What happens when a non-custodial parent without visitation rights shows up at camp — but there’s no record showing he isn’t allowed to see his children? He could walk into the office, check in as a visitor, and spend hours unsupervised with his children or even try to leave with them.
Visitor management procedures are an integral part of a camp’s overall child protection policies and guidelines. Knowing who is on your camp’s property and why can limit potentially harmful situations. That’s why having clear protocols in place for managing visitors—not just a clipboard and sign-in sheet—is key to keeping campers and staff safe.
“Clearly communicating about visitor procedures and consistently following them is a sign to parents that camp leadership is being proactive,” said Don Keehner, vice president of MinistryDefender Solutions. “It shows your team is committed to keeping kids safe and increases the confidence people have in camp leadership.”
With more than 30 years of experience in pastoral ministry, Keehner uses his firsthand knowledge to help educate Christian organizations about the importance of background checks, child abuse prevention, and visitor management. He suggests reviewing your camp’s visitor policies and practices annually. Consider the following questions to help limit your exposure to risk:
By establishing parameters around visitor management, camp leaders can get a more comprehensive view of who is entering the premises and why, which reduces the risk of harm coming to campers.
Excluded Party Lists
One way to reduce the likelihood of unapproved visitors is to create a list of excluded parties. If you have multiple groups coming to camp, ensure group leaders provide you with the names of anyone who should not be allowed to visit. Keep the names in a list that’s accessible for all front-desk staff.
“You might run into a situation where a child’s family member tries to come visit, but that person isn’t legally allowed to have contact with the child,” said Keehner. “Most of the time, the child is going to go with this person because they recognize them. If your camp administrators and volunteers aren’t aware of parties who need to be excluded, it’s easy for people to break the rules and get access to campers.”
When you create an excluded party list, you can compare the names of visitors against the names on the list—which increases the likelihood of you being able to stop people who may have bad intentions before they get close to the kids at your camp.
Scheduled Visiting Hours
If you do allow visits from family while camp is in session, consider designating specific times when campers can receive visitors so that there’s a window of time when it’s appropriate. For example, parents may want to visit the camp during mealtime or to see a performance. Make sure parents know when they’re allowed to visit and when the camp will be closed to visitors. You can also have parents fill out an online form ahead of time so your leaders know when they plan to visit.
“If you have an entry gate, you can screen visitors at the gate first so your staff can turn them away if they’re visiting outside of the approved hours,” said Keehner. “We encourage camps to funnel people to where they should check in. That way you can get eyes on them, get them properly checked in, and make sure they have a badge that designates them as a visitor.”
Limited Visit Times
It’s also important to implement clear check-in and check-out protocol that controls the length of time visitors are allowed to stay. This ensures that people can’t fly under the radar or overstay their welcome. You can have guests write their check-in and check-out times on their visitor badge so your staff knows how long they’re supposed to stay.
“People who want to do harm are looking for unprepared leaders who will allow them access to more kids, which is why managing visit time matters,” Keehner explained. “If someone stays longer than they’re supposed to, that’s a warning sign for your camp staff.”
Screening for All
One of the most effective practices for reducing the risk of unapproved visitors is to make sure every adult who enters your property is screened. A cloud-based visitor management system can help.
“Everyone who comes to your camp—from HVAC technicians coming to make a repair to parents having lunch with their child—should provide their ID for screening” said Keehner. Some software can link immediately to sex offender databases to warn you of people who may intend to cause harm.
“With camps, you’re often in an isolated area with a wide expanse of property to cover, and it’s hard to scale safety to that level,” said Keehner. “But a visitor system doesn’t have to be complex or high-tech. If camps have a laptop, scanner, and a printer, they have enough resources to implement a visitor management software.”
In addition to screening people as they come in the doors to ensure there are no red flags, visitor management software also allows camps to create excluded party lists, add notes to certain files, and identify people who should not be allowed to be at camp.Additionally, software can integrate with other features, such as a background check provider or emergency alert system.
“People with bad intentions often look for the path of least resistance,” said Keehner. “When they see barriers in place to keep them from reaching campers, they are more likely to be deterred.”
A visitor management system should be something people can’t work around or cheat in order to gain entry.
“When you have a visitor management system in place that can screen a person’s government-issued ID and pull out red flags, you limit the main access point that would allow them onto your property,” Keehner explained. “Someone who wants to do harm isn’t going to hang around when they see you’ve developed a culture of prevention that requires all adults to be identified and checked into the camp.”
Visitor management software also offers the advantage of accurate electronic records. Sign-in sheets and clipboards can easily be misplaced, but a cloud-based system offers the convenience of keeping information organized in one place—complete with electronic logs and time stamps.
“Outside of the executive director, the turnover rate for camp staff and administrators can be high, with a lot of people staying less than three years,” said Keehner. “Having an electronic backlog that includes a history of excluded parties or notable events can be really helpful for new staff who may not recognize people that have been previously flagged.”
Your top priority is keeping your campers safe—but making the decisions that help protect them can be confusing. How do you know what you should be looking for in a secure visitor management system? What makes a system best able to serve your camp?
“Your visitor management system can be very simple to use,” said Keehner. “You might have a series of volunteers managing it, which means you don’t want the training process to be overly complicated. Look for a system that can be set up quickly.”
Keehner recommends a few key components for an effective system:
Cloud-Based System
Software that connects to the internet is best in terms of deployment and operability. A cloud-based system can accomplish complex tasks and store a significant amount of data. Additionally, its ability to pull external information offers optimal protection against unapproved visitors.
It’s important for your system to be able to scan a visitor’s government-issued ID to confirm their identity and screen for potential issues. Some systems will take an optical scan of a driver’s license, but it’s better to have a system that scans the 2D barcode on the back of a license. A good visitor management system will connect to the internet and any other databases you’ve integrated to flag potential intruders.
Flexible
Varying guests and volunteers will walk through your camp doors, so a visitor management system should be flexible enough to handle them all. For example, a member of a worship team who will work with campers probably needs different clearance than a father who comes to eat lunch with his daughter. A food vendor who enters the building to deliver cafeteria supplies could need yet another level of clearance.
The system should allow you to segment different types of visitors to make sure they’re appropriately screened and approved. It’s also important to have the flexibility to allow visitors to complete a pre-registration process so they can enter more quickly.
“A lot of camps will have outside workers come in—like HVAC technicians, electricians, construction workers,” said Keehner. “Those people might move from company to company. If there’s someone excluded due to national sex offender hit or similar behavior, your visitor management system should flag that even if they’ve changed companies.”
Configurable
A good visitor management system will be able to grow with your camp’s needs. You may not be able to implement a bunch of features all at once but keep the future in mind and make sure you have the configurability to grow your safety network over time. Keehner recommends looking for software that can integrate with an emergency alert system and background check providers.
Ministry-Centric
The final component to look for in a visitor management system is how well it works with Christian camps and ministries. When you talk to a vendor, ask what other ministries similar to your size they’ve worked with. Make sure they have a proven record of success.
MinistryDefender Solutions offers camps a secure, reliable resource called the SafeVisitor® system, which is a comprehensive visitor, volunteer, and vendor management system used by ministries nationwide. SafeVisitor was designed with ministries in mind, making it easy to adopt and scale.
Through SafeVisitor, camps take advantage of other MinistryDefender offerings that integrate seamlessly with with the software, such as their background check tool or Arrest Alert, which offers continuous monitoring and updates school administrators if a previously approved volunteer gets arrested.
MinistryDefender Solutions also provides front-office training for the SafeVisitor system, often through Zoom and training videos that staff can watch on their own time. They work with camps of all sizes to make sure the solution can be used effectively to fit their needs.
Additional Resources
Background Screenings
SafeVisitor Solutions
Posted September 2024
The contents of this webpage are provided for informational purposes only. Brotherhood Mutual offers this list of MinistryDefender products to you because our experience with them has been positive. Before utilizing their services or products, you should confirm that they are the best fit for your organization. We do not offer any warranty or representation that services or products provided will make any premises, property, or operations safe or specifically in compliance with any law or regulation.
The information provided in this article is intended to be helpful, but it does not constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for the advice from a licensed attorney in your area. We strongly encourage you to regularly consult with a local attorney as part of your risk management program.
