Michigan youth camp background check requirements

A children’s camp is a residential, day, troop or travel camp providing care and supervision in a natural environment for more than four children, apart from their parents, for five or more days in a 14-day period. "Natural environment" means an outdoor setting where the programme runs at least 51% of the time — that test is the practical line between needing a camp licence and needing a child care centre licence. The camp rules apply only to day camps running more than 4 hours a day and to residential, travel or troop camps running more than 12 hours a day with an overnight (R 400.11106).

• MCL 722.111(1)(f)
• Mich. Admin. Code R 400.11101(1)(m), R 400.11106

This is the biggest error risk in Michigan. The religious-instruction, scouting, subject-training and therapeutic exclusions people cite attach to the definition of "child care center" — not "children’s camp." Church camps, school-group camps and band camps are covered, and troop camps are named affirmatively in the statutory definition of a camp. Do not port the centre exemptions across.

• MCL 722.111(1)(f), (i)

The applicant, licensee designee, chief administrator and program director (MiLEAP’s page lists the applicant, licensee designee, camp director and assistant camp director) need a fingerprint-based check through the Michigan State Police AND the FBI at licensing, and a camp must notify MiLEAP within 30 days of employing a new camp director. Counselors, other paid staff and volunteers need a documented criminal record check from MSP (usually ICHAT) or the equivalent agency where they usually reside — no fingerprints, no FBI. Anyone with a conviction for a listed offense under the Sex Offenders Registration Act may not be employed or allowed regular contract work.

• MCL 722.115c (administrators)
• MCL 722.115d (staff, ICHAT)

Staff members or unsupervised volunteers in children’s camps who are 21 or older may not have contact with a camper until they provide documentation that they have not been named as a perpetrator of child abuse or neglect. The general rule for other child care organisations opens with an exception for exactly this population. Practical effect: an 18, 19 or 20-year-old counselor is not required by that provision to obtain a Central Registry clearance — though ICHAT and the personnel record still apply. Do not flatten this to "everyone needs one," and do not read it as a reason to skip the rest.

• MCL 722.119(5), (3)

The ICHAT statute (MCL 722.115d) speaks of a “conditional offer of employment,” which does not naturally reach an unpaid volunteer, although the Central Registry and conviction-bar provisions do name unsupervised volunteers (MCL 722.119(2), (5)). The rule closes the gap: "staff member" is defined to mean a paid employee OR a volunteer who has responsibility for direct care or supervision of campers, or unsupervised contact with them. MiLEAP states staff and volunteers are held to the same background and Central Registry standard regardless of compensation.

• Mich. Admin. Code R 400.11101(1)(o), R 400.11109(7)

Where a staff member has any criminal conviction, the licensee must complete a written evaluation addressing the nature of the conviction, the time elapsed, and its relationship to the regulated activity, and place it in the personnel file. This is an individualised assessment duty, not a bright line. The personnel record must also carry three positive references from people unrelated to the staff member, collected before initial assignment.

• Mich. Admin. Code R 400.11109(7)(d), (e)(iv)

Minimums are 1:10 for campers under 13 awake, 1:14 sleeping, 1:14 for campers 13 and over, and 1:3 awake for campers with disabilities. The rule also sets an absolute floor: "The minimum number of staff on duty and in camp is 2 adult staff members." Separately, every camp must develop and follow a written plan covering reporting responsibilities, confidentiality, and separation of an alleged perpetrator from campers until the incident is resolved.

• Mich. Admin. Code R 400.11111(2)
• Mich. Admin. Code R 400.11115

National accreditation can substitute for much of the general rules — but the personnel record provision containing the background checks is expressly carved out of that substitution. The rule itself says only “a nationally recognized accrediting body” (R 400.11102(1)); confirm with MiLEAP which bodies it accepts, such as the American Camp Association.

• Mich. Admin. Code R 400.11102