Training Staff to Create Caring Communities: Promises and Challenges

Abstract

Caring communities support the healthy growth of young people by fostering caring youth-staff relationships as well as a sense of connectedness to the people and norms within that setting. Out-of-school-time (OST) programs may be uniquely situated to serve as caring communities, particularly if staff are trained to facilitate caring activities and employ an ethic of care when interacting with youth. These processes can also be described as program design and staff implementation. Program design, which refers to the structured aspects of a program, differs from implementation, or the ways staff interacts with youth throughout the program, because design factors are typically robust to differences in individual staff members' style. Implementation, on the other hand, varies with respect to the individual staff member. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a two-part staff training intervention focusing on program design and staff implementation on youths' sense of caring community. Findings from this study and their implications for managers of OST programs are discussed.

Efficacy of online training for improving camp staff competency

“…However, Maag's (2004) findings that a one-hour online course did not impact nursing students' math competencies suggest that this study's findings may not be an anomaly. The challenges highlighted by the higher scores of the comparison group notwithstanding, declines in competency during the summer support the work of Browne and Sibthorp (2014), who suggested staff training may not be durable over time. Lack of durability may be explained by camp staff having limited collegial support around the CRH subject matter.…”

“…In contrast, other studies have failed to find a relationship between camp staff training and desired outcomes. For example, Browne and Sibthorp (2014) evaluated the effectiveness of onsite staff training for teaching staff how to create caring youth communities. Six weeks after the intervention the researchers found no sustained differences between the treatment and nontreatment groups.…”

Toward a Model of Camp Staff Engagement: A Look at University-Based Day Camps

“…One unique factor affecting day camp staff is the camper population. In Browne and Sibthorp's (2014) study, day camp counselors reported that the high degree of camper turnover day after day negatively impacted their ability to implement camp programs. These staff also expressed feeling burned out from working long hours staff (which, in this study, included both day and resident camp staff) from gaining important skills.…”

“…The preliminary model also depicts a connection between staff members' connection with their campers and their overall wellness. First, staff members described lower levels of engagement at the start of each week when they received a new group of campers and higher levels of engagement toward the end of the week once their connections with their engagement while positive one-on-one interactions with campers seemed to foster a sense (Browne & Sibthorp, 2014) that affect staff members' personal well-being and, ultimately, their ability to engage in their work. of optimal employee engagement, which is the alignment between employee resources (e.g., employees' goal orientation, available expertise, and personal health and wellness) and job resources (e.g., training, tools, administrative support, and other organizational factors).…”