Portantino Introduces Bill to Regulate Camps Prompted by Drowning of Six-Year-Old Pasadena Girl

In response to the tragic drowning of 6-year old Roxie Forbes last year at a day camp in Altadena, state Senator Anthony Portantino has introduced SB 955, the Roxie Rules Act, which seeks to regulate recreational camps.

If passed, the bill would correct omissions in state law and bring camps in line with other regulated services such as daycare facilities.

California sadly trails well behind many other states in regulating recreational camps. Thirty-eight states have some sort of statewide camp regulations while California does not.

Roxie drowned at Summerkids camp in Altadena on June 28. She was a non-swimmer.

According to a lawsuit filed by Roxie’s parents, Doug Forbes and Elena Matyas, Roxie entered the camp pool June 28 at about 9:25 a.m., accompanied by a counselor.

About ten to fifteen minutes later, another counselor who was working with other campers about thirty to forty-five feet outside the gate of the swimming pool was the first person to finally notice Roxie floating face down in the pool, the suit says.

State documents show the California Dept. of Social Services substantiated two allegations that Summerkids has operated without a required license which the state says “poses an immediate health, safety or personal rights risk to children in care.”

Roxie’s parents began researching camp safety issues and discovered that more than 1 million children attend thousands of largely unregulated California camps.

Portantino agreed that under California law there exists a deficiency in camp licensing, inspection, and oversight.

The Forbes family established the Meow Meow Foundation to educate the public about this gap in oversight.

They are collaborating with Senator Portantino on SB 955 so that horrific, preventable outcomes are eliminated and camp experiences are safer for the children who attend them.

“Meow Meow Foundation is honored to work with Senator Anthony Portantino on The Roxie Rules Act, a comprehensive recreational camp licensing, oversight, and safety bill that finally affords millions of California children the protections they deserve,” said Doug Forbes.

The bill will be first heard in a Senate policy committee in March.

The bill must pass both houses of the legislature by the end of August. If signed into law by Governor Newsom it would go into effect on January 1.

The Forbes were in Sacramento on Monday for the bill’s introduction to support this important legislation. Assemblymember Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) is a principal co-author on the bill. Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) is expected to sign off on the bill.

“As a father myself, I cannot begin to comprehend what has happened to the Forbes family,” Portantino said in a prepared statement. “Losing a child is the single worst thing that can happen to a parent. It hurts even more because we know that this was a preventable tragedy. I am very grateful that Roxie’s family is channeling their tremendous grief to make sure that tragedies such as this do not happen again. I want to commend them for all the work they have done to raise awareness and knowledge of the gaps in state law regarding recreational camps.”