By Stephen Simpson, The Texas Tribune.

Train staff on various emergencies, file emergency plans with local emergency personnel, maintain communication methods in case phone and internet services go down, and teach campers how to respond during crises.

Seventy six youth camps in Texas must meet these requirements and dozens more to be accredited by the American Camp Association — the gold standard of camp safety and operation — and some of those measures are among the camp reforms that Texas lawmakers seek to implement following the deadly July 4 floods.

“Texas has a good set of minimum practices. But often, those might be several pages. We have 266 standards that is a literal book of standards, as opposed to a couple of pages,” said Henry DeHart , interim president and CEO of the American Camp Association. “The state is now asking the question, should they be doing more?”

Large camp safety omnibus legislation that will likely pass the Legislature in the coming weeks folds in some of the standards required for ACA accreditation, including requiring camps to train their staff and campers on various emergencies and responses, to have a plan with local emergency personnel, and to maintain operable communication methods. Other requirements of the bill not included in ACA accreditation include removing cabins from operation if they are located on the floodplain, maintaining redundant internet connections, and establishing floodplain safety requirements.

Less than two months after rising floodwaters killed at least 138 people , including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, the Texas camp industry is largely hesitant to say how much work — and the costs — will go into meeting the requirements of any new legislation.

A good comparison point, however, is to examine the ACA’s lengthy, and at times, expensive accreditation process, according to multiple ACA-accredited Texas camps who spoke to The Texas Tribune. About 10% of Texas’ more than 700 youth and adult camps are accredited by their organization. Camp Mystic was not ACA accredited.

One of the main differences between the current state regulations and the standards for ACA accreditation is the level of detail required in the review process for emergency preparedness and overall safety. Currently, the state has 15 standards broken down to around 80 criteria compared to the over 200 standards for ACA, making for a more rigorous review process.

For example, the state requires a written safety plan to be in place, but ACA accreditation requires this to be reviewed and taught to staff and campers.

DeHart said that with such an unprecedented flood event, the standards might not have made much of a difference. However, for the peace of mind of parents and the safety of children, the state adopting their standards can only help, he said.

“We have been fielding calls from parents all over the country, and we have been encouraging camps to reach out to their parents, let them know what rigorous process they have in place, how they do training, what their system is, because we want kids coming to camp, and we want parents to feel good about sending your child to camp, and that all comes down to safety,” he said.

What are the standards of accreditation?  

For the most part, camps across the nation are regulated at the state level, and there is no consistency in how they are meant to operate. For example, one state may require helmets and life jackets on the water, while another may not. The only way to determine this is to consult the relevant state laws.

To become one of the approximately 375 youth camps licensed and regulated by the Texas Department of State Health Services, operators must undergo a background check and inspection. To maintain their licenses, camps must undergo an annual inspection with DSHS.

Adam Buuck, associate deputy commissioner for DSHS, told lawmakers during a camp safety hearing earlier this month that the state’s camp inspectors are primarily trained for sanitation inspections, not emergency plans.

The ACA accreditation program provides a set of national standards for health and safety for all camps. The third-party peer review process is entirely voluntary and has no regulatory authority.

“It’s an educational program meant to help camps strengthen their practices around health and safety,” DeHart said.

Camps that are not accredited do not necessarily have lax safety standards, said Brandon Briery, chief operating officer of Camp CAMP, an ACA-accredited camp in Center Point. However, accreditation does ensure camps are thinking through the risks that exist to their campers through their stricter standards.

The ACA has 266 standards that a camp could meet as part of the accreditation process. They must meet 51 mandatory standards and any combination of several others that are part of the scoring process.

Some of the mandatory standards include:

  • Annual contact with local emergency officials to notify them of the camp’s dates of operations and the relevant scope of programming.
  • If the camp does not use 911 for emergency medical transportation because of how remote they are, the camp must have emergency transportation available at all times.
  • Buildings used for sleeping must have at least two exits.
  • A staff member with training in the appropriate level of first aid and CPR/AED must be on duty at all times when campers are present.
  • All staff must receive training to minimize the potential of being in a 1:1 camper/staff situation when out of sight of others.
  • The camp must require a criminal background check annually for all seasonal staff and at least every five years for year-round staff.

Some of the other standards that aren’t mandatory by the ACA but are part of the scoring process include:

  • The camp should provide a safety orientation to campers, staff, and rental groups regarding camp boundaries and hazards, behavior expectations, and emergency procedures for natural disasters and other reasonably foreseeable emergencies.
  • The camp should have written procedures specifying a system for emergency communication when campers or staff are away from camp, for contacting parents/guardians of minors, and for communicating with the media.
  • A staff member trained on accident procedures should be in each vehicle transporting campers/staff.
  • The camp should annually review security concerns, establish a written plan to address potential intruders and active threats, and train staff and campers on the necessary steps to take.

Camp operators must meet specific standards to even initiate the accreditation process and complete an educational course as part of their preparation. The second part includes an on-site visit by trained ACA volunteers, such as Briery, who observe the camp in action, look for posted safety rules, and more.

The process is intended to be collaborative and allow for camps to rectify shortcomings in their policies, Briery explained.

“As a visitor, I am really only saying, do I observe this or do I not observe this. It’s either yes or no. And if you take a no on something that is not a mandatory standard, then that is okay,” he said.

Peer reviews are conducted every few years to ensure the camp is adhering to best practices. Those within the program also gain access to national updates on safety policies and recommended best practices.

Camp operators also use ACA accreditation as a marketing tool to attract families who value safety, and DeHart said it can be helpful in court when a tragic situation unfortunately occurs, as it demonstrates that staff went above and beyond in implementing their safety measures.

Even with the extra support, Texas’ participation in the accreditation process is lower than the national average.

What are the challenges to accreditation? 

The ACA has had some form of standards for camps nationally for 75 years. Yet, many youth camps are unaware of these standards, which is one of the main barriers to getting a national consensus on safety standards.

“At the most basic level, believe it or not, it’s awareness,” DeHart said. “The ACA has been around for 110 years. Yet, a whole bunch of camps out there aren’t even aware that ACA is here to support them and help them advance their health practices.”

There is also an annual cost associated with accreditation and that is often one of the main barriers DeHart hears from camps. ACA scales that cost based on the size of the camp, with the annual fee ranging from $800 to $1,000 for larger camps.

It also costs money just to meet the standards required to initiate the accreditation process. Some of the standards require specific equipment, such as helmets and goggles, as well as specific measures for motor vehicles, among other requirements. This doesn’t include the hours that staff, who are primarily college students, must put in to review the safety protocols for each activity.

These start-up costs could also be the reality for many camps if Texas lawmakers pass their camp safety bills.

“It takes a lot of work to prepare for 266 standards, to have the documentation, and some smaller camps sometimes feel squeezed by that,” DeHart said. “We do offer our staff to support them, but at the end of the day, it takes some work.”

Nearly 80% of the camps in the country are nonprofits, and adding expense for accreditation might not seem worth it. But DeHart pushes back against that line of thinking.

“If you think about the cost for something like negligent injury on your campgrounds, it’s a pretty reasonable cost,” he said. “Usually, we can get past the cost barrier if we can talk with somebody and help educate them about that, but it does take a lot of effort too.”

Texas isn’t the first state to use some of the ACA standards as part of their regulations. He doesn’t believe accreditation should be mandated, but there might be some ways to reward camps that do.

“Some states have it where if you are accredited, your camp is eligible for certain funding or things like that. But the main thing we want to do is encourage camps to engage in these health and safety practices in any manner, because they’re going to help keep kids safe,” he said.

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