Don’t let the excitement of reopening your camp override your concerns for following safety protocols.

Last year, Covid-19 shut down most church camps, but based on the availability of vaccines and testing, many are considering reopening this summer. It will not be business as usual. New considerations must be addressed. Will all staff need to provide proof of vaccination? Will masks be required for all campers and staff? How will social distancing be accomplished in dorms and in mess halls?

However, other safety measures can’t be ignored in the rush to reopen your camp. Practices to eliminate abuse must be reviewed. With such a long layoff of all staff, new and returning, needs to go through a screening process. The purpose for screening of staff is multifaceted. It will assist you in determining if an applicant has the maturity needed and understands the boundaries that must be maintained when working with youth.

Interviews and applications are an important portion of the hiring process for staff. Review applications carefully, look for gaps in employment dates, conflicting or incomplete information, over-involvement with youth, and vague reasons for leaving previous jobs. During the interview process, listen carefully for evasive responses, answers with themes relating to saving children and that children are peers, thus raising concerns regarding the applicant’s ability to maintain boundaries with campers.

Once an applicant completes the application and interview process, the next step is to have a background check completed. While there are many types of background checks that can be used, several of them are listed below.

National Sex Offender Registry – Operated by the Department of Justice, this is a real-time search of all offenders currently listed on the National Sex Offender Public website. These records come from all 50 states, District of Columbia, and U. S. territories.

Multi State Check – A multi-state criminal and sex offender database containing millions of records compiled from across the county based on the applicant’s name.

County Checks – County criminal records check for the counties the applicant has resided in over the past several years. Records at the county level will include both felonies and misdemeanors related to state laws.

Social Security Trace – A SSN trace is a database check that will assist you in verifying the applicant’s identity based on the Social Security number that was provided during the application process. If there are discrepancies, this could lead to running additional criminal searches.

After you have hired your staff, the process doesn’t end there. Training must be completed. Topics to address include boundaries, red-flag behavior in adults and youth, and response to concerns or complaints of abuse.

Just as training of camp staff never ends, training of the Trusted Choice Insurance Agents at Richey-Barrett never ends. So, before you renew your camp’s insurance policy, contact an Agent at Richey-Barrett Insurance today!