Staffing, Safety, Society

In the 2023 camp season, Terri Mulks and her team at Camp Susan Curtis sent 43 campers home, a number that was about 400% above their baseline rate. And this appears to be a phenomenon that was mirrored in other camps all across the country. In our latest episode of Staffing, Safety, Society, we talk to Terri about what has changed since the pandemic. She also shares how she has used data to better illuminate both the nature and sc...

In our latest episode of Staffing, Safety, Society we talk to Tom Rosenberg, President and CEO of the American Camp Association. He tells us about his vision for camp as a positive force for young people’s mental, emotional, and social health, and as an antidote to some of the negative impacts of our online world. We explore why camp is such a powerful force in the societal battle against the tides of depression, anxiety, lonelines...

Season 2 Episode 7: Gun Violence Prevention, Beyond the Politics
According to the CDC, gun deaths are now the leading cause of death for children. But how can we protect young people when the very mention of guns elicits polarized, highly entrenched points of view? Lucria Ortiz knows more than most on this subject. She serves as the President and CEO of the Yonkers Family YMCA—an organization whose gang violence interruption pr...

Preventing peer-to-peer abuse requires a nuanced and human-centered approach. As VP of Child Protection and Organizational Risk for YMCA of the USA, Britt Darwin-Looney has a wealth of experience in how to approach that challenge. In this conversation, she emphasizes the importance of zero tolerance for youth-to-youth sexual activity, robust and comprehensive reporting, and also being careful to focus more on supervision and preven...

As an author, parent and social worker, Meghan Hurley Backofen knows that abusers rely on secrecy to perpetrate their crimes.  That's why she works to empower children to recognize and report abuse—including through her children's book Who's the Boss Of This Body?, and podcast 10 Tips for Sexual Abuse Prevention. In this episode, Meghan explains that it is always the responsibility of adults to protect children from ...

"Whether you know it or not, you have had trans kids in your camp." — This powerful statement arose out of our conversation with Chris Rehs-Dupin, in which we explore the inclusion as a prerequisite for safety. As a founder of Transplaining for Camps, Chris is an expert in navigating sometimes fraught and divisive conversations. He explains the importance of education, discusses the dangers of othering, and provides pract...

An Upstream Approach to Child Abuse Prevention
Adverse Childhood Experiences, such as abuse and neglect, are correlated with 5 of the top 10 causes of death in The United States. In this episode, we speak with Sharon Hirsch, President and CEO, of Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina about taking an upstream approach to address the root causes of child abuse. She shares how youth-serving organizations can nurture positive childho...

The Rising Threat of Antisemitism, and How to Respond
Last year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded the highest ever frequency of antisemitic violence and threats that they had ever seen. In this episode, we speak with Emily Snider of the ADL about ways that all community organizations—JCCs, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs and summer camps alike—to stand in solidarity against antisemitism, and all other forms of hate.  

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In this episode, we're exploring the importance of changing perspectives and looking at things differently—a theme we'll return to throughout the season.  Specifically, we'll hear from attendees at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America national conference about how the work they do has taught them to see the world and the youth they work with differently. We hope that their powerful insights will help inform your own...

For our season finale, we wanted to lift up the voices of one of the movements we serve. At our booth at American Camp Association National Conference, we asked attendees to record their response to one of four questions: 

• What would you tell your younger camp self? 
• What item would a counselor never be without? 
• How do you keep campers engaged during downtime? 
• And what keeps you up at night when planning camp? 

In this episod...

After three drowning events at our customer organizations, just this month, we discuss the importance of ongoing, realistic, lifeguard training. Redwoods Consultant, Maggie McDonald explains what "realistic" actually means, and how Aquatics Directors can adapt ongoing training to their specific environment.

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Our guests this week, Becky Hulett and Kelly Martinez, are the Aquatics Directors for the City of Phoenix Pools. They are deeply focused on aquatic safety to prevent drowning at all pools, and have been credited with elevating the effectiveness of training across the aquatics industry. They discuss how best to train lifeguards and prevent the three D's of drowning: Denial, Disbelief, and Delay.

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Michael Oostman has investigated nearly 1,000 drowning events in his lifetime—including all events at our customers' pools and waterfronts. That means he knows a thing or two about how to make the water safe. Michael shares the trends he found in all of his investigations completed in 2022—and discusses current priorities for drowning prevention.

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Following on from our conversation about the nature and definition of structural racism, this week we are shifting our focus to action and implementation. Featuring a special guest, leadership coach and cultural change agent Sterling E. Freeman, we talk about what it really means to create an anti-racist organization. 

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'Structural racism' is a term that is used a lot. But what does it really mean? In observance of Black History Month, we look into the concept of structural racism, and give real examples of how this ill manifest in different ways across our society. Grounded in facts and data, we hope this episode serves as an introduction to terms and helps to advance our work to create safe—and equitable—communities for all.

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Mass shootings always bring conversations about guns back to the forefront. But it is important to remember that they are one small part of a much broader problem. We view gun violence as any death, injury, or threat by the use of a gun. In this episode, we look at gun violence data and discuss the moral and practical imperative for practical gun violence prevention strategies that are both apolitical and evidence-based. We also ex...

Tracey Gaslin has been a leader in the mental, emotional, and social health (MESH) space for years. She is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Camp Health, which serves as the knowledge center for camp health services. In this episode, Paige and Kevin learn about the innovative ways the Association for Camp Health is empowering camps to support their campers and staff.

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In this episode, we continue our discussion of emotional social wellness. This time, our focus is on staff—and we have a special guest. Derek Heim, the CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Metro South in Brockton, MA, tells us how his Club has innovated to provide new social-emotional resources for staff and youth. 

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The social and emotional needs of youth have vastly changed post-pandemic. Schools and youth-serving organizations are seeing this first hand with a rise in behavioral issues, lack of interest and increased use of electronic devices. Paige and Kevin discuss how this directly affects your staff and how you can support them, so they can best support the needs of the kids in their care.

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