Camp Attaway is a three week summer day camp program for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Held in Columbia, MD, in collaboration with Howard County Recreation and Parks, the Camp offers a variety of activities designed to ensure a safe, therapeutic, and most importantly, a FUN day for children, as well as a weekly support and education group for their parents. Activities include: swimming, sports, learning games, rock climbing, arts & crafts, nature and drama. A 2:1 ratio of campers to staff is maintained at all times.

Dr. Lieberman has served as director of Camp Attaway since 1996. During the Camp Session, Dr. Lieberman supervises staff, coordinates with partner agencies, orients parents, manages consent forms and documents, maintains the expense accounts, dispenses medications, arranges for staff development and training, and generally manages all administrative aspects of Camp operations. During the "off season", Dr. Lieberman handles contractual agreements, arranges for space and materials, manages the Camp's financial accounts, prepares reports to funders and the Camp community, follows up children's adjustment with schools and community therapists, recruits and hires staff for the subsequent year, recruits and enrolls campers, and submits grant applications to potential funders.

After staffing for 5 years, Dana Rothermel became program director in 2008. She also completed her third year as a certified special education resource teacher in Howard County, Maryland. Dana continued to bring enthusiasm as well as a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Attaway staff training. During camp, she also worked closely with staff in a supervisory role. Dana was joined this past season by Julia Lieberman, assistant program director. Julia returned for her third season at Camp Attaway and focused on daily program operations. Julia also headed up the nature program.

The comprehensive program described above requires a highly trained and committed staff of counselors. In each camp group is a group leader who is an advanced graduate-level student or masters-level professional with both clinical and supervisory experience in a therapeutic/educational setting. The Program Director has responsibility for direct supervision of counselors. The staff:child ratio is at least 1:2. This ratio allows for intensive staff support for the children in all contexts of the camp experience. The counselors have at least entry-level experience and are pursuing degrees in human services-related fields.

Fully qualified and experienced staff includes teachers certified in both special and general education, advanced psychology students, professional artists and recreation specialists.

To nurture the mind, the body, and the spirit of children who are missing out on fun, friendship, success, and achievement because of an inability to manage their emotions and behaviors.

Camp Attaway is a 3-week summer day camp for children of ages 7-13 with emotional and behavioral disorders. It is a place where children who know failure too well can break out of their negative cycle and learn new skills.

Everyone deserves a chance to feel confident and secure in who they are. While enjoying camp activities, campers also learn to cooperate,receive support and guidance, and develop independence.

Individuals and small groups participate in a range of activites including:

• sports
• interactive games to build social skills
• fine arts
• swimming
• indoor rock-climbing
• nature
• opportunities to meet great kids
• opportunities to work with great staff
• Counselor-in-Training Program for our older campers CIT

Camp Attaway provides a 2:1 ratio of campers to staff.

At Camp Attaway being an individual is a positive experience - learning to be here is only the start. Camp Attaway lays the foundation for successful adjustment in family, school, and community.

Camp Attaway continues to emphasize giving campers many opportunities to work on their ability to assess their own behavior, make better choices as well as start and sustain friendships all in the context of a day filled with fun activities. Positive behavioral support systems facilitate campers gaining recognition of their behavioral goals and their daily progress toward those goals as measured by the accumulation of positive reinforcers. Social skills, group cooperation (team work) and coping skills are the overall focus for all the campers. Individually-tailored goals from these categories, are identified by parents, staff and the campers, themselves. Daily programming and accountability for progess are derived directly from these goals.