The Washington DC meetings were scheduled the same way they always are.

All the same office doors, same handshakes, and the same state-specific economic impact sheets in every folder. For Hill Day, everyone had the same three asks we'd been making to congressional offices for years.

But in a number of offices, there was one difference this year — who was waiting on the other side of the table.

I found more senior staffers assigned to our meetings. People from congressional committees, not just office staff. People with the authority to pick up a phone and call a counterpart in another office and make something happen.

The caucus changed the context of many of our conversations before they even started.

Overnighting It

In a normal Hill Day year, camp directors log their talking points with staffers and leave. The information goes into a system, and it might or might not reach anyone with the authority to act on it. That’s just how DC works.

With the caucus now formal, some of our meetings moved to a different level.

When our issues touch foreign policy or education, I used to meet with a subject-matter staffer, and the notes got filed. On April 29, I met with two of Senator Jeanne Shaheen's most senior staff, including her chief legal counsel — a person I had never previously met.

That's the thing about camp advocacy: No one carries the camp portfolio. No one in a congressional office has been designated to know the camp world the way they know agriculture or housing or defense. The caucus is starting to change that.

The way I'd describe what April 29 felt like: the difference between tossing something in a mailbox and overnighting it.

If She’s In, I’m In

I had a meeting in the office of a great senator who is not a big caucus joiner. Her wonderful staffer made that explicit in our pre-meeting on Tuesday: "She doesn't join a lot of caucuses. That's just not her thing."

A few minutes later, at the constituent coffee event that gives you a moment with the actual member of Congress, the senator turned directly to me and asked: "What can I do? How can I help?"

I told her the Senate caucus was live. The co-chairs were Senator Shaheen and Senator James Lankford.

"Jeanne?" she asked. "Jeanne is co-chairing?"

She looked across the room at her staffer, pointed, and said, "That's a yes." The staffer wrote it down.

The caucus is a social proof mechanism. That senator didn't just join because of the J-1 numbers or the economic impact sheets, although she cares about camps and kids. What tipped it for her was that a respected colleague was already in. In Senate politics, that kind of endorsement moves faster than almost any policy argument.

Within 48 hours of the formal announcement, Senator Angus King had joined as well (after the New England group's meeting with him). Two Senate co-chairs became four senators in the caucus. No additional convincing required.

2017 vs. Now

The Child Protection Improvements Act (CPIA) was signed into law in 2017. It would give camps access to timely, affordable, biometric background checks through the FBI. It has never been implemented. Three administrations. Nearly a decade. A furtive effort here and there, but no results.

We've been pushing on this for years. It's the kind of ask that gets acknowledged, logged, and seemingly set aside.

On April 29, multiple congressional offices asked for a sign-on letter they could send to the Department of Justice. One senator told us in the meeting that he knows leadership at the FBI personally — said he was going to pick up the phone the moment we were done.

We don't know what came of that call. But that offer has never been made at a prior Hill Day.

The caucus put senior people in the room, and that changed what got said.

Something is spinning upward.

The first regular quarterly caucus briefing is June 2 and centers on camp safety. We will be making some big announcements at that meeting. Stay tuned! September's meeting will focus on future-ready kids and the critical role that camps can play in an AI-saturated world.

Congressional staff will brief camp leaders on the legislative calendar. Camp leaders will tell Congress what's happening on the ground at the kid and family level.

There is energy in Washington around this movement like we’ve never seen before. What used to just happen at camps is now showing up in the right places in DC.

Things are moving forward, and it’s because all of you are on board.

Join the movement. Get updates on the Camp Caucus and learn how you can support camp advocacy in DC.

Scott Brody is ACA’s Government Affairs co-chair and leads the association’s advocacy efforts in Washington, DC. He served as ACA National Board Chair during the COVID-19 crisis, helping guide camps nationwide through safe reopening while securing unprecedented federal support. A camp director for more than 30 years, Scott is Director Emeritus of Camps Kenwood & Evergreen and owner of Everwood Day Camp and Camp Sewataro. He has dedicated his career to advancing the life-changing impact of camp and championing its value on a national stage.