BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: SB 737
S
AUTHOR: Walters
B
VERSION: April 5, 2011
HEARING DATE: April 12, 2011
7
FISCAL: Governance and Finance; Appropriations
3
7
CONSULTANT:
Hailey
SUBJECT
Organized camps
SUMMARY
Clarifies several statutes related to the licensing and
regulation of child care for school aged children and of
organized camps (overnight) and organized day camps.
ABSTRACT
Current law:
1. Establishes the After School Education and Safety
Program to create incentives for establishing before and
after school enrichment programs during school days and
vacation days for students in kindergarten and grades 1 to
9. (Education Code Sections 8482 et seq.)
2. Exempts organizations participating in the After School
Education and Safety Program from child care licensure if
they operate from fewer than 30 hours per week. (Education
Code Section 8484.3)
Continued---
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3. Establishes the licensure of child day care facilities
to ensure a quality day care environment. (Health and
Safety Code Sections 1596.70 et seq.)
4. Exempts from 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. (Health and
Safety Code 1596.793.)
5. Defines an "organized camp" as a site with program and
facilities established for the primary purposes of
providing an outdoor living experience for five days or
more. (Health and Safety Code 18897)
6. Requires the director of the Department of Public
Health to establish minimum standards for organized camps
and directs local health officers to enforce these
standards. (Health and Safety Code Sections 18897.2 and
18897.4)
7. Provides, in regulation, that organized camps are
exempt from sales and use taxes on meals and food products
if they meet certain conditions.
This bill
1. Allows organizations participating in the After School
Education and Safety Program Changes to operate for 60
hours per week and maintain their exemption from child care
licensure.
2. Adds recreation programs operated by the YMCA to the
list of programs exempt from child care licensure.
3. Strikes the requirement that the Department of Social
Services (DSS) determine in regulations the definition of
similar organizations providing recreation programs and
extends the exemption from licensure to "nonprofit
organizations, organized camps, businesses or schools that
offer instruction in martial arts, dance, music, fitness,
gymnastics, swimming, or similar activities of less than
four hours in duration."
4. Alters the definition of "organized camps" to specify
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that these camps offer programs of a minimum of five
consecutive days.
5. Stipulates that the use of an organized camp for a
program of fewer than five consecutive days requires
compliance with subdivision (a) of Section 30751 of Title
17 of the California Code of Regulations:
When campers are present, every camp shall have a
Director at the camp in charge who is at least 25
years of age and has at least two seasons of
administrative or supervisory experience in camp
activities. The Director shall provide staff for the
care, protection, and supervision of the campers. The
Director and all camp counselors shall not have
direct unsupervised contact with campers without
first 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
Registry, and a voluntary disclosure statement that
contains the same information as standard HR-4 Staff
Screening of the Accreditation Standards for Camp
Programs and Services, American Camp Association
(2007 Edition).
6. Provides a list of organizations whose "organized camps"
shall be considered prototypes of an organized camp: YMCA,
Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire, Boys and Girls Clubs,
Salvation Army, and Christian Camp and Conference
Association.
7. Adds a definition of "organized day camp" to the
statutes dealing with "organized camps," defining a day
camp as operating seasonally when school is not in session,
and focusing on group-based recreation and expanded
learning opportunities.
8. Requires organized day camps to have a qualified
program director and a staff adequate to carry out the
program. All employees must have a criminal record check
9. Provides that membership in specific organizations
indicates that an organization is an organized camp or
organized day camp: the American Camp Association, the
Association for Environmental and Outdoor Recreation, the
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Christian Camp and Conference Association, the Western
Association of Independent Camps, Boy Scouts of America,
the YMCA, as well as similar camping associations.
10. Requires camps operated by cities or counties to meet
the provisions pertaining to organized camps and organized
day camps contained in Health and Safety Code Sections
18897 to 18897.7, inclusive - cities and counties would be
exempt from filing an operating plan with the local health
officer and be exempt from provisions related to safety for
ropes courses, challenge courses, climbing walls, and other
adventure challenges.
11. Requires organized day camps to file an operating plan
with the local health officer at least 30 days prior to
operation.
12. Requires organized camps that include ropes courses or
similar adventure challenges to include in the operating
plan a provision keeping campers separated from individuals
who use these facilities on a day use basis and provisions
that meet recognized construction and operating standards.
13. Requires organized camps to conduct regular programs
or classes, implement a required attendance policy, and
hire experienced or qualified individuals in order to
maintain exempt status from sales and use taxes on meals
and food products.
FISCAL IMPACT
Unknown.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The author reports that 21st Century programs operated by
city, county, or nonprofit organizations are open more than
30 hours per week because the children they accommodate
include kindergarten children who are present every morning
or every afternoon. This bill will allow school aged care
programs defined in the Education Code to be open up to 60
hours per week.
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The author also reports that the list of recreation program
providers exempt from licensure does not include the YMCA.
Because DSS has not yet promulgated regulations defining
organizations similar to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp
Fire, and Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA's recreation
programs do not always receive an exemption from licensing.
This bill would include the YMCA in the list of
organizations whose recreation programs are exempt from
licensure.
The bill's sponsors, the California State Alliance of YMCAs
and the California Collaboration for Youth, also report
that "organized day camps" are being treated in some
counties similarly to the way the statute treats "organized
camps" (overnight programs), while in other counties, the
health officer is not applying health and safety rules to
"organized day camps" that he or she is applying to
"organized camps." This bill makes it clear that
"organized day camps," as defined, will be regulated in the
same way that "organized camps" are regulated.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Clarifying amendments
1. Section 1 of the bill, amending Education Code Section
8484.3, recognizes that programs serving kindergarteners
may be open all day, supervising kindergarteners for the
full morning or afternoon that they are not in school.
Staff recommends that the law be amended to allow programs
to operate up to 60 hours per week, without obtaining a
license or special permit, but no individual child can be
in the program more than 30 hours per week .
2. Amend page 4, lines 14-16 to read, "Organized camps or
organized day camps operated by cities or counties shall
meet the provisions of this Part." (Sections 18897 through
18900."
3. This bill is also referred to the Committee on
Governance and Finance. That committee has requested that
the author delete Section 5, which adds a new section to
the Health and Safety Code providing actions an organized
camp must take to maintain an exemption from sales and use
taxes on meals and food products. This provision is in
regulation. The author has agreed to take the amendment
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suggested by the Committee on Governance and Finance to
strike Section 5 -- page 5, lines 1-9 .
Establishing a statutory prototype of an organized camp
The bill contains a list of organizations that operate
organized camps and declares that camps operated by these
organizations shall be considered prototypes:
Camps accredited or operated by organizations
including, but not limited to, the YMCA, Girl Scouts
of the USA, Boy Scouts of America, Camp Fire USA,
Boys and Girls Clubs, Salvation Army, and Christian
Camp and Conference Association camps, shall be
considered prototypes of an organized camp. (Page 3,
lines 14-19)
Because each camp must meet the requirements of statute and
regulation, regardless of the organization operating the
camp, staff questions the benefit of this sentence and
fears that regulators may infer that the Legislature is
giving special status to camps operated by these
organizations. The sponsor explains that establishing the
prototype status is informational and will serve to orient
new health officers who are learning what an organized camp
is. Is it useful for the statute to establish prototypes?
POSITIONS
Support: Alpine Camp and Conference Center
American Camp Association, So.
California/Hawaii
Boy Scouts of America
Cali-Camp
California State Alliance of YMCA'S
California Collaboration for Youth
Camp James Summer Day Camp
Camp Kinneret
Camp Mountain Chai
Carmel Valley Tennis Camp
Catalina Island Camps
Coppercreek Camp
Douglas Ranch Camps
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Dunn School
Emerald Cove Day Camp
Forrest Home Inc.
Girl Scout Council of Orange County
Gold Arrow Camp
Guided Discoveries
Jameson Ranch Camp
Jefunira Camp
Kennolyn Camps
Mountain Camp
Mountain Camp Woodside
Mt. Herman Camp
Outpost Summer Camps
Pali Overnight Adventures
Plantation Farm Camp
Peninsula Bay Cities Day Camp and Swim
School
Rawhide Ranch Camp
River Way Ranch Camp
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp
Sierra Adventure Camps
Tocaloma Summer Day Camp
Tom Sawyer Camps
Tumbleweed Camp
Valley Trails Summer Camp
Western Association of Independent Camps
Woodcraft Rangers
World Impact
Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp
14 individuals
Oppose: None received
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