American Camping Association

Camp and youth development education reflects aca's community of parents and professionals who join together to share knowledge to enhance human development. As a result of aca educational programs and services, youth and adults learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy living . A primary vehicle for disseminating education and information to Camp professionals is through the annual aca national conference. More than 2,100 individuals attended the four-day conference in new orleans Louisiana in february 2024. Numerous local and regional events are offered. In addition, online education, including asynchronous courses, webinars, and certificates of added qualification extend professional development opportunities to non-traveling learners. More than 12,000 learners participated in 2023-2024 offerings. Camp and youth development also includes aca's research programs at the national level.

Accreditation is a voluntary process that over 2,600 camps have chosen to go through. This communicates to parents that a Camp has voluntarily undergone a peer to peer review of over 250 health and safety standards that apply to resident and day camps. The aim of this program is to educate Camp staff in the administration of key aspects of Camp operation, particularly those related to program quality and the health and safety of campers and staff.

Member and field services is the member and customer development services of aca. Telephone and email support, technical assistance, operational components, and financial support are provided through a national staff of Association management professionals to 23 local offices, which in turn, provide services locally to the public, camps, and Camp professionals. Aca has almost 10,900 individual members.

Camper scholarships provide financial assistance to persons not otherwise able to afford a Camp experience and facilitate interaction in a Camp setting of persons from different social, economic, racial, national, and cultural backgrounds. Campers learn intimacy with nature, build healthy personal relationships, and get to exercise their minds and bodies in ways that create healthy habits. Over 800 camper scholarships were awarded in fy 2023.

Public relations and awareness actively provides information and resources to the general public through print, broadcast, and electronic media. A website for families is maintained that answers questions about Camp from the parent/guardian perspective. Many aca resources are available to the public at acacamps.org. Aca's find a Camp is an online tool available to the public to help find the right Camp for every child, youth, and adult. An ethics commission manages the interface with the public consumer, paving the way toward better Camping by allowing parents a forum in which to address concerns and receive mediation and guidance on those issues impacting the Camp professional.

Government relations provides information to Camp professionals and the public about laws and regulations relevant to the Camp experience. Aca partners with other organizations to work with governmental agencies to advocate for regulations and laws that support youth development and child protection.

ACA received a six year grant to support Fostering Character through Camp Experiences, a national approach to improve, expand, and elevate character development in day and overnight camps across the US. Through this project, ACA will implement a competitive grant program through which camps pursue character-related projects, provide training and technical assistance for grant recipients before and during the grant program, and develop systems, tools, and resources to support character development in camps beyond the grant period.

Periodicals and educational resources on topics developed specifically for professionals working with children, youth, and adults in out-of-school, afterschool, recreation, and Camp programs - many of which are only available through aca - can be found through its publications and online bookstore. Published six times a year, Camping magazine provides articles on youth development, staff training, health and safety, and innovative programming ideas, and is distributed to members and over 200 nonmember subscribers. Additionally, we sell over 10,000 copies of the may/june Camping magazine issue in bulk to over 300 camps for the purpose of staff training. Aca's website, www.acacamps.org, is an important resource for timely news and critical reports and are visited by an average of more than 800,000 annually.