Summer Camp concerns

By Mollie Halpern
Investigative Reporter
Published: June 10, 2008

Many of your children are probably out of school for the summer or will be any day now.
And, they may be getting excited to head to summer camp.
Before they do, we are on your side.
State law requires day camps to run background checks on workers.
That ensures the people watching your children haven’t been involved in serious crimes, especially those against children.
But, we’ve found that code does not apply to camps where your kids stay overnight.
So, those camps *may* not get background checks on workers.
It’s something that seems even more important after cases like the one in eastern Virginia.
A former boy scout leader, Rodney Almond, served time for sodomizing a 15-year old camper at a Surry county boy scout camp.
He also pleaded guilty to similar charges in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
But if you think this can’t happen closer to home, think again.
The case shows a loophole in virginia’s requirements for camps.
That’s because Virginia law does not require residential camps to run criminal background checks on employees.
Sgt. Leslie Estes, of the state police says, “What it means is, there’s always a possibility that a sex offender could be employed at a summer camp, 4-h, church camp.
Estes says children at overnight camps can be easy prey for criminals.
WSLS 10 on your side scoured through lists of camps in our viewing area....
We checked—some of them voluntarily do background checks. 
Others do not - like Camp Ambrosia, an overnight camp nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Floyd.
The camp’s creators founded Ambrosia to build confidence in children through the arts and nature.
Camp director Caroline Thomas says she also has confidence in her counselors.
She says, “I know these people and have known them for years, and completely and totally trust them.”
So does Tracy Diaz, who has sent her son to camp Ambrosia two years in a row.
But she says she’d think twice before sending her son to a camp, other than Ambrosia, where background checks are not run.
“Sending him into an unknown situation, now knowing that, I don’t think I’d feel too hot about it,” says Diaz.
Mollie asks Caroline Thomas, “Despite the fact that you feel this is a safe camp, despite the fact that you know your employees, do you think it’s a smart idea to do background checks anyway?”
Thomas replies, “I don’t think it would hurt.”
Thomas adds that she would run background checks, if asked.
The American Camp Association, a community of camp professionals, makes it mandatory for its members.
Camp Roanoke, an ACA accredited camp, takes prospective councilors through a 5-step hiring process—reducing the risk of crimes against children.
Greg Martin, the camp director of Camp Roanoke says, “If you’re not doing background checks we almost feel it’s a point of negligence because we know in the field that we need to screen our people we need to know who’s coming in and if they’re clean.”
The A-C-A is behind a federal bill that would establish a criminal background checking system for camps across the country—at a reasonable cost.
An extra step to make sure camp is, what it’s meant to be—a safe summer enriching experience.
For a list of “American Camp Association” accredited camps go to http://www.campparents.org, http://www.acacamps.org, http://www.acavirginiacamps.org.
You can learn more about the “Child Protection Improvements Act”, which would provide camps with access to FBI records.  .