-----Original Message-----
From: Cindy Boyer
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 5:17 PM
To: 'Robin Gabriel'
Subject: RE: [MUSEUM-L] Summer day camps and insurance
It's good to know about the policies that others follow (the "two-deep" leadership example) so feel free to share those.
We follow those policies as well(Two-deep, criminal background checks, permission slips from parents. Etc.) We even have a policy instructing our volunteer teenagers on appropriate behaviors around the campers, including not talking about inappropriate topics (no gossiping about your dating life around the campers!)
Again, our policies are in place to protect the child.
My concern is the insurance costs vs. the actual or perceived risk of false accusations. Last year our insurance cost us approximately $20 per camper. That is a BIG chunk out of a relatively low cost program.
Everyone was very nervous about this when the stories about the Catholic priests were more in the forefront of the news.
Cindy Boyer
Director of Museums and Education
The Landmark Society of Western New York
133 S. Fitzhugh St.
Rochester NY 14608
(585) 546-7029 ext. 12
[log in to unmask]
www.landmarksociety.org
Our mission is to discover, protect and revitalize the architectural and related cultural heritage of the Rochester region, and to educate and inform our community about that heritage.
1937-2007 - Landmark Society's 70th Anniversary!
-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Gabriel [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 5:03 PM
To: Cindy Boyer
Subject: RE: [MUSEUM-L] Summer day camps and insurance
Cindy - we offer a summer camp program for rising 4 - 7th graders every summer. The campers and our paid staff all fall under the Foundation's regular insurance policy. We do not carry an insurance rider for this program. We do have the parents sign permission forms. We also have a policy where adults are not allowed to be alone with an individual child (we follow the Boy Scouts rules on "two-deep leadership" when it comes to programming). We have a ratio of two adults to 16 students. There are times when one adult will take a group of kids off to do a certain project, but as I said before, at no time is one adult allowed to be alone with one student. I should also mention that we do a complete criminal search on all new employees.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Robin Gabriel
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Robin H. Gabriel
Hunter J. Smith Director of Education
Monticello/Thomas Jefferson Foundation
P.O. Box 316
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
PH: (434) 984-9854 FAX: (434) 295-1312
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www.monticello.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cindy Boyer
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 4:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Summer day camps and insurance
Do any of you operate a day camp, or other program where the children participating are under the direct supervision of your staff or volunteers? In other words, they are not in attendance with parents or chaperones.
If yes, do you carry a separate insurance rider to protect your organization against the threat of being falsely accused of abuse?
We have had this rider for several summers, and it is becoming prohibitively expensive. It may actually sink our summer program.
What is your experience with this sort of thing? Have any of you actually faced a situation from which this insurance is designed to protect you?
And apologies if necessary - I feel as if I've already asked this question some time ago, but I don't recall getting responses. I guess that's déjà vu all over again. It seems the responses I got were about how to keep the kids safe. We have an excellent policy in place. This is not about keeping the kids safe, its about protecting your institution from being destroyed by a lawsuit.
Cindy Boyer
Director of Museums and Education
The Landmark Society of Western New York
133 S. Fitzhugh St.
Rochester NY 14608
(585) 546-7029 ext. 12
[log in to unmask]
www.landmarksociety.org
Our mission is to discover, protect and revitalize the architectural and related cultural heritage of the Rochester region, and to educate and inform our community about that heritage.
1937-2007 - Landmark Society's 70th Anniversary!
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