https://www.acacamps.org/blog/sponsored/staff-camper-codes-conduct-powerful-defense-against-abuse

For too long, the topic of child sexual abuse prevention at camp — and other youth-serving organizations — was focused too narrowly on keeping abusers out. Whether it was through criminal background...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/farm-campfire-experience

Guest post by Diana K. Rice, RD As a registered dietitian and staff member of The Kids Cook Monday, I’ve seen firsthand how efforts to...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/research-360-quality-vs-outcomes-smackdown

If you've been following this blog you know that the Research 360 goal is to build camp evaluation capacity. Thus far I've described what...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/summer-camp-unique-environment-social-emotional-learning

As an education research organization affiliated with the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, we thought it was an exciting opportunity to investigate camp as a unique learning...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/happy-campers-how-camp-relationships-promote-social-emotional-learning

Young people are diverse and dynamic, and they have myriad pathways to success. Unfortunately, youth development research often highlights watered-down averages of sample sets that offer limited...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/introducing-new-free-friend-camp-program-quality-staff-checklist

Before I get started, I have a confession: I lied. I said in the title that in this post I was going to introduce you to a new friend, but that’s not entirely true. The Camp Program Quality Staff...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/new-camp-industry-research-series-part-3-programming-purpose

This blog is part of a series that gives a snapshot of the results of the Sites, Facilities, and Programs survey completed by 2,426 ACA-accredited camps. Check out...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/it-time-change-way-we-approach-abuse-prevention-camps

Years ago, I submitted an application to speak at an American Camp Association (ACA) conference on “abuse prevention.” When asked to categorize the track within which my proposed session belonged, I...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/update-camp-program-quality-initiative-spotlight-assessment-development-working-group

To continue with our blog series spotlighting the work our Community of Practice has been doing, I’m...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/update-camp-program-quality-initiative-spotlight-continuous-quality-improvement-systems-design-work

This blog is the first in a five-part series that will dive deeply into the work of our working groups and describe our plans for our Program Quality Coach/Observer processes.