03-29-2007 Parents turn to city’s Camp Fair to fill child care gap

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Association every half hour beginning at 9:30 a.m. Unlike a generation ago when camps existed solely to enrich the lives of participating children, parents today are turning to summer resident and day camps to provide child- care services essential to households where both parents are working. Forever gone is the romantic notion of an idyllic summer vacation for children as they play in neighborhood backyards under mom's watchful eye. "That's how it was when I was growing up. ... My mom was a stay-at-home mom. I was always home during the summer," said Dowd, who has no relatives living in the area. "With our changing times, it doesn't really work to have one parent at home." Relatives still provide care for most families. But in an increasingly mobile society, working parents turn to city-sponsored programs and other summer camps for child-care assistance. Nearly one-third (30 percent) of school age-children are in at least one summer child-care arrangement that can be defined as an organized program, according to a study by the Urban Institute. (The study, "What Happens When the School Year is Over: The Use and Costs of Child Care for School-Age Children During the Summer Months," is available online at: www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310497 OP58.pdf) Nearly 6.2 million kids went to camp last summer, both day and overnight, up from fewer than 5 million in 2001, according to the National Camp Association. Demand for spaces has increased to the point where December is now designated as "National Sign Up for Summer Camp month." "When school is not in session, child-care patterns and the costs of care change for working families. When the school year ends, these families face new and difficult decisions about how to care for their school-age children while they work,"the study said. "Arranging child care during the summer is particularly challenging for working parents. There is a heavy reliance on summer programs that are not available during the school year." Families "are stringing together a series of arrangements —one- or two-week camps, visits to relatives, and vacations from work"to balance the demands of work and home life when school is out. The O'Brien Summer Camp Fair helps parents make those connections. "I would not have known where else to look," Dowd said. For the Dowds,the variety is a benefit. In the past,the boys have spent a week at their church's vacation Bible school, a week with St. Joseph County Parks' program at St. Pat's Park as well as turning to city-run programs for three weeks at the Newman Recreation Center and a week each at Camp Awareness and Zoo Camp at Potawatomi Zoo. "Camp Awareness usually is the absolute favorite," said Dowd, who marvels at the opportunities for her sons. "At Camp Awareness, they've been exposed to archery. That wasn't something I was exposed to till high school." The opportunities for enriching experiences at camps is one reason why, among working