What is staffing & recruiting?

Staffing and recruiting covers the sourcing and placement of seasonal camp staff — counselors, specializts, kitchen and maintenance — including international staff placed on exchange visas, applicant tracking, and the paperwork that goes with hiring a workforce for eight to ten weeks a year.

What should a camp look for?

Ask how the work is scoped and what a normal year with them looks like: who does the setup, what happens in your busiest fortnight, what the exit looks like if you leave, and what the price does when your numbers change. Ask two or three companies the same questions and compare the answers rather than the brochures. We don't nominate a best one, here or anywhere.

Camp Staffing & Recruiting — Compare Vendors

American Camp Co.

Staffing & Recruiting

American Camp Co. is a summer camp staffing brand focused specifically on direct placements, created by Smaller Earth and Cenet with roughly five decades of combined J-1 visa experience. It positions itself on price transparency and feeds applicants who haven't secured a direct placement into the related Camp Leaders program. It operates within the same group as Camp Leaders.

Camp America

Staffing & Recruiting

Camp America is one of the oldest international camp staffing programs, placing counselors and staff from more than 20 countries at U.S. summer camps since 1969. It operates as part of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS), drawing on AIFS resources for transportation, insurance, and global recruiting offices. The program runs large recruitment fairs, historically in London, and provides year-round camp account support.

Camp Leaders

Staffing & Recruiting

Camp Leaders is one of the largest international summer camp staffing brands, founded in 1999 in Liverpool, England and now part of Smaller Earth Group. It recruits counselors and support staff through on-the-ground offices in roughly a dozen countries and markets an in-house, camp-specific hiring platform with screening, background checks, and visa support. The brand positions its technology and global reach as its main differentiators.

Camp Medical Services

Health & Medical

Camp Medical Services is a camp-focused telehealth and medical-support provider that connects camps with physicians for remote evaluation, creating HIPAA-compliant records for campers seen in the clinic. It augments on-site nurses and EMTs rather than replacing them, and offers pre-summer staff training (virtual and in-person), camper medical-form review, and treatment planning for high-risk campers. It is positioned as a way for camps to add physician oversight without transporting campers off-site.

CampStaff

Staffing & Recruiting

CampStaff (campstaff.com) is a summer-camp-specific job board that connects staff applicants with camps across the US and Canada. It offers a single free application to reach many camps for roles such as counselors, activity/sports staff, nurses, and chefs. Per the company, it launched in 1996 as the first camp-specific jobs site and also runs CampStaffNurses.com.

CCUSA

Staffing & Recruiting

CCUSA (Camp Counselors USA) is a designated J-1 visa sponsor that has placed international counselors and support staff at U.S. summer camps since 1986, working with more than 900 camps and recruiting from over 40 countries. It also runs Work Experience USA for seasonal jobs beyond camp and provides participant vetting, monitoring, and travel insurance. The company is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

CIEE (Camp Exchange USA)

Staffing & Recruiting

CIEE is the oldest and largest nonprofit J-1 visa sponsor in the U.S., founded in 1947 and headquartered in Portland, Maine. Its Camp Exchange USA program places international counselors and support staff at accredited American summer camps with full visa sponsorship, insurance, and 24/7 support, and runs in-person and virtual camp recruitment road shows. CIEE was one of the first organizations designated by the State Department to administer the J-1 Summer Work Travel program.

Coast-to-Coast Camp Fairs

Marketing

Coast-to-Coast Camp Fairs runs free, family-facing camp fairs in cities across the U.S., each showcasing 50+ day, overnight, sports, and specialty camps so parents can meet representatives and compare programs. For camps, it sells exhibitor booths (starting around $349, with multi-fair discounts) as a recruitment channel, citing meaningful enrollment lifts for participating camps. It is a discovery-and-recruitment marketing option rather than a digital agency.

InterExchange

Staffing & Recruiting

InterExchange is a New York City-based nonprofit J-1 visa sponsor whose Camp USA program has connected international counselors and support staff with U.S. summer camps since 1982. As one of the few nonprofit camp-counselor sponsors, it markets lower program fees than for-profit competitors and a recruitment network reaching underrepresented countries. It works with more than 200 camps and assigns each a dedicated placement specialist.

Sure Check Background Screening

Background Screening

Sure Check Background Screening provides employment background checks and screening services, with a focus on speed, accuracy, and direct customer support. Founded by a former educator, the company markets itself to organizations—including youth-serving programs—that need reliable screening of the adults they hire.

Wild Packs

Staffing & Recruiting

Wild Packs is a UK-based summer camp recruitment agency that places counselors and support staff, mainly British students, at ACA-accredited U.S. camps. Rather than sponsoring J-1 visas itself, it works in conjunction with sponsors CIEE and AAG to handle visa paperwork and in-country support. Its camp programs also power Alliance Abroad's American Camp Crew, covering 300+ North American camps.

Questions camps ask about this category

What is staffing & recruiting?: Staffing and recruiting covers the sourcing and placement of seasonal camp staff — counselors, specializts, kitchen and maintenance — including international staff placed on exchange visas, applicant tracking, and the paperwork that goes with hiring a workforce for eight to ten weeks a year.
What should a camp look for?: Ask how the work is scoped and what a normal year with them looks like: who does the setup, what happens in your busiest fortnight, what the exit looks like if you leave, and what the price does when your numbers change. Ask two or three companies the same questions and compare the answers rather than the brochures. We don't nominate a best one, here or anywhere.

Every company in detail

Alphabetical. Inclusion is not an endorsement, and the order carries no meaning.

American Camp Co.

Serves International.

American Camp Co. is a summer camp staffing brand focused specifically on direct placements, created by Smaller Earth and Cenet with roughly five decades of combined J-1 visa experience.

American Camp Co. on CampBuzz

Camp America

Based in CT. Serves International.

Camp America is one of the oldest international camp staffing programs, placing counselors and staff from more than 20 countries at U.S. summer camps since 1969.

Camp America on CampBuzz

Camp Leaders

Serves International.

Camp Leaders is one of the largest international summer camp staffing brands, founded in 1999 in Liverpool, England and now part of Smaller Earth Group.

Camp Leaders on CampBuzz

Camp Medical Services

Based in TX. Serves National (United States).

Also appears under Health & Medical and Consulting & Training.

Camp Medical Services on CampBuzz

CampStaff

Based in Bunkie, LA.

Also appears under Health & Medical.

CampStaff on CampBuzz

CCUSA

Based in CA. Serves International.

CCUSA on CampBuzz

CIEE (Camp Exchange USA)

Based in ME. Serves International.

CIEE is the oldest and largest nonprofit J-1 visa sponsor in the U.S., founded in 1947 and headquartered in Portland, Maine.

CIEE (Camp Exchange USA) on CampBuzz

Coast-to-Coast Camp Fairs

Based in CA. Serves National (United States).

Also appears under Marketing.

Coast-to-Coast Camp Fairs on CampBuzz

InterExchange

Based in NY. Serves International.

InterExchange is a New York City-based nonprofit J-1 visa sponsor whose Camp USA program has connected international counselors and support staff with U.S. summer camps since 1982.

InterExchange on CampBuzz

Sure Check Background Screening

Based in CO. Serves National.

Also appears under Background Screening.

Sure Check Background Screening on CampBuzz

Wild Packs

Serves International.

Wild Packs on CampBuzz

Nothing above compares these companies to each other, because a directory entry is not a basis for that comparison. What it is good for is knowing who exists, who says they work with programs like yours, and who is willing to answer a question in public. Start there, then ask the two or three of them the questions your own year actually turns on.

Last updated 8 October 2026. Companies are listed alphabetically; the order carries no meaning.

Camp Staffing & Recruiting Companies

American Camp Co.

Camp America

Camp Leaders

Camp Medical Services

CampStaff

CCUSA

CIEE (Camp Exchange USA)

Coast-to-Coast Camp Fairs

InterExchange

Sure Check Background Screening

Wild Packs

Questions camps ask about this category

Every company in detail

American Camp Co.

Camp America

Camp Leaders

Camp Medical Services

CampStaff

CCUSA

CIEE (Camp Exchange USA)

Coast-to-Coast Camp Fairs

InterExchange

Sure Check Background Screening

Wild Packs