Let camps hire mental health pros
Kids should have all the resources available for a great summer camp experience, the writer says.
camp directors that children attending their camps are
provided with the safest experience possible.
Bordering states allow camp directors to hire licensed
professionals, as do schools. Children attending
New York camps deserve the same care from licensed
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Talking Point
BY ALICIA SKOVERA
With camp beginning at the end of June, children
attending New York summer camps
who have mental health issues won’t be
getting the care they need and deserve. Under current
law, New York camp directors are unable to hire mental
health practitioners to address the myriad of mental
health problems campers arrive at camp with each
summer.
In May, the Senate Democratic majority passed legislation,
S.3834-M, to support children’s mental health
and physical well-being by allowing licensed professionals
to be hired at children’s summer camps. The
New York State Camp Directors Association (NYSCDA)
urges the Assembly to pass its version of the
bill, A.3074 -A, so summer camps, just like schools,
are able to employ social workers and mental health
practitioners.
As a New York camp director and the president of
the New York State Camp Directors Association, I
have seen fi rsthand the harmful effects campers with
various mental health issues suffer when they don’t receive
the appropriate services while attending camp.
No child should be denied the support he or she needs
due to an archaic law preventing camp directors from
hiring licensed professionals.
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reporting that one in fi ve children in the U.S. experiences
a mental disorder, it’s imperative to New York
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professionals as they get while in school or at camps in
adjacent states.
Skovera is president, New York State Camp Directors
Association
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Schneps Media TVG June 6, 2019 11