BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: SB 443
AUTHOR: Walters
INTRODUCED: February 21, 2013
HEARING DATE: April 10, 2013
CONSULTANT: Robinson-Taylor
SUBJECT : Organized camps.
SUMMARY : Revises statutes and definitions related to the
regulation of "organized camps."
Existing law:
1.Defines "organized camp" as a site with programs and
facilities established for the primary purpose of providing an
outdoor living experience for five days or more.
2.Exempts from child care licensure, recreation programs
operated by Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs,
Camp Fire, or similar organizations, as determined by
regulations of the department; child care programs conducted
by these organizations remain subject to licensure.
3.Exempts organizations participating in the Afterschool
Education and Safety Program from child care licensure if they
operate no more than 60 hours per week.
4.Requires the Director of the California Department of Public
Health (DPH) to establish minimum standards regulating the
operations of organized camps that are necessary to protect
the health and safety of the campers.
5.Establishes regulations regarding the general requirements for
safety and staff supervision at organized camps, including
requiring a criminal history record check for camp directors
and camp counselors and require camps to submit written
operating procedures and accreditation verification to local
health officers.
This bill:
1.Makes the distinction between an "organized resident camp" and
"organized day camp" under the umbrella of "organized camp."
Defines an "organized resident camp" to mean a site with
programs established for the primary purposes of providing an
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outdoor living experience for at least four consecutive
overnight stays during one or more seasons of the year.
2.Defines the term "organized day camp" as a site which may or
may not be fixed, that is established for the primary purpose
of providing outdoor group living experiences for children up
to 17 years of age, and that operates seasonally during times
when school is not regularly in session. Stipulates that
organized day camps may transport campers to off-site
locations for activities and may provide for up to three
consecutive overnight stays.
3.Requires an organized resident camp or organized day camp to
develop a written operating plan and to file the plan with the
local health department, as specified. Exempts organized
resident camps and organized day camps that are accredited by
the American Camp Association or the Boy Scouts of America
from this requirement.
4.Requires the local health officer to acknowledge the plan
within 30 days of its receipt. Requires the written plan and
acknowledgement to be posted in a conspicuous location on camp
premises and on any available website associated with the
camp.
5.Requires the local health department to charge a fee for the
review of an operating plan that does not exceed the actual
cost of plan review. Permits a local health officer to inspect
a camp and charge a fee for that purpose, not to exceed the
actual cost of the inspection. Requires a summary and
explanation of charges to be given to the camp following the
camp inspection. Prohibits charges from being imposed on the
camp other than for reviewing an operating plan, if a camp
inspection is not done.
6.Requires organized resident camps or organized day camps that
construct or operate educational facilities or programs
including ropes courses, challenge courses, climbing walls or
similar adventure challenges to meet specified construction
and operating standards, establish provisions keeping campers
separate from day-use patrons, and include this information in
the written operating plan, with specified filing
instructions.
7.Requires that a qualified program director, as specified, be
present at an organized day camp at all times during its
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operation.
8.Requires organized resident or day camps operated by cities or
counties to meet these provisions.
9.Requires DPH to obtain the input and advice of organizations
in the field of organized camps when amending rules and
regulations pertaining to organized camps.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1.Author's statement. Currently, there is only one definition
in law that pertains to "organized camps." This definition was
largely created with residential camps in mind and contains
many provisions, regulations, and standards that are
inapplicable to seasonal camp programs offered during the day
when school is not in session. Due to the lack of
clarification in the law, licensing officials have confused
day camps with daycare centers assuming that day camp
counselors (many of whom are high school and college students)
be licensed childcare providers. This is unrealistic and
impractical, as high school students cannot be licensed
childcare providers and most college students, who make up the
majority of day camp counselors, are not. This bill makes the
clarifying distinction by clearly defining "organized resident
camp" and an "organized day camp."
2.Organized camps. Existing law requires DPH to adopt rules and
regulations establishing minimum standards for organized camps
and directs local health officers to enforce these standards.
Under the definitions established in this bill, the primary
purpose of both organized resident camps and organized day
camps is to provide an outdoor living experience. The
difference between resident camp programs and day camp
programs is primarily regarding the number of overnight stays
permitted and the required permanency of the location site.
Organized residential camps typically provide activities in a
permanent location for at least four consecutive overnight
stays. In contrast, organized day camps may or may not have a
fixed site, are generally for less than one whole day, and
typically do not provide overnight stays. Organized day camps
serve children through the age of 17 and operate during times
when school is not in session. Organized day camps frequently
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transport campers to off-site activities, such as beaches,
parks, and campsites and operate seasonally during times when
school is not regularly in session.
The author asserts that without the clarification in law,
organized day camps are being treated in some counties
similarly to the way the statute treats organized camps
(overnight programs), while in other counties, health officers
are not applying health and safety rules to organized day
camps that are being applied to organized camps. This bill
establishes clarifying definitions for organized resident
camps and organized day camps and requires that organized day
camps be regulated in the same way that organized camps are
regulated.
3.Prior legislation.
SB 1087 (Walters), Chapter 652, Statutes of 2012, doubles the
hours by which an after school program operated by a city,
county or non-profit may operate.
SB 737 (Walters, 2011) is substantially similar to this bill.
SB 737 was vetoed with the message: "I agree with the author's
intent to clarify and simplify the regulation of organized
camps, but this measure does not achieve this goal. I am
directing the DPH and Department of Social Services to work
with the author and interested advocates to resolve this issue
in the coming year."
4.Support. Supporters claim this bill provides clarification
and definition for programs that serve the children of our
state. This bill defines an "organized day camp," specifies
appropriate oversight and approval for ropes and challenge
courses operated by organized camps, and requires camps to
provide written operating plans to their local health
departments.
5.Policy concern. This bill creates a new definition for
"organized day camp" but is silent regarding the important
safety measure of staff background checks and staff-to-camper
ratios. Under current regulations, the director and all camp
counselors of "organized camps" are prohibited from having
direct unsupervised contact with campers without first
providing a voluntary disclosure statement and obtaining a
satisfactory criminal history record check from the California
Department of Justice, Bureau of Criminal Identification, or
U.S. Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public
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Registry. The regulations also require there to be at least
one counselor who is a high school graduate or who is 18 years
of age, for every 10 campers under 16 years of age.
The author may wish to consider clarifying that the employees of
"organized day camps" are required to have background checks
and staff-to-camper ratios in accordance with existing
regulations for "organized camps."
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
Support: California Collaboration for Youth (sponsor)
California State Alliance of YMCAs (sponsor)
American Camp Association in California
AstroCamp
Camp Doodles
Camp Fire
Camp Funtime
Camp Kinneret
Camp Max Straus
Camp Ronald McDonald at Eagle Lake
Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times
Carmel Valley Tennis Camp
Catalina Island Camps, Inc.
Catalina Island Marine Institute
Channel Islands YMCA
Fairmont Summer Programs
Gold Arrow Camp
Guided Discoveries
Jameson Ranch Camp
Leoni Meadows Camp
Mountain Camp
Mountain Camp Woodside
Outpost Summer Camps
Rawhide Ranch
Redwood Glen Camp and Conference Center
River Way Ranch Camp
Tocaloma Summer Day Camp
Tom Sawyer Camps
Tumbleweed Day Camp
Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp
YMCA of San Diego County
3 individuals
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Oppose: None on file.
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