News for Camps Due Accreditation Visits This Summer - American Camping Association: accreditation activities - Brief Article

Camping Magazine, May, 2001

Accreditation is a strenuous process that takes time, effort, and energy. However, camps pursuing or continuing accreditation demonstrate their understanding that campers are worth the effort! As you prepare for your upcoming visit, remember the educational value of the process -- reviewing systems and practices to be sure they reflect accepted best practices. ACA commends you for your commitment to the health and safety of the lives you enrich with the camp experience.

New camps

Camps new to ACA that are preparing for accreditation visits this summer should have already taken standards training and submitted their application and fees to the national office. If you have not yet been contacted by standards personnel in your section to make arrangements for the visit, contact your section office (see page 8).

For help in preparation for the visit, check out ACA's Web site for the top ten ways to make your first ACA visit a success (www.acacamps.org/accreditation/1stvisit.htm). If you don't have access to the Internet, call the national office (765-342-8456, ext. 333) and we'll be glad to mail you the list. Most importantly, call your local ACA section office, standards chair, or the ACA national office with any questions -- clear up any confusions now, before the visit!

Camps being revisited

This year is the third year that previously accredited camps will make the transition into the new standards. While many aspects of accreditation remain similar to previous years', some critical changes have been made. Directors needs to complete update training in the new standards prior to a visit this summer.

For help in preparing for the visit, check out the list of helpful transition tips and resources on ACA's Web site (www.acacamps.org/accreditation/tips.htm). If you don't have access to the Internet, call the national office (765-342-8456, ext. 333) and we'll be glad to mail you the list. Most importantly, contact ACA to clear up any questions or confusions before the visit!

Requests for extension

To maintain accreditation, camps must be visited at least once every three years. ACA is a national accrediting body and the public relies on our system for accreditation. Therefore, consistent policies and practices are expected, and exceptions are rare.

Occasionally, camps due a visit in their three-year cycle may contact the section and request that their visit be postponed for a year. Sections have the authority to extend the accreditation of a currently accredited camp for one year -- but only for an unusual and unforeseen circumstance not related to the camp's normal compliance with best practices (e.g., serious illness or death, earthquake, flood, major fire). Generally, construction on site is foreseen -- if the camp can operate, it can be visited. Change of director or administrative personnel is rarely a reason to grant extension -- such a change may, in fact, be a reason to require the visit to be sure the new director knows and is following standards.

Any extension of accreditation must be approved by the local section board since it will affect the overall percentage of camps visited for the year (visiting 90 percentage of camps due a visit is a section charter requirement). Any requests for extension should be made in writing to the local ACA section, preferably prior to the camp season, and should include the rationale for the request.

Currently accredited camps should already have most of the documentation available, having signed annual Statements of Compliance which indicate they are continuing to comply with the requirements of the standards. Preparing for a visit may be challenging, but the integrity of the camp's reputation to its constituency and of our national accrediting program relies on uniform implementation of that system.