§ 48.09 Staffing Requirements and Certain Ratios.
RCNY § 48.09
(a)The camp operator must be the permittee.
(b)Each camp must have a camp director and a health director.
(c)Camp director. Each camp must be supervised by a camp director. The camp director, or equally credentialed designee approved by the Department, must be present to supervise campers and camp staff at all times while the camp is in operation. The camp director must have at least the following minimum qualifications: (1) a bachelor's degree or be at least 25 years of age for an overnight camp, or 21 years of age for a day or traveling day camp; and (2) 24 weeks of previous administrative or supervisory experience in camping or equivalent experience acceptable to the Department.
(3)There must be on file at the Department a notification from the Department of Social Services Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment that the camp director has not been the subject of an indicated report, pursuant to title 6 of the NYS Social Services Law, or successor law.
(4)The camp director must file with the Department a form entitled Prospective Children's Camp Director Certified Statement Relative to the Conviction of a Crime or the Existence of a Pending Criminal Action, as provided by the Department, and a determination shall be made by the Department that the camp director has no criminal conviction record for which: (i) there is a direct relationship between one or more of the criminal offenses and the applicant's employment as a camp director; and (ii) employment as a camp director would involve an unreasonable risk to the property or to the safety or welfare of camp participants or the general public.
(5)The camp director must complete a training in recognizing and reporting child abuse, neglect and maltreatment.
(6)The camp director must ensure that all staff and camper trainings are conducted and completed as mandated by the Written Safety Plan.
(d)Health director. Each camp must have a health director to supervise and manage a camp health program. Except as provided in 24 RCNY Health Code § 48.25, the health director must minimally possess the following: (1) a current certificate in first aid training from a training program acceptable by the Department, and (2) a current certificate in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) acceptable by the Department, with validity not to exceed 1 year from date of course completion, to provide an adequate level of knowledge and skills necessary to perform 2 rescuer CPR skills for all ages (infant, child, and adult).
(e)Senior counselors, including specialty and general counselors, must be at least 18 years of age at a children's overnight camp, and at least 16 years of age at a summer day camp or traveling summer day camp. In addition, the counselor must either have experience in camping and supervision of children, or have completed a training course acceptable to the Department.
(f)A junior counselor or counselor-in-training is a camper who is assigned to assist on-duty counselors or other staff members, as described in the camp's written safety plan, in performing specific duties. A junior counselor may not supervise campers and must be supervised as a camper. All junior counselors must receive training specific to their duties, and the camper orientation. Junior counselors must not be included in calculating counselor to camper supervision ratios.
(1)Junior counselors at an overnight camp must be at least 16 years of age and have at least 2 season's prior experience as a camper.
(2)Junior counselors at a day or traveling day camp must be at least 15 years of age and have at least 2 seasons' prior experience as a camper.
(g)Trip leader. A trip leader must accompany campers on any trip away from camp. The trip leader must be at least 18 years of age and have participated in at least 3 out-of-camp trips in a similar program activity as a camp staff member. A trip leader must possess or be accompanied by staff who possess either a current acceptable certificate in first aid and/or a current acceptable certificate in CPR training program as defined in 24 RCNY Health Code § 48.03.
(h)An activity leader is required when campers engage in high-risk activities as defined in this Article. An activity leader must be at least 18 years of age, be present for any high-risk activity in which campers are engaged and be deemed competent in the activity being conducted. The permittee must make available to the Department immediately upon request proof of an activity leader's competence in the form of verified past experience and/or completed training and/or education for the activity being conducted.
(i)A camp aquatics director must be at least 21 years of age and have a minimum of: (1) 1 season of previous experience as a camp aquatics director at a NYS children's camp; or (2) 2 seasons of previous experience consisting cumulatively of at least 12 weeks as a children's camp lifeguard, as specified in subdivision (j) of this section, at a swimming pool or bathing beach which had more than 1 lifeguard supervising it at a time; or (3) At least 18 weeks of previous experience as a lifeguard, as specified in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, at a swimming pool or bathing beach, which had more than one lifeguard supervising it at a time; and (4) have successfully completed a training course in lifeguard supervision and management that meets the requirements specified in Part 6, §§ 6-1.31(e) or 6-2.20(e) of the NYS Sanitary Code; (5) have annually reviewed and documented the review of the camp's safety plan for swimming; and (6) possess a current certificate in an acceptable CPR training program.
(j)A qualified camp lifeguard must: (1) be at least 17 years of age; and (2) meet lifeguarding, first aid and CPR certification requirements as detailed in Part 6 of the NYS Sanitary Code including the following: Bathing Facility TypeMinimum Lifeguard Supervision LevelOcean surfSupervision Level IPool onlySupervision Level IIaPool and/or beachSupervision Level IIb (k) Each camp must ensure that sufficient first aid- and CPR-qualified staff is present wherever campers are present on- or off-site, taking into account staff absences or illnesses.
(l)The following are certain required minimum staff-to-camper ratios: (1) At an overnight camp, in addition to the health director or designee, 1 staff member who possesses a current, acceptable first aid certificate must be present for every 50 campers.
(m)Records.
