Short-Temp Camp Administration

Beginning January, 2021, every District and Council run family camp was reclassified as a Short-Term Camp.  This will include Camporees, Order of the Arrow Events, Wood Badge, NYLT, HAT Trainings and more.

Short-Term Camps. A short-term camp is any council-organized overnight camping program, whether one-time or continuing, that is one, two or three nights in length where the council or its agents provide the staffing and program and may provide food services, and includes camps conducted off council properties.  National training courses are subject to the short-term camp requirements, regardless of format.

So, what kind of camps will fall under this new classification? Put simply, all council, district coordinated overnight events that are three nights or less. This includes district camporees, council camporees, Cub Scout/Webelos Family Camps, Order of the Arrow events, training events and more.    

National Camp Accreditation Standards (NCSP). Short-Term camps will have a reduced set of standards to follow and each camp will be required to have a “Short-Term Camp Administrator”. The short-term camp administrator will be trained to coordinate and support the short-term camp. Participants may register for National Council Short-Term Camp Administrator facilitated courses at this link: https://www.scouting.org/outdoor-programs/camping/short-term-camp/

The goal of NCAP is to ensure safe and quality outdoor programs. The addition of the short-term camp classification, and the subsequent retirement of the family camp classification, will ensure that all our council and district council programs have the support materials and training needed to run top-quality and safe short-term camps.