BY KIRSTY McDONALD
PALS Family Resource Associate
Since 2004, PALS has been creating fully inclusive summer camp experiences for individuals with and without Down syndrome across the USA. By developing intentional programming that fosters close connections and builds community, we strive to create a world of belonging. As we prepare to make our way back to our typical model of weeklong, residential summer camps on college campuses in summer 2022, we are excited to be taking a step that will help us get closer to this goal.
In preparation for summer 2022, PALS staff are working hard towards accreditation for all of our programs with the American Camp Association (ACA). The ACA is ”a community of camp professionals who, for over 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs.” 1 Accreditation by the ACA is a voluntary but intense peer-review process that ensures our programs meet or exceed the industry standards for summer camp programs.
This is an exciting and important step for PALS for many reasons, not least because accreditation by the ACA “goes beyond basic requirements for health, cleanliness, and food service into specific areas of programming, including camp staff from director through counselors, emergency management plans, health care, and management. ACA applies separate standards for activities such as waterfront, horseback riding, and adventure and travel.” 2 As we move back to programming in a world still learning to navigate existence alongside COVID-19, increasing our health and safety standards has never been more important and we are excited to be working towards this goal. ACA accreditation will help PALS to continue building safe, fun, inclusive, and meaningful programs for all participants.
So what does this mean in practice? ACA accreditation will impact our PALS community in different ways at different times, but our programs will still be the same fun-filled week away from home, on college campuses with off-campus trips that integrate our program to the local community, and foster deep connections between pairs and teams. For our participants with and without Down syndrome who are paired 1:1, you’ll notice more time dedicated to reflection and inclusive community building, as well as more intentional programming. Learn more about this HERE. For our volunteer leaders, you’ll notice thorough training and specific and intentional ratios of volunteers:participants. Read more about volunteer roles HERE. For our parents, you’ll notice a new application system, and an easier application process. We will be holding a virtual opportunity to walk you through this process and answer all questions in November.
We are so proud to be embarking on this process and will continue to keep updating you as we finalize the details. As in previous years, our summer application will launch on January 1, 2022 and we will make sure you have everything you need to be ready!
PALS is back!!