Breaking the cycle of substance use at Camp Mariposa

By Rose Frey, winter intern for 2019-2020 at the Afterschool Alliance. Photo courtesy of Camp Mariposa's website.

There are more than 9 million children in the U.S. that are living in a home with a parent who uses illicit drugs, and these children are at high-risk for a host of issues. They’re more likely to develop issues like depression and anxiety, and four times more likely than their peers to develop a substance use disorder.

Camp Mariposa is a national addiction prevention and mentoring program for youth affected by substance use in their families, completely free of cost. Children ages 9 to 12 attend weekend camps six times a year, and teens ages 13 to17 can continue as peer counselors. In 2018, Camp Mariposa served 1,542 campers with 68 camp sessions in 13 different locations. It provides a safe, fun, and supportive environment that helps break the cycle of addiction.

Camp Mariposa was created in reaction to a personal experience from Karen and Jamie Moyer. In searching for resources for their niece that was affected by her parent’s addiction, they discovered that there were very few programs meant to help children ages 9 to 12 that were affected by familial addiction. Karen Moyer worked with international addiction expert Claudia Black and a youth-serving organization in Seattle to create the Camp Mariposa model. In 2007, the first camp was held, and the national expansion of Camp Mariposa started in 2011.

During a weekend at Camp Mariposa, there are three to four educational therapeutic activities. These activities teach participants coping skills, and they talk about the rules and roles in a family affected by substance use, amongst many other topics. Two times a year, there is  a suicide prevention program within the framework of these activities, as the children that attend this program are at much higher risk for depression and suicide than their peers. Throughout the weekend, there are also  a host of outdoor activities such as swimming, low or high ropes courses, and canoeing. Campers are given time to play outside, to just be kids. Once they have aged out of the weekend camp program, teens ages 13-17 are given the opportunity to be junior counselors, continuing their involvement.

There’s a lot of emphasis on ensuring that kids have fun and want to come back to camp. Camp Mariposa fosters a sense of community amongst campers; one camper said, “Camp Mariposa helped me because it is a fun therapeutic program. But it’s not just a program, it’s a family. It’s a family that actually listens to your needs and problems. These are some of the reasons I love Camp Mariposa.”

This program brings together kids with similar life experiences, when most of these kids have never met any other kids with a similar life experience beforehand: that is how it alleviates feelings of loneliness amongst campers.

Camp Mariposa has effectively prevented substance use amongst its campers. In a study spanning 2016-2018 by LSU, 90 percent of participants did not have more than a few sips of beer, wine, or drinks containing alcohol, and 86 percent of participants did not have friends that drank. For participants 12 or older, 96 percent had not smoked marijuana, and 90 percent had not used anything else to get high.

Beyond prevention, Camp Mariposa has given youth skills they can take with them into life. In 2019, 93 percent of youth reported that they learned things they can use at home, 86 percent believe they will graduate from high school, and 82 percent believe they will accomplish their dreams. An eleven-year-old camper said that, “Camp Mariposa helped me by learning how to deal with my emotions and not taking them out on someone else or myself.”

Camp Mariposa provides these vulnerable youth with a tight-knit community, friends that understand them, and healthy coping skills to help them succeed.