MEETING DATE: 5/8/2018
DEPARTMENT: COUNTY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE
DEPT HEAD/DIRECTOR: Ray Espinosa
AGENDA ITEM PREPARER: Dulce Alonso
SBC DEPT FILE NUMBER: 119
SUBJECT:
COUNTY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE - R. ESPINOSA
Approve and sign letter taking a Opposing Unless Amended position on AB 1964. Send letter to Assembly Member, Jim Wood, OPPOSING UNLESS AMENDED position on AB 1964 and CC: Assembly Member, Brian Maienschein; Honorable Members, Assembly Health Committee; Assembly Republican Caucus; and California State Association of Counties .
SBC FILE NUMBER: 119
AGENDA SECTION:
CONSENT AGENDA
BACKGROUND/SUMMARY:
AB 1964 would expand the definition of organized camps to include day camps, creating a new mandate on local health departments.
The Bill revises the definition of "organized camp" to include both organized resident camps and organized day camps and establishes definitions and requirements for these camps.
- Defines "organized resident camp" as a site or sites with programs and facilities established for the primary purposes of providing group living experiences and that provides three or more consecutive overnight stays during one or more seasons of the year.
- Defines "organized day camp" as a program that is established for the primary purpose of providing group experiences for children under 18 years of age during the day, on days when school is regularly not in session, for a minimum of four hours per day on three or more consecutive days.
OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED. The California State Association of Counties, Urban Counties of California, Rural County Representatives of California, and County Health Executives Association of California, state in opposition and as a Coalition that this bill would expand the definition of organized camps to include day camps, creating a new mandate on local health departments. The Coalition writes that while counties appreciate the intent of the bill to assure that day camps provide a safe environment for children, they do not believe this bill as currently written will fully accomplish this goal. The Coalition notes that counties’ existing oversight of organized residential camps is already overly broad and requires local health departments to operate beyond their scope of expertise related to health and sanitation. This bill would further exacerbate these issues by adding – according to the proponents – roughly 700 additional day camps statewide under the oversight of local health departments.
The Coalition further states that under this bill the local health department would be the sole oversight body of a day camp and would oversee areas such as building standards and childcare-like safety standards. Whereas a daycare currently has to comply with a myriad of standards set in place to ensure the child’s safety and well-being, with the Department of Social Services utilizing their expertise as the oversight entity, day camps would not have the same safeguards in place, even with this bill. The Coalition concludes that their proposed amendments seek to limit the oversight of the local health department to their core responsibility and expertise: the health and sanitation aspects of a day camp.
BUDGETED:
No