Michael LaForgia and the Palm Beach Post ran a news story describing how a child molester and other ex-felons ran summer camps in Palm Beach County at taxpayer expense. State legislators promising action, but apparently that didn’t happen. The Post reported that the legislators could have taken action last spring and didn’t.
The Post reports that Palm Beach County Division of Human Services subsidizes camp tuition for the county’s poorest children. This includes those children who are who are homeless or in foster care. For the past past three years, the county paid nearly $500,000 to convicted felons to run day camp. This list of felons included thieves, drug dealers along with the other s with criminal records who did not undergo background checks.
It appears that State law exempts summer camps from screening requirements that apply solely to owners and operators of day-care centers and other child-care facilities. The legislature did in fact pass a bill mandating more stringent screening for those already required to undergo background checks. And then it appears the legislature didn’t actually act on that bill that would have eliminated the exemption for summer camps from those screening requirements.
The bill was House Bill 223, sponsored by Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee. It provided for tougher screening. The bill languished in committee and then it was withdrawn. There is a new bill in the works.
The concern, of course, is money. This is understandable for the State of Florida, and any other state for that matter. Money is tight for all fifty states. What with the economy in a downturn and states suffering budgetary constraints, the added cost ins considerable. But also costly, usually more costly, are lawsuits that ensue with liability issues and issues of negligence. There is also the cost of knowing children were potentially exposed to hardened felons and that risk was not addressed. There is also the issue of embarrassing headlines when a child is abused or injured, especially when that injury is a resulting consequence from lack of proper scrutiny.
True, we are approaching winter, but summer and summer camp will be approaching soon enough. Hopefully, the legislature will have an effective bill in place that will help avoid potential disaster.
