Children’s Camps Tips on how to choose the right camp for your child

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The warm weather is upon us and school will be ending in less than two months.  This is the time of year many families begin looking for the right camp to send their child to. There are many considerations that come to mind. How long will my child go to camp? Day Camp or Sleepaway?  Where is the camp located? What type of activities do they offer? How much does it cost? All of these are important questions, but at RR Environmental Health, we believe the health and safety practices implemented by the Children’s Camp (and those regulated by an independent governing body), should be the most important question on your list when choosing a camp.

Questions such as:

  • Do they have a professional Safety and Risk Management Plan?  Do they train all their staff to adhere to the plan? 
  • Do they conduct sex offender and criminal background checks on staff? Who is their medical director? Is that person a Doctor, RN, LPN, EMT? 
  • Do they have an adequate number of CPR and First Aid certified staff and are their certifications current? 
  • If they have aquatics, do they have enough certified lifeguards, a waterfront director with current certifications?   
  • Does the camp have a challenge course, zip line, climbing wall? Is the equipment/apparatus certified and inspected regularly by a qualified individual or agency?  Are written records maintained? Are all activities supervised by certified/qualified staff?
  • What level safety personnel do they provide on camp trips?

I bet you did not know that there isn’t a National Health and Safety code for children’s camps in the United States. State and local health and safety regulations govern the operation of camps, but these regulations vary across different states. Many states also have licensing and inspection requirements for camps. If the children’s camp you are considering is in a state that requires licensing, you should contact the regulating authority and confirm that the camp has a valid permit to operate and request the last few years of inspection reports. FOIL, (Freedom Of Information Law), grants the public access to government inspection reports of children’s camps. Looking over the inspection reports can give you some insight as to whether the camp is adhering to the rules and regulations dictated by their regulatory authority. Click the following link to see the regulations in your state: State Laws & Regulations

Another resource available to help choose a camp is checking with the American Camping Association (aka ACA). Over 2400 children’s camps are members of the American Camping Association, the only independent national accrediting body for camps.  Their accrediting standards focus on health, safety, and risk management.  If a camp is interested in ACA accreditation, they must go through a rigorous application and on-site inspection process.  An ACA accredited camp must consistently meet ACA standards that are often more rigorous than state and local health and licensing requirements.  Click here: Fun & Safety: ACA-Accredited Camps Set the Standard

The consultants at Rapid Response Environmental Health work with various businesses, including children’s camps, restaurants, grocery stores, country clubs, bathing facilities, engineering firms, etc. to ensure regulatory compliance and a safe environment for staff and customers. They are available to address any environmental or public health questions and provide the right answers.

“We are fluent in government, so you don’t have to be.”

 

These links provide additional valuable resources to help choose the right camp for your child: