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Most follow-up phone calls to visitors are
the result of miss-scored or missing items
on the score form. There were several standards
that seem to be unclear in interpretation
or compliance demonstration. Below some of
the most misunderstood standards from this
past summer and clarification of how and/or
when these particular standards should be
scored.
HR-4A - Staff Screening
This summer, this standard was the most often
missed mandatory standard. Twenty-five
(25) camps missed this standard and needed
to complete the Immediate Corrective Action
(ICA) process. The mandatory portion of
this standard requires camps to check all
staff – paid, volunteer, and contracted
against the National Sex Offender Public
Registry (NSOPR) and to have a signed Voluntary
Disclosure statement from these same staff. This
was most often missed because camps were
not clear that the NSOPR had to be checked.
Camps that missed this standard thought
that checking their local or state sex
offender public registries, or using an
outside company or contractor to do background
checks, would be sufficient for meeting
compliance with this standard. Unfortunately,
only FBI fingerprint-based background checks
would meet this standard, other than
actually checking the NSOPR itself. Occasionally,
this standard was missed because a camp
did not have voluntary disclosure statements
from the staff.
HW-17 - Availability of an AED
This standard was often misunderstood in
that visitors scored whether or not a camp
had an AED on site versus whether or not
a camp had assessed the need for the camp
to have one (or more) on their site. The
standard asks if the camp has done an assessment.
PA-8 - Impaired Mobility Procedures
This standard is not intended just for individuals
in wheelchairs but for all those persons
that may have impaired mobility or levels
of independence (someone on crutches, etc.).
The purpose of this standard is for camps
to think in a broader sense and to have
written safety procedures designed for
the specific types of mobility impairment
of the campers served. As you work with
camps prior to the visit, please discuss
this issue.
OM-1- Review of Foundational Practices
The standard calls for written evidence of
a policy that was put into practice, which
recommends the Foundational Practices are
reviewed annually. The Foundational Practices
is a stand-alone document that precedes
the standards in the Accreditation
Process Guide. These Foundational Practices
are specific processes and practices that
have been associated over time with quality
camp management. Most of the practices
are former standards that have become commonly
accepted by camp professionals and/or the
public.
This body of knowledge (in the form of a
list) should be reviewed annually, noting
any changes or issues that need to be addressed
to assure that these Foundational Practices
are applicable to the specific camp's
setting. Written evidence may be dated check
marks and notations in the document related
to the Foundational Practices or other notations
regarding the review process of this body
of knowledge. The ACA-Accreditation
Standards Resource CD-ROM contains a review
sheet listing the Foundational Practices.
HR-9A- Camper Supervision Ratios
The intent of this standard is to confirm
that campers are supervised in a ratio
that meets their social and developmental
needs and the breakdown of supervision
is easily visible by age groups. It is
also intended that those ratios involve
only those staff that have the responsibility,
authority, and training to supervise campers.
Be aware of camps that may be averaging staff-to-camper
ratios often including every staff member
on the site, even those not trained to work
with campers, which may mask supervision
ratios that do not meet the minimum required
by the standard especially in the younger
age groups. You should ask to see the age/group
breakdown and check to see that it is in
practice.
A special note: Many of the ACA summer Hotline
calls involved situations of camper behavior
and supervision. Many of these situations
develop at times when campers are in less
structured or unstructured activities with
minimal or no staff supervision. The intent
of HR-9 in total is to help camps think through
their supervision policies for the protection
of both camper and staff. As visitors, we
can help guide that process by asking appropriate
information-gathering questions when scoring
the standard. A complete summary of this
past year's Hotline calls can be found
in the fall 2007 issue of The
CampLine.
HW-22- Record Maintenance
This standard includes, as applicable, health
histories, health-exam forms and laboratory
tests, medical diagnoses or recommendations, first
aid records of injuries requiring more
than one-time treatment, permission-to-treat
forms, health logs, medication logs, incident
reports, and workplace measurements and
assessments of harmful or toxic substances.
Camps may also want to consider including
each year's health policies, treatment
procedures and protocols, along with information
on health-care providers and insurance
providers. While state laws vary, minors
usually have up to two years after they
reach the age of adulthood to instigate
litigation on their own behalf. Staff
records of persons who have had exposure
to bloodborne pathogens or other toxic
or harmful substances are required by OSHA
to be maintained for a period of thirty
years. Other staff health records are to
be maintained for the duration of employment
plus thirty years." (This UNDERLINED PORTION
is a slight change from what is currently
stated in the Interpretation and reflects
the updated OSHA Regulations. We will be
notifying all camps of this information
via Inside ACA in December.)
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