Bill > H0795

This bill expands the definition of "children's camp" to include day camps, not just residential ones, and establishes new health and safety requirements for all licensed children's camps. These new requirements include developing and approving an emergency plan that covers various scenarios like lost campers, fires, severe injuries, aquatic emergencies, epidemics, unauthorized individuals, transportation issues, and natural disasters, and ensuring this plan is communicated to staff, parents, and local emergency services. Camps will also need to maintain operable radios for weather alerts, install an emergency warning system with a public address system that doesn't rely on internet, monitor safety alerts from weather services and local authorities, post and illuminate evacuation routes, and provide both fiber-optic and a separate secondary broadband internet service. A new Children's Camp Health and Safety Team, composed of representatives from the Departments of Health, Public Safety, Financial Regulation, and Forests, Parks and Recreation, will be created to recommend health and safety standards and review emergency plans. Camps located in flood hazard areas or mapped river corridors must notify parents in writing and obtain acknowledgment of receipt. Additionally, all staff and volunteers must complete annual training on the emergency plan, and campers will receive a mandatory health and safety orientation within their first 48 hours. The Department of Health will maintain a public complaint page on its website, and licensed camps must link to it, with the Department investigating all complaints through in-person inspections. The Department is also tasked with adopting rules to implement these provisions, including minimum camper-to-counselor ratios for overnight stays.

Health and Social Services

https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/H.795