Email Correspondence from Kowalski, Daniel (MDARD)
Good afternoon everyone,
I hope you all are staying safe and healthy. I trust that you all have seen the MDARD-issued emergency rules that were put in place last week for the next 6 months; if not, please see the attachments for a copy of those rules.
The purpose of this email is to highlight some important points/updates from last year’s orders (EO 137 initially, then the emergency public health order). In the interest of keeping this short and sweet, I’ll dive right in:
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Once again, licensed housing providers need COVID plans posted in their respective camps. The new rules require less information than what was required in last year’s plan. That said, you are welcome to simply update your plan per the requirements of the rules, or use the attached 2021 template. For those of you that are new to licensed migrant housing and/or those of you who didn’t open your camp last year (no need for plan), I would strongly encourage you to use the 2021 template provided. You can also create your own or use one from any other sources you might have access to.
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This season, training is the focus of the rules. More specifically, training your employees to keep their heads at least six (6) feet apart (last year it was beds, where possible). This can be accomplished by having unrelated people sharing a room sleep in opposite directions (head to toe and toe to head). Practically speaking, measure from the middle of the bed to the middle of the bed and head to head. For bunk beds, head to toe and toe to head will also work. The rule requires barriers if the six (6) feet cannot be achieved. If you need to put barriers up for separation, please make sure you are not blocking the egress window or having something flammable hang in front of a baseboard heater. THE SEPARATION REQUIREMENT DOES NOT APPLY TO THOSE WITH FAMILIES/RELATED INDIVIDUALS.
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The contact form from last year has been updated to include the location of additional sanitation and PPE supplies. Please use the current one to comply with the requirements in the current rules.
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Camps that I have already licensed and are up and running have 30 days to comply with the rules. You can text/email me your updates and a photo of the emergency contact form that you post at the camp. Everyone else will need to have their COVID plan and emergency contact form ready to go for me to review when inspecting, or you can send it to me ahead of time to review.
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Just like last year and every year, we need the camp license posted somewhere at the camp, visible to any visitors who might be looking for it. This was the #1 complaint that I received from advocacy groups last year.
So sit down and have a nice cup of something hot, cold, or bubbly and review the new Emergency Rules that MDARD has put in place, and then look over the templates and other documents. I plan to call all of you starting next Monday to discuss implementation. Rest assured that I am here to assist you however I can with the rules and will make sure you are covered, just like we did last year.
Thanks,
Dan