adventure weeks
Summer Day Camp
June 19 - August 11, 2023
Adventure Weeks Plus (AW+) is a new program for our VIPs ages 15 and up. AW+ will run parallel to AW while continuing to integrate portions of worship, the pool, and some of the large group trips, but it will only be 8 weeks instead of 9. AW+ camp hours will be 9AM-3PM. We will also add some life skills coaching and volunteer service opportunities for our AW+ group. To run this new program safely and efficiently, we have hired an experienced director, Kristen Smith, the director of our AW+ program. We are currently in the process of hiring experienced staff. Although we are not a “therapy center,” we aim to hire staff in the special education field or with experience working with the special needs community.
Simultaneously, Tri-Counties Regional Center approached Calvary about becoming a vendor with them, which we have now become. Two years ago, the Regional Centers started paying for summer camps for their clients. As a result, last year, many of our families were reimbursed for either some or all the cost of their child’s camp registration fee.
How it works
To register your child for camp this summer, you must first fill out an intake form HERE. This is required to complete the registration process.
Once the intake form is complete, Paolina Laske, Associate Director of Special Abilities, will contact you to schedule an intake phone interview. If your child is 15 or older, they would automatically be considered for placement in the AW+ program, instead of participating in the AW camp. Please understand that not all VIPs will be admitted to AW+ based on behaviors, etc., and our staff will make that determination after the intake interview. There will also be a cap on the number of VIPs we can admit in both programs.
Once we have approved your child’s entry into either program and if your child is a client of a Regional Center, you should immediately contact your child’s service coordinator to start the pre-authorization approval process. *Please note that for those clients of Tri-Counties Regional Center, we will be able to give you the correct coding you should use when requesting payment approval from TCRC. This means payment will come directly from TCRC to us for your child’s registration. The Regional Center has informed us that it will be determined on an individual basis and will be handled through each service coordinator. For those individuals whose children are with a different regional center, you will need to pay the camp registration fees upfront and request reimbursement directly from your regional center.
We will also be implementing a 3-strike policy with all children attending camp, including our VIPs. We will do everything in our power to help every child succeed, but if there are aggressive behaviors toward staff or other children, we will give the child two opportunities to correct the behavior. If it happens a third time, our AW VIP Coordinator or AW+ Director will contact the parent and ask that the child be picked up.
Frequently asked questions
Please fill out the VIP intake form HERE. Once you have completed this form, we will reach out to you to schedule an intake interview. This will help us determine if the camp is the right fit for your child, as well as the correct registration fee for your child (please note that this will be determined by our staff.) We will then send you the registration form, including any coding you may need for Tri-Counties Regional Center.
AW+ is our program designed specifically for VIPs ages 15 and up. They will continue to integrate for worship, the pool, and other large group trips.
With the number of VIPs wanting to attend, as well as the need to provide the best care we can while at camp, it was imperative that we hire qualified and trained staff. Our goal always has been and always will be to provide a safe and fun place for all our VIPs.
For us to allow anyone outside of our staff at camp, we would need a letter on company letterhead that states the individual’s title, their relationship to the VIP, and the dates and times they will be joining the VIP. Please have this emailed to Hannah.snoots@calvarywestlake.org at least one week before their attendance.
There will be no extended care for VIPs attending AW+. We have pre-determined the amount approved by the Regional Center, which does not include extended care.
There will be no partial week, single-day registration, or walk-up registrations for ANY VIP. Every VIP must go through the intake approval process with our staff. Your cost covered by the Regional Center is a full day and full week.
Contact your child’s service coordinator as soon as you receive our approval and service code. We will give you the correct code to use for getting prior authorization for your child to attend camp.
No. You must reach out to your child’s service coordinator and request authorization. We will be in constant contact with TCRC to collect payment directly from them for your child’s registration fee. You do not need to follow up with them once you have been pre-authorized.
If your child is with a different regional center, you will need to contact them to start the authorization process. You will need to pay the registration fee upfront and then your regional center will reimburse you.