The Florida legislature amended Florida Statute 409.175, the law related to screening requirements for summer camps operated in Florida, effective in August 2010. In essence, the new statute provides Florida’s Department of Children and Families with the authority to adopt rules relating to the screening requirements for “summer day camps” and “summer 24-hour camps.” Though no rules have been adopted as of yet, the statute itself creates a Level 2 background screening requirement (as defined in Fla. Stat. 435) for all “summer day camp” and “summer 24-hour camp” “personnel.”

What types of summer programs must abide by the new statute? The new law encompasses nearly any summer program, private or public, operated within the State of Florida. Specifically, the statute defines “summer day camps” as recreational, educational, and other enrichment programs operated during summer vacations for children who are 5 years of age on or before September 1 and older, and “summer 24-hour camps” as recreational, educational, and other enrichment programs operated on a 24-hour basis during summer vacation for children who are 5 years of age on or before September 1 and older, that are not exclusively educational.