After the Texas Senate and House passed bills related to disaster preparedness and response at Texas youth camps, another bill seeks to reshape the Texas Youth Camp Advisory Committee.
This committee works with the executive commissioner of Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to develop standards, procedures and rules for how youth camps are regulated by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS)
The HHSC executive commissioner appoints the the nine members of the committee, which is to be composed of “At least two members shall be from the general public, and seven members shall be experienced camping professionals who represent the camping communities of the state.”
“We need child professionals on there, people who understand child development, child safety, beyond the camp owners,” said State Rep. Lacey Hull/(R) Dist. 138. “This is about youth camp safety as a whole.”
Hull filed House Bill 265 during the second special session of the Texas Legislature. The bill was heard before the House Public Health committee on Friday.
The bill calls for the members of the Youth Camp Advisory Committee to have an emergency management director or coordinator, a member of law enforcement, a pediatrician, a child psychologist, a child abuse prevention specialist, a camp operator, a parent of a camper and two members of the public unaffiliated with any youth camp.
“This is not a, ‘camps are bad,’ this is a how do we do what we need to do and the role of the state to make sure that children are safe,” said Hull.
Hull’s bill also calls for the Advisory Committee and the executive commissioner to conduct a comprehensive review of youth camp rules by April 1, 2026. HB 265 also calls for mandatory CPR and first aid training for all camp staff.
Among those testifying in support of the bill was the CEO of Crime Stoppers of Houston, Rania Mankarious.
“This conflict of interest must end, and HB 265 does this by bringing in child safety experts and parents,” Mankarious told the committee.
Mankarious has been asking the Legislature for this type of change since 2018, following a case of sexual abuse of a camper.
“These camps have a duty to go above and beyond when it comes to safety, and the state has a duty to ensure that," said Mankarious.
Dan Neal, who is a member of the Youth Camp Advisory Committee, also testified at Friday’s hearing. Neal told lawmakers he feels having only one camp operator on the Advisory Committee was “too narrow,” however, he agreed a broader spectrum of perspectives would help.
“I think all of this is good and is probably necessary to continue to move this into the realm of matching the level of care, and the desire for care, that you see with these camps that are already doing a good job with the ones that may not be,” said Neal, director of Camp Doublecreek.
Others supporting bill included Kori DelaPena, whose daughter, Cati, drowned at a day camp in 2019. DelaPena and her husband later formed Live Like Cati, which provides water safety training and free life jackets to organizations taking non-swimmers to pools.
“While I respect the work they do, this creates a self-serving dynamic, an echo chamber that can prioritize operational convenience over camp safety," DelaPena testified, suggesting a water-safety expert be included on the Youth Camp Advisory Committee.
DelaPena also told lawmakers she applied for a vacant spot on the Youth Camp Advisory Committee in May but never received a response.
Hull’s bill was left pending in committee as specific details are still being debated.
Earlier this week lawmakers heard from the parents of the 27 girls who died at Camp Mystic. Both the Senate and House passed bills bolstering disaster preparedness and emergency response at youth camps.
“I think it’s long overdue that we’re taking a real hard look and some real serious action,” said Keli Rabon, whose son survived the flood at Camp La Junta.
Rabon’s youngest son, Brock, survived the flood waters by climbing into the rafters of his cabin. His older brother, Braeden’s cabin did not flood but he was cut off from finding his younger brother.
“He didn’t see Brock for 12 or 13 hours. So for that entire day he had no idea where Brock was or how he was doing," said Rabon. “(Brock) is still very bothered by storms and lightning, and we’re all doing therapy right now.”
Rabon is also pushing for change in how youth camps are regulated. Rabon said until the flood, she was unaware DSHS did not evaluate camps emergency response plans, only verified camps had a plan in place.
“We’re placing our most precious, precious assets in a place far away and they need to be regulated,” said Rabon.