Each summer for the past ten years, staff members from Jewish Community Services have trained local camp counselors to recognize and respond to abuse and boundary-violating behaviors. This past June, they trained 800 day camp counselors in one week. Counselors were from 11 different camps - from conservative to Orthodox.

Boundaries, Abuse and Safer Camps (BASC) training teaches camp counselors how to interact with young campers and respect boundaries, as well as teaches them how to recognize abuse and neglect. Elizabeth Ury, Director of Jewish Community Engagement, and Bracha Jakofsky, Abuse Prevention Coordinator & Mental Health Educator, led the trainings, with help from summer intern Jordyn Lash.

Each 75-minute training session includes role play, real-life scenarios and discussions.

Elizabeth said the training is especially important for first-time counselors, who may still feel as if they are campers themselves.

“Part of the work is understanding the camper from an adult lens, and that these are things we have to look out for,” she said. “The counselors are role models for these kids, and if they are practicing good boundaries, that gives the kids the autonomy to do the same to their peers and to other adults.”

In turn, the training also teaches counselors to respect their own bodies, Elizabeth said.

She gave an example of how a counselor might handle a situation:

“Maybe there’s a child who’s having a really bad day,” she said. “Instead of the counselor hugging them to say ‘oh I’m really sorry,’ they could instead say ‘you look like you could use a hug, can I hug you? And ask permission.’”

Elizabeth gave another example that applies mostly to younger kids, who may want to sit on a counselor’s lap.

“We might say ‘I’m not up for lap sitting right now, but I’d love for you to sit right here next to me,’” she said. “So we give them an option of what they can do.”

This training evolved after Community Services started a child abuse prevention program just over ten years ago. They worked with the Orthodox community to educate children about respecting their bodies. Shortly after they brought the BASC training to the camps and have conducted them ever since.

For more information about this training, contact Bracha Jakofsky.