History of SCAPA

SCAPA  was founded in 1989 to provide education to all Activity Professionals in SC. It was founded as a non-profit organization and continues to be so. By-laws and job descriptions were completed that first year.

Membership is for Activity Professionals. We receive no financial support from facilities, although they may pay for their staff member's membership. We operate from membership dues and registration fees for conference and workshops.

From the beginning, the goal was to keep the membership fee and educational programs at a minimum cost, while offering national speakers who are experts in their field. All the Board members volunteer their time to the organization.

We offer a three day conference each year. This conference provides 15 CE hours that should be accepted by  APNCC, NCCAP, NCTRC, NCCDP as well as LTHCA. We also offer a one day workshop in August, usually in the Columbia area, central to the State. Both the conference and workshops are offered at a very low price.

In 1991, we began to give an award to a member who has shown outstanding performance in their profession and for being supportive of SCAPA.

In 1993, Four districts were formed. District Representatives are the liaison between the members of their district and the organization. They also offer continuing education in the local area by providing two district workshops each year. These are free to SCAPA members and provide an additional 6 hours of CE credit.

Officers met with DHEC to get approval of the 90 hour basic activity course for SC. After much effort and time, we received their approval. The first class graduated in 1995.

A quarterly newsletter for members is emailed out in February, May, August and November. The newsletter has changed over the years.

We have in place, state by-laws, District by-laws, job descriptions for all Board members, and SCAPA policies and procedures. We continue to update the job descriptions and policies, as well as add new policies as needed.

In the beginning, we had 33 members. We now have over 300 members. We continue to grow and continue to offer the best educational opportunites we can. We provide education, networking and support to Activity Professionals around the state. We also promote national certification through APNCC (www.apncc.org) or NCCAP (www.nccap.org).

SCAPA has a Board in place, all are volunteers and most work full time in the activity or healthcare profession.