Summer Camp & Background Screening Information
Overview
Summer day camps and Summer 24-hour camps are defined in ss. 409.175, F.S.
Summer day camps are 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.
Summer 24-hour camps are recreational, educational and other enrichment programs operated on a 24-hour basis during summer vacations for children who are 5 years of age on or before September 1 and older, that are not exclusively educational.
Requirements
- All summer camp personnel must be screened, which includes; owners, operators, employees and volunteers that provide care for children. Volunteers who assist on an occasional basis for less than 10 hours per month do not need to be screened, if a person who meets the screening requirement is always present and has the volunteer in his/her sight. All employees and volunteers under the age of 18 must be screened.
- All summer camp personnel must be screened no more than 60 days before they begin employment and must be re-screened annually, unless they continually work in a profession caring for vulnerable populations and are not unemployed for more than a 90 day period, and the Level 2 screening was completed within the last 5 years.
- International counselors must complete a Level 2 background screening upon arrival in Florida. Although it isn’t required by law, a background check from their home country should be requested. Most organizations that assist with identifying international counselors do provide a background check.
Level 2 Background Screening
The requirements for Level 2 Background Screening are found in Chapter 435, F.S., and are as follows:
- Level 2 Background Screening requires fingerprinting for statewide criminal history checks through FDLE and national criminal history checks through the FBI and may include local law enforcement checks.
- Disqualifications are found in ss. 435.04, F.S., and include
- anyone who is arrested for and awaiting final disposition of a prohibited offense, regardless of adjudication;
- anyone who has entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to a prohibited offense;
- and any juvenile adjudicated delinquent in which the record of committing a prohibited offense has not been sealed or expunged.
- The Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, created due to changes in law during the 2012 legislative session, is a single data source for background screening results of persons required to be screened for employment. The Clearinghouse allows the results of criminal history checks to be shared among specified state agencies. Screening for summer camp personnel must be processed via the Clearinghouse. To establish a provider account in the Clearinghouse the program must already have an ORI/OCA number. To request a provider account in the Clearinghouse please visit https://apps.ahca.myflorida.com/SingleSignOnPortal/Login.aspx
- The results from the background screening and the Affidavit of Good Moral Character should be maintained in each personnel file.
- The Department has the authority to ensure compliance with background screening. Currently, summer camps are only monitored when a complaint is received relating to noncompliance with background screening. Summer Camps are not licensed by the Department and no additional training of employees is required.