BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: SB 476
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|AUTHOR: |Mendoza |
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|VERSION: |February 26, 2015 |
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|HEARING DATE: |April 8, 2015 | | |
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|CONSULTANT: |Shannon Muir |
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SUBJECT : Organized camps
SUMMARY : Redefines organized camps and separates them into two types:
resident camps and day camps. Requires day camps and resident
camps to follow public health and safety codes and regulations,
including, but not limited to, notice of intent to operate,
adequate training and background checks for staff, safety of
camp location and facilities, and minimum camper supervision
levels.
Existing law:
1.Requires the State Public Health Officer to establish rules
and regulations for organized camps.
2.Establishes requirements for the operation, regulation and
enforcement of organized camps.
3.Defines an organized camp as a site with program and
facilities established for the primary purposes of providing
an outdoor group living experience with social, spiritual,
educational, or recreational objectives, for five or more days
during one or more seasons of the year.
4.Excludes from the definition of an organized camp a motel,
tourist camp, trailer park, resort, hunting camp, auto court,
labor camp, penal or correctional camp, childcare institution,
or home finding agency.
5.Defines a camper as a person in an organized camp who is a
participant in the regular program and training of an
organized camp, and who may take duties relating to such
program and training.
SB 476 (Mendoza) Page 2 of ?
This bill:
1.Revises the definition "organized camp" to mean an organized
resident camp or an organized day camp that operates
seasonally to provide group-based recreation and expanded
learning opportunities with social, spiritual, education or
recreational services on a seasonal basis.
2.Broadens the exclusions of organized camps to include: hotels;
drug and alcohol resident rehabilitation programs or other
programs or facilities subject to occupancy taxes; licensed
child day-care facilities; sites used for counseling,
religious retreats, reunions, conferences and special events
on an intermittent basis of less than four consecutive nights;
day camps offered by museums, zoos, cities, counties, or
special districts.
3.Defines "organized resident camp" as a site with programs and
facilities established for the primary purposes of providing
group experiences and that provides overnight stays during one
or more seasons of the year, excluding field trips, as
specified. Any organized camp that provides offsite field
trips for more than two consecutive nights is an organized
resident camp.
4.Defines "organized day camp" as a program that is established
for the primary purpose of providing group experiences during
the day for children under 18.
5.Permits organized day camps to transport campers to parks,
beaches, campsites, and other locations for activities, and
provide field trips for no more than three consecutive days.
6.Requires an organized day camp to have adequate staff
including a program director with at least two seasons of
administrative or supervisory experience at an organized day
camp or youth program. Requires the program director to be
present at all times during the operations of the organized
day camp.
7.Changes the definition of a camper to a person in an organized
camp on a fee or non-fee basis who is a participant in the
regular program and training of an organized camp.
8.Requires organized camps to develop a written operating plan
and provide that plan to the local public health officer prior
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to commencing operation of the camp, with year round camps
being required to submit plans annually. Permits a written
verification of accreditation by the American Camp Association
to be provided to the official in lieu of the written
operating plan. Requires the plan to be posted on camp
premises.
9.Permits a local public health officer to inspect organized
camps and charge a fee. Requires a summary of any health and
safety violations to be provided to the camp within 30 days.
10.Permits organized camps to appeal citations.
11.Requires organized camps to meet applicable requirements, as
specified, regarding camp staff.
12.Requires an organized camp to install a carbon monoxide
detector in any building intended for human occupancy that has
a fossil fuel building heater or appliance, a fireplace, or an
attached garage.
13.Requires an organized camp to store all firearms in a locked
cabinet when not in use.
FISCAL
EFFECT : This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1.Author's statement. According to the author, day camps are
programs which typically serve children who are unable to
attend resident camp programs that include multiple overnight
stays. Considerations of cost, age of the child, and parental
preference, are among the reasons some parents prefer to have
their children attend local day camps rather than remote
resident camps.
Because there is no reference to day camps in current law or
regulation, there has been confusion related to who has
jurisdiction over their operation. Day camps typically operate
during the summer and other vacation periods when school is
not in session and they provide group-based recreation and
expanded learning opportunities for children less than 18
years of age. This clarification will assure the public that
day camps operate under the oversight of local health
SB 476 (Mendoza) Page 4 of ?
officials, and that they are not childcare programs.
With so many kids participating in these camps, it is
essential that the camps adhere to health and safety
standards, which are in place to look after the well-being of
the children. This will allow them to continue learning in a
thriving environment, while being kept as safe as possible.
2.Organized camps. The current definition of an organized camp
applies only to sites that are established to provide an
outdoor group living experience for five or more days a year,
and ostensibly house campers overnight. An alternative to
these overnight camps, or "resident camps" is day camps, which
are generally local and do not provide multiple overnight
stays for campers. Day camps often do not have a fixed site,
and instead operate in parks, beaches, churches, schools, Boys
and Girls Clubs, or YMCA facilities, and are therefore not
subject to the laws that regulate organized camps, as
currently defined. By changing the definition of an organized
camp to include both resident camps and day camps, day camps
will be brought under safety regulations that are currently in
place for overnight camps.
3.Day care centers. There have been concerns that organizations
have been operating as day camps in an effort to circumvent
strict licensing requirements of day care centers. Some
counties, in an attempt to regulate day camps, have classified
them as day care centers, leading to the shutting down of
camps that couldn't meet the regulations. Defining organized
day camps will help delineate the day camps from day care
centers.
4.Prior legislation. SB 1087 (Walters), Chapter 652, Statues of
2012, increases the time in which an organization
participating in the Safe Neighborhoods Partnership program
can operate without a license. The bill also exempts
organized camps from licensure required for day care centers.
SB 737 (Walters), of 2011, would have defined organized camps
and organized day camps and would have established
requirements regarding their operation. SB 737 was vetoed. In
his veto message, the Governor stated, "I agree with the
author's intent to clarify and simply the regulation of
organized camps, but this measure does not achieve this goal.
I am directing the Department of Public Health and Department
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of Social Services to work with the author and interested
advocates to resolve this issue in the coming year."
SB 443 (Walters), of 2013, was substantially similar to SB 737
(Walters) of 2011. SB 443 was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
5.Support. The sponsor of the bill, California Collaboration
for Youth, states that the current legal definition of
organized camps is only intended to cover overnight resident
camps, and not local day camps. The sponsors write that SB
476 will require day camps to adhere to the same safety and
regulatory standards required by overnight resident camps, and
that they have worked with local health officers and health
office associations to address their issues. Camp Funtime,
the Bar 717 Ranch, Fairmont Private Schools, Jefunira Camp,
Mountain Camp, Mountain Camp Woodside, Pali Adventures,
Plantation Farm Camp, and Tom Sawyer Camp state that this is a
very important bill for all camps.
6.Policy comment. This bill requires camps to have a written
operating plan, and to give that plan, or verification of
accreditation by the American Camps Association, to a local
health officer. This bill permits, but does not mandate,
health officers to inspect the camps. As such, this bill lacks
an adequate enforcement mechanism.
7.Technical Amendments. On page 4, line 38, delete "any" in
front of "charge a fee..."
On page 5, line 7, add "written operating" in front of "plan
pursuant to?" for consistency.
On page 5, line 15, switch "resident camp" and "day camp" for
consistency.
8.Amendments. Page 4, line 9 references a written operating plan
that must be developed. Title 17, Section 30704 of the Code of
Regulations references requirements for camps, which include
submission to the local health officer a "written description
of operating procedures that describes the program of
organized and supervised activities of the camps" in ten
areas. The author should consider referencing the section in
this bill for the sake of clarity.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
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Support: California Collaboration for Youth (sponsor)
American Camp Association
Bar 717 Ranch
California State Alliance of YMCAs
Camp Funtime
Central Coast YMCA
Concepts for Living
Fairmont Private Schools
Guided Discoveries
Jefunira Camp
Mountain Camp
Mountain Camp Woodside
Outpost Summer Camps
Pali Adventures
Peninsula Bay Cities Day Camp and Swim School
Plantation Farm Camp
Santa Maria Valley YMCA
Santa Monica Family YMCA
Skylake Yosemite Camp
Tom Sawyer Camp
YMCA of East Bay
YMCA of Greater Whittier
YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles
YMCA of Superior California
YMCA of the East Valley
Oppose: None received.
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