What Is Summer Camp Accreditation?
With thousands of camps to choose from, parents may have a hard time determining whether a camp is reliable and reputable. Many turn to standards offered by the American Camping Association (ACA), which accredits day and overnight camps across the country. Accreditation is a voluntary program for these camps. At least once every three years, teams of two or more trained ACA camp professionals observe a camp’s operation and evaluate it on up to 300 standards. The standards establish criteria for health care, emergency personnel, food practices, administrative procedures and other areas. About 25 percent of an estimated 8,500 day and resident camps in the United States are ACA-accredited. Accreditation does not guarantee that nothing will go wrong at a camp, only that the camp has met ACA standards. Some camps with fine reputations choose not to participate in the accreditation program. © Parenthood.com, used with permission.
