacy is not maintained or the child shares something about her situation.
 

Case Study Six — Anonymous E-mail Alleges Sexual Abuse by Staff Member

An e-mail alleged to be from a seventh-grade boy was received by the camp’s generic info e-mail address. The e-mail alleges inappropriate touching by a staff member when the boy was at the camp during the spring for a school program. The director was given the e-mail from the administrative assistant but it was not signed. The e-mail stated the boy had been touched by a particular male staff, that he hated the camp, and that he was going to the police. The staff figured out a possible name for the boy from the e-mail address and then looked up that name on Facebook, where they found a potential match. The profile information included the school this boy attended, and that school had indeed been at camp during the time the boy alleged.
 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • How seriously should a camp take unsigned e-mails and what assumptions can you make? This camp was creative in their approach by using technology to help them investigate the allegation. However, they need to use extreme caution.Guessing identity from an e-mail address is not without problems; plus, someone else (other than the rightful owner) could have used that e-mail address. To assume that they had tracked down the right boy could be a mistake.
  • Who should be notified? They might want to talk to child protective services to see what they might recommend (if anything), as well as legal counsel, their board president, and their insurance agent. The camp was considering a conversation with the part-time staff person whose name was close to the alleged abuser’s name in the e-mail. Again the camp was urged not to jump to conclusions and to consider carefully what (if anything) might be gained by talking with the staff person.
  • What documentation should be done? The director was documenting everything they did as well as saving the original e-mail. If the boy followed through by contacting the police, the camp would have records of their attempts to deal with the anonymous allegation.
  • What supervision procedures are in place? We reviewed their staff training around supervision of children and the policies that are in place. The camp’s policy is to always have at least two staff with children and the teacher/chaperone is always with the children when it is a school group.
 

Resources

 

Case Study Seven — Camper Reveals Potential HIV Status Due to Date-Rape

During a cabin time discussion, a sixteen-year-old camper disclosed she was potentially HIV positive and may have contracted a sexually-transmitted disease (STD). When the camp director talked with the camper after the disclosure, the camper indicated she had gone to a free clinic prior to camp and did not know the results. When asked if she wanted to know the results, the camper said she’d wait until she got home. The Hotline team helped the camp consider the situation. A few weeks later, the camp called again and said the camper had just revealed that she was the victim of date-rape, which is where she felt she had been exposed to HIV and the STD. For consistency, we will address both Hotline calls together.
 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • Who should be informed of this situation? The legal age of consent in the state may determine whether the parents/guardians of the girl should be contacted by camp personnel (without the consent of the camper). The local health department may be able to provide additional useful information. Appropriate officials may need to be notified due to the date-rape allegations (due to the camp’s role as a mandated reporter). The camp health care provider should be involved in conversations as well. The insurance provider for the camp could be notified for additional resources.
  • How do the camp director and cabin counselors respond to questions/concerns from cabin mates and other staff? ACAStandard HR-17 asks: “Has the camp established policies and trained staff to respond appropriately to socially sensitive issues?” How the counselors respond should be guided by your camp’s philosophy, mission, purpose, and what was covered in staff training.
  • Should the camper stay at camp? This might depend on the mental/emotional/physical state of the camper. Any decision should involve the parents, the camper, and health care professionals. In this situation, while the camp director was truly concerned about the camper, the camper interpreted the concern and questions as “harassment” and chose to leave camp on her own.
 

Resources

 

Case Study Eight — Staff Member Resigns as Allegations of “Sexting” Emerge

During the first week of a day camp, a staff member who served as one of the camp’s bus drivers approached the director, turned in his set of bus keys, and announced he was quitting. The individual, who was a school teacher, offered no explanation other than he felt he had to resign. By that evening, the camp director heard on the news that the individual who had resigned was arrested for allegedly texting photos of his private parts to a student. This incident did not happen at camp and did not involve a camper.
 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • In today’s world of instant news, what information should the camp director share with the camp families and by what method? In this situation, the camp director had been communicating with camp families via e-mail prior to the start of camp. He felt he wanted to immediately send an e-mail stating some basic facts to camp families and camp staff (such as an overview of his staff screening policy and that the incident did not happen at camp or involve a camper). The camp director also wanted to make sure the camp parents knew he was available to talk if they wanted.
  • Who else might the camp director contact? In any situation regarding serious allegations such as this, it is always a good idea to contact both the insurance provider and legal counsel for the camp. They might be able to provide additional resources and provide necessary guidance.
  • What about the media? Again, in today’s world of instant news, there is a strong potential for this story to be widely read/heard. Make sure your camp staff know who the official spokesperson of camp is so they can direct anyone who asks them about the situation to that individual.
  • Do you have a staff policy regarding posting of “camp news” on Facebook or other social networking sites? Camp staff can inadvertently “feed the media” through social networking and other means. What are the key messages you want heard regarding a situation such as this? Having an overall plan of how to deal with crisis prior to any incident is critical.
 
Note: If this incident had happened at camp (and/or with a camper), additional steps would need to have been considered and/or taken. These include things such as contacting the authorities to determine if sexting is considered illegal in your state, depending upon the age of the sender/receiver; contacting the parent of the camper; key messages for parents and the media; etc.
 

Resources

 

Case Study Nine — Anonymous Camper Misbehavior

Camp staff discovered feces on the f loor in two different bathroom stalls and smeared all over the walls of the bathroom facility. The camp immediately did a thorough cleaning of all camper hands, all areas of the bathroom facility including all faucets, door handles, and handholds in cabins and other areas of camp to be sure that any surfaces that may have been touched with contaminated hands were disinfected. The camp suspected that this was the work of a thirteen-year-old camper — but were only 80 percent sure of who it was. They did know which cabin was using the facility when the incident occurred, but no one was coming forward with any information or confessions. The camp had the nurse review the health history of the suspected camper to see if there were any mental health issues noted — there were not. The camp was struggling with whether or not to call the parents of the suspected culprit, since they did not know, with absolute certainty, which camper was the culprit.
 

Questions / Lessons Learned

  • How should the camp debrief this with the cabin group? What should happen with the campers since it is suspected that the culprit is in their midst and the others know who it is but won’t reveal the individual?
  • What is your camp’s standard procedure for dealing with camper misconduct? Would your camp call the parents of a camper for a similar behavioral offense (such as graffiti) if they were not totally sure of who the culprit was?
  • What is your philosophy or policy/procedure for contacting parents? It is important to apply the procedures fairly and consistently and to stay true to your camp’s philosophy.
 

Resources

• Camping Magazine Article: Camp–Parent Partnerships = Parent–Camp Loyalty: www.ACAcamps.org/campmag/0607leveron
 
ACA’s Camp Crisis Hotline, established in 1985, is always available to you: twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year. The Hotline provides support in times of crisis. If you have any questions about the resources and case studies in this article, please contact Hotline Team Leader Susan E. Yoder (syoder@ACAcamps.org)  at ACA’s National Office. For additional resources and case studies, visit www.ACAcamps.org/camp-crisis-hotline. The Hotline phone number is 800-573-9019.

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