Bill Text: FL S0630 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Regulation of Summer Camps

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Failed) 2013-05-03 - Died in Appropriations [S0630 Detail]

Download: Florida-2013-S0630-Introduced.html

---

       Florida Senate - 2013                                     SB 630
       
       
       
       By Senator Clemens
       
       
       
       
       27-00404A-13                                           2013630__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to regulation of summer camps;
    3         amending s. 409.175, F.S.; providing that Department
    4         of Children and Families license requirements apply to
    5         summer day camps and summer 24-hour camps; creating s.
    6         409.1756, F.S.; providing purpose; prohibiting a
    7         governmental agency from regulating the religious
    8         curriculum of a summer day camp or summer 24-hour
    9         camp; providing an exception; providing definitions;
   10         providing procedure for application for a license to
   11         operate a summer day camp or summer 24-hour camp;
   12         providing screening requirements for camp personnel;
   13         providing duties of the department; providing an
   14         effective date.
   15  
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (4), paragraph (a)
   19  of subsection (5), and paragraphs (d) and (k) of subsection (6)
   20  of section 409.175, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   21         409.175 Licensure of family foster homes, residential
   22  child-caring agencies, and child-placing agencies, summer 24
   23  hour camps, and summer day camps; public records exemption.—
   24         (4)
   25         (d) This license requirement does not apply to boarding
   26  schools, recreation and summer camps, nursing homes, or
   27  hospitals, or to persons who care for children of friends or
   28  neighbors in their homes for periods not to exceed 90 days, or
   29  to persons who have received a child for adoption from a
   30  licensed child-placing agency.
   31         (5)(a) The department shall adopt and amend licensing rules
   32  for family foster homes, residential child-caring agencies, and
   33  child-placing agencies, and. The department may also adopt rules
   34  relating to the screening requirements for summer day camps and
   35  summer 24-hour camps. The requirements for licensure and
   36  operation of family foster homes, residential child-caring
   37  agencies, and child-placing agencies, summer day camps, and
   38  summer 24-hour camps shall include:
   39         1. The operation, conduct, and maintenance of these homes
   40  and agencies and the responsibility which they assume for
   41  children served and the evidence of need for that service.
   42         2. The provision of food, clothing, educational
   43  opportunities, services, equipment, and individual supplies to
   44  assure the healthy physical, emotional, and mental development
   45  of the children served.
   46         3. The appropriateness, safety, cleanliness, and general
   47  adequacy of the premises, including fire prevention and health
   48  standards, to provide for the physical comfort, care, and well
   49  being of the children served.
   50         4. The ratio of staff to children required to provide
   51  adequate care and supervision of the children served and, in the
   52  case of foster homes, the maximum number of children in the
   53  home.
   54         5. The good moral character based upon screening,
   55  education, training, and experience requirements for personnel.
   56         6. The department may grant exemptions from
   57  disqualification from working with children or the
   58  developmentally disabled as provided in s. 435.07.
   59         7. The provision of preservice and inservice training for
   60  all foster parents and agency staff.
   61         8. Satisfactory evidence of financial ability to provide
   62  care for the children in compliance with licensing requirements.
   63         9. The maintenance by the agency of records pertaining to
   64  admission, progress, health, and discharge of children served,
   65  including written case plans and reports to the department.
   66         10. The provision for parental involvement to encourage
   67  preservation and strengthening of a child’s relationship with
   68  the family.
   69         11. The transportation safety of children served.
   70         12. The provisions for safeguarding the cultural,
   71  religious, and ethnic values of a child.
   72         13. Provisions to safeguard the legal rights of children
   73  served.
   74         (6)
   75         (d)1. The department may pursue other remedies provided in
   76  this section in addition to denial or revocation of a license
   77  for failure to comply with the screening requirements. The
   78  disciplinary actions determination to be made by the department
   79  and the procedure for hearing for applicants and licensees shall
   80  be in accordance with chapter 120.
   81         2. When the department has reasonable cause to believe that
   82  grounds for denial or termination of employment exist, it shall
   83  notify, in writing, the applicant or, licensee, or summer or
   84  recreation camp, and the personnel affected, stating the
   85  specific record which indicates noncompliance with the screening
   86  requirements.
   87         3. Procedures established for hearing under chapter 120
   88  shall be available to the applicant or, licensee, summer day
   89  camp, or summer 24-hour camp, and affected personnel, in order
   90  to present evidence relating either to the accuracy of the basis
   91  for exclusion or to the denial of an exemption from
   92  disqualification.
   93         4. Refusal on the part of an applicant to dismiss personnel
   94  who have been found not to be in compliance with the
   95  requirements for good moral character of personnel shall result
   96  in automatic denial or revocation of license in addition to any
   97  other remedies provided in this section which may be pursued by
   98  the department.
   99         (k) The department shall may not license summer day camps
  100  and or summer 24-hour camps and. However, the department shall
  101  have access to the personnel records of such camps facilities to
  102  ensure compliance with the screening requirements.
  103         Section 2. Section 409.1756, Florida Statutes, is created
  104  to read:
  105         409.1756 Licensure of summer camps.—
  106         (1)(a) The purpose of this section is to protect the
  107  health, safety, and well-being of all children in the state who
  108  attend summer day camps or summer 24-hour camps by providing for
  109  the establishment of licensing and screening requirements for
  110  such camps and providing procedures to determine adherence to
  111  these requirements.
  112         (b) This section does not authorize any governmental agency
  113  jurisdiction or authority to regulate, control, or supervise the
  114  form, manner, or content of any religious curriculum or
  115  teachings of a summer day camp or summer 24-hour camp unless the
  116  health, safety, or well-being of the child is adversely
  117  affected.
  118         (2) As used in this section, the term:
  119         (a) “License” means a license as defined in s. 120.52(10).
  120  A license under this section is issued to a summer day camp or
  121  summer 24-hour camp and is not a professional license of any
  122  individual. Receipt of a license under this section does not
  123  create a property right in the recipient. A license under this
  124  section is a public trust and a privilege and is not an
  125  entitlement. This privilege must guide the finder of fact or
  126  trier of law at any administrative proceeding or court action
  127  initiated by the department.
  128         (b) “Operator” means any onsite person ultimately
  129  responsible for the overall operation of a summer day camp or
  130  summer 24-hour camp, regardless of whether the operator is the
  131  owner or administrator of such a camp.
  132         (c) “Owner” means the person who is licensed to operate the
  133  summer day camp or summer 24-hour camp.
  134         (d) “Personnel” means all owners, operators, employees, and
  135  volunteers working in a summer day camp or summer 24-hour camp
  136  who may be employed by or do volunteer work for a person,
  137  corporation, or agency that holds a license to operate a summer
  138  day camp or summer 24-hour camp. For purposes of screening, the
  139  term does not include a volunteer who assists on an intermittent
  140  basis for less than 10 hours per month, if a person who meets
  141  the screening requirement of this section is always present and
  142  has the volunteer in his or her line of sight.
  143         (e) “Screening” means the act of assessing the background
  144  of personnel and includes, but is not limited to, employment
  145  history checks as provided in chapter 435 using the level 2
  146  standards for screening set forth in that chapter.
  147         (f) “Summer day camp” means recreational, educational, and
  148  other enrichment programs operated during summer vacations for
  149  children who are 5 years of age or older on or before September
  150  1.
  151         (g) “Summer 24-hour camp” means recreational, educational,
  152  and other enrichment programs that are not exclusively
  153  educational that are operated on a 24-hour basis during summer
  154  vacation for children who are 5 years of age or older on or
  155  before September 1.
  156         (3) An application for a license shall be made on forms
  157  provided, and in the manner prescribed, by the department. The
  158  department shall determine the good moral character of the
  159  applicant based upon the screening requirements provided in s.
  160  409.175(5)(a).
  161         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.