Innovative Special Projects

With the support of grant funding, ACA’s Research Team is busy testing innovative ideas, tools, and systems in the camp field, ranging from program quality to camp-school partnerships, to camper and staff wellbeing. All special projects have a program evaluation component rooted in continuous improvement and intended outcomes of creating resources for the whole camp community.

Current Special Projects

2022 – 2025 Promoting Character Through Counselors-in-Training Programs at Medical Specialty Camps

In collaboration with the American Institutes for Research® and the SeriousFun Children’s Network, ACA is serving as the project team on a special project made possible through the support of grant 62332 from the John Templeton Foundation, designed to build knowledge and understanding about the development of character in resilient populations.

2022 – 2024 Camp-School Partnership Demonstration Project

The Camp-School Partnership Demonstration Project is a collaborative initiative launched by the ACA and the National Summer Learning Association aimed at serving low-income, high-need students most affected by the pandemic. This project is funded by a generous grant from the New York Life Foundation and the Mott Foundation.

2022 – 2025 Indiana Youth Programs on Campus

Indiana Youth Programs on Campus is a new Lilly Endowment initiative designed to help Indiana colleges and universities in their efforts to create new or expand and enhance existing high-quality, on-campus programs for Hoosier youth, ages 5-18. Through this initiative, the endowment is allocating a total of $28.8 million for planning grants and program implementation grants.

CampWell Project

This project is a collaborative initiative with the Allicance for Camp Health and the H.E. Butt Foundation. The goal of this project is to identify and create strategies to foster mental, emotional, and social thriving at camp.

2024 – 2027 Leadership Pathways Project

ACA’s three-year grant program is designed to foster evidence-informed planning, testing, and improving initiatives to increase access to and engagement in counselor-in-training programs and other qualified leadership programs among young people with diverse backgrounds, abilities, and identities.

Completed Projects

2020 – 2022 Camp Program Quality Initiative

This initiative aimed to develop systems of support for program quality at camps and was conducted in partnership with the Forum’s Weikart Center. Outcomes of this project include a nation-wide community of practice centered around program quality, a revised program quality assessment tool adapted to the camp context, and two continuous improvement workbooks. Find out more about our Camp Program Quality resources.