ACA

The American Camping Association is an organization that many camps belong to. Being certified by the ACA means that a camp follows the safety and organizational standards they have laid out. Camps get re-certified every 3 years. There are 10 different categories (programming, site and food, human resources, operational management, etc), each of which have about 30 individual standards that camps must follow. During re-certification, camps must put together written documentation of policies and then pass a physical inspection where visitors come out and see camp in action.

We are being re-accredited this summer and I have been working on the paperwork since March. 3 years ago, we passed and the paperwork was flawless. Unfortunately it was mostly smoke and mirrors as none of the beautifully written policies were actually put into a handbook or used. Program Director S was here for that and she said, "oh, I remember that day very clearly. Everyone was running around, hanging up rule signs and making camp look like it matched all of the standards." I have no idea why they would go to the trouble of doing that but not actually implement anything, but I've spent 3 years cleaning up the mess, so I know that's the situation.

The visit went well. Standards are weighed differently and the visitors don't know what the point system is, nor can they officially tell you if you passed. So technically I won't know our score until September. However, we got ALL yeses, so I know that we got 100% and passed!

Even more importantly, I know that we didn't make anything up and we are running according to the standards. The visitors were complimentary of camp and I am very proud of the product we are putting out!