NCAP Circular No. 11 - BSA Camping: Past, Present, and Most Importantly, Future

Q: What problems led to creating NCAP?

Reviews determined challenges including declining Scout attendance at camps, increasing camp-related debt, low occupancy rates, inconsistent standards, and a “check-the-box” mentality.

Q: What major changes did NCAP introduce?

NCAP implemented a single set of national camp standards, revised standards to focus more on program and program delivery, created the Continuous Camp Improvement Program, and introduced an authorization process and targeted visitation assessments with deviations.

Q: What outcomes and future challenges does the circular describe?

Over time, camper numbers and camp/council financial indicators improved, including better occupancy and revenue growth. The circular also points to future pressures such as expectations for better facilities and adventure programming, competition for youth time and staffing, and increased regulation.

Oct 4, 2026

Upload by Ben

NCAP Circular No. 11 from the Boy Scouts of America outlines how the National Camp Accreditation Program elevated Scout camping by establishing single national camp standards, revising standards to emphasize program delivery alongside safety, and introducing the Continuous Camp Improvement Program. It reviews challenges that led to NCAP, highlights initial disruption and improvements from the standards shift, and explains adaptations to authorization based on council feedback. It also summarizes outcomes and future issues for camp facilities, staffing, competition, and regulation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

BSA Camping: Past, Present, and Most Importantly, Future

NCAP creation and the problems it addressed

NCAP and its changes

NCAP results

NCAP present and near future

The future

NCAP Circular No. 11 NCAP elevates camps to new levels of excellence... National Council, Boy Scouts of America August 10, 2018 BSA Camping Past, Present and, Most Importantly, Future In this issue of the NCAP Circular, we look at the problems that NCAP was created to address, its successes and challenges, upcoming revisions to take effect in 2019 and later, and most importantly, a look at the future of BSA camping after the ﬁrst ﬁve years of NCAP and as we prepare for family Scouting. Scout camping and NCAP have come a long way, but our mission remains to elevate Scout camping to inspire the current and future generations of youth. Now is an appropriate time to pause and reﬂect on how we will do so in the future. Scout Camping Before NCAP In approximately 2010, BSA established both the national camp standards task force and the second century camping taskforce to look at the state of BSA camping. Those reviews determined that BSA faced a number of challenges, including: -declining number and percent of Scouts attending camp. Boy Scouts camping had declined by 14.7% between 2000 and 2010, Cub Scouts camping by 7.9% . -skyrocketing levels of debt, with local council debt increasing 266%, much of that camp related -low levels of occupancy (<51%) across many camps -multiple standards with little consistency and no context -check-the-box mentality At a critical meeting in Irving, the volunteers and professionals on the camp standards taskforce determined that more than just a revision, but a rethink, was needed of how BSA approaches camping. Drawing on the work of both task forces, the National Camp Accreditation Program (NCAP) was born. NCAP and Its Changes The adoption of NCAP resulted in some immediate changes. Some of the most important of these included: -adoption of a single set of National Camp Standards applicable to all camps and camp properties -revising the National Camp Standards to focus on program and program delivery in addition to safety and administration -creation of the Continuous Camp Improvement Program (CCIP) to provide a tool to councils and camps to improve camps both during the camping season and over the long-term -creation of the authorization process to provide direction, feedback and resources to local councils -revamping of the “visitation”process into a more targeted assessment aimed at helping camps improve through the addition of“deviations” in lieu of the old pass/ fail, check-the-box approach -creation of the “camp facilities evaluation tool”(CFET) to assist councils in evaluating the quality of their camp facilities NCAP’s immediate impact was both disruptive and heartening. As expected, the changes in the National Camp Standards disrupted many camps’ long-established camp notebooks and practices, forcing a reevaluation in light of the new standards. While this disruption imposed some shortterm pain, the new emphasis on program resulted in a number of program improvements across the country, one of NCAP’s chief goals. Not all NCAP initiatives were immediately successful. The new authorization process was deemed by many councils to be overly rigid and require too much documentation. NCAP reevaluated and in the second and third years released a much simpliﬁed authorization process that still provides direction and tools for councils to use to plan camping improvements, but which is conceptually simpler and easier to use. Feedback from the ﬁeld played an important role in these changes and resulted in a stronger program. continued on page 2 In this issue BSA Camping: Past, Present, and Most Importantly, Future.......................................... 1-4 Request for Comment on Proposed 2019 Revisions / NCAP Improvements................4 Directory of National, Regional and Area NCAP Leadership...........................................4 Proposed Revisions to Commissary & Food Service Standards .................................. 4-17 2019

FAQs

What problems led to creating NCAP?

Reviews determined challenges including declining Scout attendance at camps, increasing camp-related debt, low occupancy rates, inconsistent standards, and a “check-the-box” mentality.

What major changes did NCAP introduce?

NCAP implemented a single set of national camp standards, revised standards to focus more on program and program delivery, created the Continuous Camp Improvement Program, and introduced an authorization process and targeted visitation assessments with deviations.

What outcomes and future challenges does the circular describe?

Over time, camper numbers and camp/council financial indicators improved, including better occupancy and revenue growth. The circular also points to future pressures such as expectations for better facilities and adventure programming, competition for youth time and staffing, and increased regulation.

Oct 4, 2026

Upload by Ben