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S 2946Public Health

Health and Safety - Licensing of Youth Camps

This bill delays the implementation of new licensing, safety requirements, and state inspections for youth camps until January 1, 2027.

Signed into law69 Yea0 Nay6 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 4, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation modifies the timeline for implementing safety and licensing standards for youth camps in Rhode Island. While the law outlines specific requirements for camp operations—such as maintaining potable water, ensuring fire safety, conducting background checks on staff, and mandating specific training for counselors—the key function of this bill is to delay these requirements. It specifies that the licensing mandates, facility inspections by the Department of Health, and related regulations will not take effect until January 1, 2027.

For younger readers

There are rules that summer camps have to follow to make sure kids are safe, like having clean water and checking that the workers are safe people. The state also has to visit the camps to check on them. This new law says that the camps do not have to follow all these new specific rules yet, and the state does not have to visit them to check, until the year 2027. This gives the camps more time to get ready.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Youth camp operatorsCamp counselors and staffChildren attending youth campsParents and guardiansDepartment of Health
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Ensures that when regulations do take effect, they will mandate critical training for staff regarding the recognition and reporting of child abuse and neglect.
  • Provides smaller, non-profit, or community-based camps additional time to comply with expensive facility upgrades, potentially preventing the closure of affordable options for low-income families.
  • Codifies strict background check requirements for all staff over eighteen, ensuring a statutory framework for child safety is in place for the future.
  • Delays essential safety protections and background checks for children attending camps for several years, leaving them potentially vulnerable in the interim.
  • Postpones state inspections of youth facilities, meaning health and fire hazards may go undetected and unresolved for an extended period.
  • Suspends the requirement for camps to have an activities specialist for hazardous activities like archery and aquatics, potentially risking the physical well-being of children.
For Conservatives
  • Reduces immediate government interference in private business operations by delaying inspections and regulatory enforcement until 2027.
  • Provides camp operators—many of which are small businesses—time to prepare for compliance costs rather than hitting them with immediate, burdensome mandates.
  • Prevents the immediate implementation of new bureaucratic rules and regulations that could stifle the operation of seasonal businesses.
  • Ultimately establishes a framework for increased government oversight and state control over private youth organizations and businesses starting in 2027.
  • Mandates specific hiring practices and background checks that will eventually increase operational overhead and administrative burdens for business owners.
  • Empowers the Department of Health to promulgate unspecified rules and regulations in the future, expanding administrative state power.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 10 additions

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Sections 23-21.2-2, 23-21.2-3 and 23-21.2-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-21.2 entitled "Licensing of Youth Camps" are hereby amended to read as follows: 23-21.2-2. Requirements for licensing of youth camps.

(a) To be eligible for the issuance or renewal of a youth camp license, the camp shall satisfy the following requirements:

(1) The location of the camp shall be such as to provide adequate potable water and afford facilities for obtaining readily available potable water;

(2) Each dwelling unit, building, and structure shall be maintained in good condition, suitable for the use to which it is intended, and shall present no health or fire hazard as so certified by the department of health and the state fire marshal or local fire marshal, and if required, as indicated by a current fire marshal certificate dated within the past year and available on site when the youth camp is in operation;

(3) There shall be an adequate and competent staff consisting of:

(i) The youth camp director or assistant director, one of whom shall be on site at all times the camp is in operation;

(ii) Activities specialists;

(iii) Counselors; and

(iv) Maintenance personnel;

(4) Each camp staff member over the age of eighteen (18) years shall be required to obtain a criminal records background check from the bureau of criminal identification and investigation division of the state police, local police department, or the office of the attorney general in accordance with the procedures and standards provided in § 40-13.2-5.1;

(5) All youth camp staff shall be trained, at a minimum, on the camp’s policies and procedures pertaining to behavioral management and supervision, emergency health and safety procedures and recognizing, preventing, and reporting child abuse and neglect in accordance with § 40-11-3;

(6) All hazardous activities, including, but not limited to, archery, aquatics, horseback riding, and firearms instruction, shall be supervised by a qualified activities specialist who has adequate experience and training in such area of specialty;

(7) The staff of a residential and day camp shall at all times include an individual trained in the administration of first aid as required by the director;

(8) Records of personal data for each camper shall be kept in any reasonable form. The form shall include:

(i) The camper’s name, age, and address;

(ii) The name, address, and telephone number of the parents or guardian;

(iii) The dates of admission and discharge; and

(iv) Such other information as required by the department; and

(9) Any youth camp licensed under this chapter shall operate only as the type of camp authorized by such license. Such camps shall not advertise any service they are not equipped or licensed to offer. The license shall be posted in a conspicuous place at youth camp headquarters and failure to so post the license shall result in the presumption that the camp is being operated in violation of this chapter.

(b) The requirements of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply until January 1, 2027. 23-21.2-3. Inspections of facilities.

(a) The department shall inspect or cause to be inspected the facilities to be operated by an applicant for an original license before the license shall be granted and shall annually thereafter inspect or cause to be inspected the facilities of all licensees.

(b) The inspection requirements of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply until January 1, 2027. 23-21.2-4. Rules and regulations. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations deemed necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter. Any rules and regulations adopted to implement §§ 22-21.2-2(a) and 23- 21.2-3(a) shall not take effect until January 1, 2027.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.