Camps & Schools Program: Prioritizing Kids Safety

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth

Year: 2023

The Camps & Schools Program (C&SP), under the Environmental Health (EH) Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH), ensures minimum State and local code requirements are met by camp operators. Though Organized Camps, defined as “a site with program and facilities established for the primary purpose of providing an outdoor group living experience with social, spiritual, educational, or recreational objectives for five days or more during one or more seasons of the year,” are State regulated, many children’s camps fell outside this definition, leaving a gap in protection for children campers in Los Angeles County, as well as other jurisdictions in California. To fill this gap, a new local ordinance was developed, establishing a local public health permit and registration system with minimum requirements for the protection of the health and safety of campers participating in a Children’s Camp.

During the development of this ordinance, DPH conducted multiple stakeholder and community engagement meetings, website postings and banners to provide notice of proposed changes and opportunities to provide feedback to the County. After the passing of the Camp Safety Ordinance on June 28, 2022, DPH conducted several webinars and Question and Answer sessions with all stakeholders.