There are many amazing summer programs for families to consider. There are many that look appealing. The number one thing in my book happens to be safety and there are a few things to clarify that have to do with understanding of ‘nomenclature’.
Licensing– when our students hear the word licensing, they think about one thing, that is their driver’s license. And when we think about that, think about how much time they put in to get their license- months of coursework, specified hours of driving around different types of roads: highways, suburban roads, different ways of parking depending on state requirements.
There are all kinds of licensing for summer programs as well, beginning with health and safety.
First there is food handling and sanitation and obviously, this is rather important. Certainly, in a program hosting students, no one wants to see a program ‘hosting vermin’, thus, licensing is really important. Programs hosting students on college campuses, camps and other types of ‘host’ programs are required to meet various sanitation requirements and in many cases, anyone working in a kitchen must take some course work meeting state requirements on how to store food, where to store food in refrigerators, etc. Obviously, parents want to see that a program has their license. We know that when students are in dorms over the summer, the cafeterias have proper licensing for food handlers. Camps do as well.
Certification: Those teaching any aquatic programs should hold Red Cross Certification in a variety of areas: Life Saving, CPR, Swimming and Water Safety. Any program involving a waterfront, or pool, or anywhere in a program, all counselors should have CPR training and while everyone is young, there should be an AED and trained personnel able to use it. Of course, it is rare that a youngster will have a heart stopping moment, but this is something that needs to be part of the first aid training and equipment.
Accreditation: Accreditation is a completely different thing. For camps, in my view, it is completely necessary. Accreditation involves a bit more than certification. For example, the American Camp Association ( has stringent accreditation protocols and procedures. Is accreditation mandatory? Not really, but is it preferable? Yes. Summer programs are accredited in a variety of areas from aquatics, site/food areas, transportation, health care, staffing, program and more.
There are areas where there are areas of expertise required: nutrition, risk management, etc.
What questions do you need to ask about summer programs? A few good ones.
- Summer philosophy and program emphasis (this may be obvious based on the theme of the program).
- Camp director’s background
- Counselor training
- Counselor/camper ratio- and specifically, how many counselors to a cabin, as well as ages of counselors
- Turnover of counselors- in other words, how many return and how many were campers themselves?
- How are behavioral issues handled?
- References and background checks
This is just the tip of the iceberg in health and safety. We send our children away for the summer in hopes that they are in safe hands and that they will have an enriching summer. It is your right and perhaps responsibility as a parent to ask these questions of the program coordinator to get the right answers. A representative may or may not have all the answers.