Camp's Out For Summer (SB SUN May 21, 2006) County Program for Foster Kids Faces Severe Cutbacks!

This is a sad story, they people that normally run these camps for the children from Foster homes and broken homes in foster care, they get to go to camp each summer on the County, however they claim that they don't have any money this year. That could be a good sign why they are threatening to close the Firefighters down for the Fire season and getting ready or the Fire season is another thing that hey cannot do because it costs way to much. We just what to thin you for setting up the county clock, I was slowed ding it and I imagine that most if not all the people that rely on that clock used it as away to get an extra hour of sleep..LOL..

BSRAncher...

Camp's out for summer County program for foster kids faces severe cutbacks Emily Sachs, Staff Writer

Andrew has been in and out of foster care for years, but until last year, the High Desert teen had never seen an island or swam in the ocean. One week at a camp on Catalina changed that, as well as his outlook. He said his friends from school were impressed by his tales of canoeing, hiking, snorkeling and meeting all sorts of people. "They said they wished they could have went," said Andrew, 14. A long-running program by the San Bernardino County Department of Children's Services has given thousands of disadvantaged kids a chance to sleep under the stars. This summer will be the first time the county can't afford to send some 1,000 foster children to various summer camps across the region, an estimated $250,000 expense. "It is sad that it starts to be considered, as you say, a luxury. Because it's a life-changing experience," said Norm Dollar, a deputy director of Children's Services. Dollar said health-care and retirement costs are rising, while the overall budget from the state has stayed flat. Nonessentials, like the camp program, end up getting the squeeze. On Tuesday, the Children's Fund board of directors will consider making a special allocation in order to send at least some of the county's children to camp, said Executive Director Rebecca Stafford. "We're going to try to meet the shortfall but how much it's going to be and if we're able to do it or not . . . I have no way of knowing what the board's going to decide," she said last week. Andrew was fortunate enough last year to also attend a second camp with his three foster siblings. At Camp Oakes near Fawnskin, they got to swim in Big Bear Lake, doze in sleeping bags and eat pancakes for breakfast and hamburgers for dinner. It was "all fun," agreed Tim, 9, and Candy, 10. Brandy, 10, said she liked the afternoon hikes and games the most and was sad to say farewell to her new friends, but noted that she didn't "cry over it." At Camp Catalina, Andrew proved his mettle by swimming in the Pacific Ocean. "I didn't think I'd be brave enough to," he said. They said last week that they understood camp was out this summer and were disappointed but not crushed. But they aren't the only ones losing out. The dozen or so camps that contract with San Bernardino County stand to lose critical revenue. Camp Oakes alone is facing a loss between $150,000 and $200,000 because it had to cancel four weeks' worth of sessions, said Martin Chandler, executive director of camping services for the YMCA of Greater Long Beach. For two years, Camp Oakes has concentrated on the county's foster children, who comprise about 90 percent of the sessions. "It's had a huge impact. In fact, it could have a huge impact on our entire organization," Chandler said, citing concern about the nonprofit's year-end budget. This year, the counselors were going to be training to better understand and work with foster children's specific behavioral issues. "We were adjusting as we became acquainted," Chandler said. Social worker Lisa Clemons said Andrew and his foster siblings don't know it, but they will be a fortunate exception this summer. Their foster mother is arranging to send them to camp herself. "Other kids," Clemons said, "they don't have that opportunity. . . . If only 10 kids could go and we had a lottery, that would be a wonderful thing."