Camp ministry leaders know that our programs offer unique experiences for young people to connect and grow in faith outside of the local church context.  We are also well aware that there are special considerations and challenges related to child safety at camp. A recent article in Leading Ideas highlights the “Ten Non-Negotiable Rules for Child Safety in Churches.” Let’s dive into the nuances of each of these important points as they relate to the camp context.

1. Never be alone with a child who is not your own.  In my time in ministry, we had a saying, “When three are gathered, all is well.”  However, the rule of three can sometimes be a logistical nightmare. Our general policy is the “two adult rule,” which can be next to impossible in the camp setting. Do two counselors leave a cabin unsupervised while they escort a camper to the nurse?  What do you do if a camper needs to go back to the cabin to grab a sweatshirt during campfire? In an ideal scenario, you have enough adults and a communication system (like radios) to summon an additional adult to accompany the counselor and camper to wherever they need to go. When that isn’t possible, choose a non-related camper to be the third, and remember that the camper needs to stay with the other camper so as not to leave a child alone with one adult (such as the camp Nurse or Director). Furthermore, I train my staff that if they need to talk to a camper in “private,” they must do so within proximity of another adult, both visually and within earshot, to create a third person present while maintaining the need to address the camper away from others.
2. Background checks for everyone, every year.  While this is not the current recommended practice within our denomination, based on the national guidelines I recommend that full-time staff (including clergy, who often think they are “one and done” during the ordination process) do background checks every two years and new and returning volunteers or seasonal counselors yearly if you can (sometimes it is cost prohibitive).  At least run your returning volunteers and staff through the sex offenders registry and then have them on a two-year schedule for a full background check. 
3. Establish a six-month rule for all volunteers.  I don’t disagree with this rule.  All volunteers should be involved in a faithful pattern of commitment to the church before serving in children and youth ministry. You never want to give someone immediate access to children and youth because you need a “warm body” to meet ratios. Be sure to contact references and ask them the all-important question: “Do you have any hesitation in recommending this person to live and work around children and youth?”.
4. One-on-one conversations with every potential volunteer.  This is another pretty straightforward practice. To have someone join your team without meeting and having a conversation is like hiring an employee without an interview. At times I’ve encountered individuals who want to serve for their own purposes, be it healing or wanting to be near their own congregation’s children and youth to better “watch” and sometimes assure the experience THEIR campers will have. Volunteers should be interviewed like any other staff person and held to the same standard of professionalism and commitment to the mission.
5. Simple and non-negotiable, check-in and check-out procedures. This was one of the hardest lessons I learned. It is imperative that you have a central location for check-in and check-out and that all staff and volunteers have specific responsibilities during this time. Have someone in the parking area directing the campers and their adults to check in. This prevents a church’s volunteer driver from dropping the campers off without checking them in. It ensures proper forms are completed. This also prevents (if prohibited) teens from driving themselves and checking in without a parent or guardian. Other staff gather their campers and escort them to their living area. THIS is the time that parents, guardians, or other adults can tour the camp accompanied by staff. Adults should NEVER be allowed to roam about camp unsupervised. You don’t necessarily know them; they have not been background checked, and this is a prime opportunity for adults to have unsupervised access to campers. The same principles are practiced in reverse on check-out day to ensure an intentional, documented hand-off of care of each camper from the camp leadership back into the responsibility of their parent or guardian.
6. One-foot-in, one-foot-out of bathroom supervision.  Your staff and volunteers should maintain the privacy of campers while they use the bathroom and/or shower while still having the ability to supervise. The staff or volunteers should stand in the doorway of the facility, one foot in, one foot out, with door open so they hear if there are problems while children are using the facilities. They will also be able to hear if toilets are not flushed, or showers and sinks are left running. Adults themselves should always shower, dress, and use the facilities privately, away from campers. 
7. Use floaters and management-by-walking-around.  A floater is an excellent way to have that extra layer of supervision and accountability as well as having a ready adult able to assist when a “third” is needed. This person can be your nurse, program director, a pastor, etc.  A radio system is also an important tool for rovers. 
8. Install safety mechanisms such as cameras and signs. In camp ministry, the ability to do this might be with peripheral cameras at strategic points around the grounds, but it is impractical to have cameras everywhere. Locked or monitored gates at the entrance also prevent uncontrolled access to the property. Signage and locked doors can prevent access to unauthorized areas such as private residences, offices, supply storage, and unstaffed program zones like waterfront, climbing, ropes, and the like.
9. Practice ongoing training. This is crucial. Often, especially if we have a returning staff or volunteers, we feel we don’t need to cover in depth training topics such as bullying, emergency procedures, or child abuse. Every year should be treated as Year One. Staff will not always remember the nuances of abuse reporting procedures or chain of command in a crisis. If a staff never had to implement these procedures, or if it’s been a year since they thought about them, much of the details are easily forgotten. As well, policy and practices often change from year to year due to updates locally or nationally. If an issue comes up mid-season, take the opportunity for a teachable moment. I once had a counselor not assist (through reminders and supervising) in the application of sunscreen on our youngest campers because they didn’t want to be accused of “touching” campers. The result was severe sunburns! We were able to discuss this as a staff and generate ideas on how to ensure that campers apply their sunscreen. It is also important to train your staff on camp incidents that some adults might interpret as abuse: sunburns, physical activity such as push-ups for punishment, or unwanted nicknames are just a few examples. Your staff must think beyond the technical definition of abuse and consider behaviors that families would be concerned about, especially when children are away from their care overnight at camp.
10. Put all important policies into writing.  Each ministry setting needs to have a WRITTEN set of policies and procedures that are known to both staff and other adults. It should be shared and practiced as a routine part of how you do ministry.  Too many times, I’ve experienced ministries that wrote a policy and filed it away. The written policy should be an active part of your ministry which is reviewed on an annual basis. I also have my staff sign that they have read, received training, and understand our policy. This prevents upon incident that they “didn’t know.” I have even had former staff move on to positions working with youth within a church, skip formal training because they “had it at camp staff training,” and upon incident try to claim that they “had no idea” why a behavior was wrong. I was able to pull out the training documentation and provide it to the local church to verify that indeed the person had received both the policy and training and had signed that they understood proper procedures and guidelines. 

Establishing and maintaining these best practices in the camp setting requires time and quite a bit of intentional effort. However, it is truly priceless to build trust and create safe environments for all. These are acts of Christlike love for “the least of these,” precious and vulnerable people who have been entrusted into our care. Our faithfulness in attending to these principles preserves the good reputation of not only our camps, staff, and volunteers, but that of The United Methodist Church and even of Christians. 

Kelly Peterson will soon be retiring from her role as Executive Director of Camp Fire Heart of Iowa, culminating a remarkable 49 years of service in camp and youth development. A former Chair of the UMCRM Board of Directors, Kelly has also served on the Division of Young People’s Ministries (UMC Discipleship), as Executive Director for Camp, Retreat, and Young People’s Ministries for the Cal-Nevada Annual Conference, as Director/Owner of a private camp, and more. She has been instrumental in the development of the Safe Sanctuaries and Safer Sanctuaries abuse prevention resources for The UMC. For fun, you’ll find Kelly enjoying movies, sports, music, and travel. In retirement, she’ll be able to focus more energy enjoying her new grandbaby and having adventures in the Airstream camper!