Camp’s sights set on new funds Some programs lack state oversight

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BANGOR – Summer camp in Maine evokes visions of sun-kissed children spending long hot days boating and swimming on lakes, crafting primitive artifacts and hiking on cool, pine-scented trails.

To many, that still is the traditional camp scenario. But with millions of dollars from the Libra Foundation enabling thousands of Maine children to attend camps of their choice, more nontraditional camps are opening their doors to the onslaught of new campers.

Though the vast majority of camps in Maine provide excellent opportunities and programming, some are lacking in quality because of a lack of licensing and regulation, according to Russell J. Quaglia of the National Center for Student Aspirations.

The Libra Foundation provides nearly $5 million each year to public schoolchildren in third through sixth grades in Portland, Lewiston and Bangor so they can attend the camp or camps of their choice. Each child gets $1,000 to spend on summer camps.

It has benefited not only the children and their parents, but also served as an economic boon to the summer camp industry in Maine, according to Quaglia.

But as in any free-market economy where there is money to be spent, there are slews of entrepreneurs ready to step up to the plate.

The Libra Foundation has commissioned the National Center for Student Aspirations to evaluate the camping scholarship program and that study is almost completed, Quaglia said recently.

The study includes surveys of children, parents, school personnel and camps and is meant to serve as a measure of the immediate and future personal, social and academic impact the program has had on participating children.

As part of the yearlong study, Quaglia’s team of researchers has visited dozens of Maine summer youth camps.

“We’ve been to lots of camps. All kinds of camps. Residential camps, day camps, holy camps, nonholy camps, you name it and we’ve been there,” he said.

Though Quaglia did not want to discuss specifics of the findings until the report is completed, he said most of the camps are great but “some are pretty horrific.”

The camp scholarship program is fairly new and this study may provide a framework for improvements on how to administer it, he said.

Quaglia was quick to point out that, overall, the yearlong study resulted in a positive report, which along with an inspection of the camps tried to measure academic performance and community involvement of those children who had spent the summer attending camps.

All of the camp scholarships, while funded by the Libra Foundation, are administered through the United Way. The Lewiston program, called The Opportunity to Shine, is in its third season. Bangor’s program, called Camp Bangor, is in its second year and the Portland program, called Summer Champs, is in its first season.

“Like anything, I think there’s a learning curve. When there is that money out there available to camps, I think it’s only logical to think that all of a sudden what was a ‘program’ is suddenly a ‘camp,”‘ Quaglia said.

Parents’ responsibility

While there is no central clearinghouse with data on just how many camps operate in Maine, the feeling of most of those involved in the camping industry is that the numbers are slowly on the rise.

Kimberly Curry, who heads up the Summer Champs program for the United Way in Portland, has found that the Tiger Woods phenomenon has sparked a huge interest in golf. Hence there are a growing number of golf camps.

Hockey camp is big in Lewiston, where 1,055 kids are taking advantage of the Libra Foundation camp scholarships, according to Dixie Bonnevie, director of The Opportunity to Shine program of the Lewiston United Way.

The Libra Foundation, in its quest to provide thousands of Maine children with the opportunity to go to summer camp, has set few rules about what qualifies as a camp, leaving those administrative decisions to the United Way programs that oversee the expenditures.

Since most day camps in Maine are not licensed by the state, some camps are allowed to operate with virtually no oversight.

The responsibility to ensure the camp is safe falls to the parents, program administrators say.

The only eligibility requirements to qualify as a camp for the Camp Bangor program is that a staff person be trained in first aid and CPR and that the camp have liability insurance. Residential camps must be licensed by the state, but not day camps.

The state of Maine licenses all residential camp programs but only licenses those day camps that “offer an outdoor group living experience,” according to Rebecca Vigue of the Maine Bureau of Health Division of Health Engineering.

Horse-riding camps or any specialty sports camps aren’t subject to state inspection or licensing, she said. Neither is any specialty camp, such as an arts and crafts camp or computer camp.

“Unless they are overnight camps, we have not traditionally licensed those camps if the focus is just pretty much on one activity,” she said.

Vigue said she plans to revisit the agency’s rule making when it comes to camp licensing because of the number of specialty camps that are opening up with no oversight.

“Our youth camp rules [for licensed camps] provide for staffing requirements and credentials,” she said.

The agency also checks up on sanitary conditions and food preparation at those camps that do require licensing. But for the dozens, perhaps hundreds of camps that do not require licensing, such things go unchecked.

Inspectors lacking

Those camps that are licensed are part of a long to-do list for the Bureau of Health Division of Health Engineering, which is responsible for inspecting all restaurants, lodges and campgrounds as well as youth camps. There are only 11 inspectors for the state, Vigue said.

When asked whether licensed camps are subject to annual inspection, Vigue said, “No. I wouldn’t say that’s true.”

And while hesitant to add even more camps to the list of those requiring licensing, Vigue noted with concern that she’s hearing of rock-climbing and rappelling day camps opening up and acknowledged that they wouldn’t be covered under the current state licensing requirements.

“We may have to change our thinking on some of these things,” she said. “But realistically we don’t really have the staff to add a lot more to our list. We are very taxed this time of year already.”

In Lewiston, Bonnevie tries to get out and inspect about a dozen camps each year that scholarship recipients attend. But oversight is minimal.

“We don’t have any written rules. I mean we check to make sure that someone isn’t just having 50 kids come to the house and hang out, but so far we really haven’t had a problem,” she said.

With no state oversight or inspections and very, very limited rules needed to qualify as a camp eligible for Libra scholarship money, it’s up to the parents to ensure that the camp they choose for their children is a good-quality and safe program, according to Sara Yasner, director of Camp Bangor.

“We don’t make recommendations on camps,” she said. “It’s strictly up to the parents. The market will dictate what’s a good camp and a bad camp. Bad camps will be weeded out because parents won’t send their kids there. … If you have someone with a farm and two horses and they open a camp and have kids cleaning horse poop all day, kids won’t want to go back. … The economy will fight it out.”

What’s a camp?

Yasner acknowledged that some tweaking eventually may have to be done on what qualifies as a camp. She and others involved in dispersing Libra camp scholarship money have noticed a number of established “programs” turning into “camps” during the summer.

Yasner cited an instance in which a camper supposedly was attending dance camp at a dance studio, when actually the “camp” simply involved routine hour-long lessons once a week. Because the instructor was CPR-certified and the studio was licensed, it qualified for the Libra money and the camper’s dance lessons were purchased for the summer.

“I don’t know that we want to be in the business of paying for lessons. I think we’re thinking of programs that offer at least half a day or [a] whole day of focused programs for at least a few days or a week at a time,” she said.

Others have found that some day care programs that operate through the school year call themselves camps during the summer, thereby becoming eligible for Libra money.

“That’s not a bad thing,” Yasner said. “They are doing special things like going on field trips and such.”

Owen Wells, president of the Libra Foundation, knows a lack of rules and regulations may result in some unseemly business ventures that take advantage of the nearly $5 million up for grabs.

His philosophy, however, is as simple as the program’s rules.

So be it.

“One unanticipated benefit of this program is that it helps many families with the financial burden of child care costs,” Wells said recently. “So if a single mom can pay for her child’s day care by using this money because the day care calls itself a camp for a few months of the year then so be it,” he said.

If a small number of businesspeople take advantage of the program or a few parents use the money to fund child care or dance lessons even though that’s not the original intent of the money, it’s a small price to pay, Wells said.

“We don’t want to nor could we get into the business of going out and inspecting these camps,” he said. Wells said he was more concerned with the number of eligible kids who were not taking advantage of the money.

“Let the government worry about rules and regulations. We just want to send kids to camp.”

There’s still time

Camp program administrators in Portland, Lewiston and Bangor said it is still not too late for eligible children to apply for a summer camp scholarship. Many camps still have availability.

Those interested may call:

In Bangor, 941-2800

In Lewiston, 795-4000

In Portland, 874-1014

Parents should choose the appropriate camp for their children carefully. The Web site for Camp Bangor suggests that parents consider the following when making a decision:

. The quality of programs offered

. Child and program safety

. Supervision ratios

. Age appropriateness of the program

. Staff qualifications and training

. Names of other parents whose children have attended