The overarching goal of the "Reimagine Recreation and Parks" initiative is to modernize the Department of Recreation and Parks by implementing programs and services that are efficient, transparent, equitable, and which seamlessly align with the diverse needs of the community. Read the Recreation and Parks Reimagine Recreation press release.
Over the course of its 74-year history, the Department has faced challenges, including limited direct program offerings and insufficient funding to adequately provide programs and services. Consequently, a significant reliance on the Recreation and Nature Councils emerged, harnessing an impressive volunteer base of 10,000 individuals annually, pivotal for sustaining essential services.
Although the current cost-effective model is commendable, it lacks transparency and equity. In response, the Department is actively pursuing Commission of Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) accreditation from the National Recreation and Park Association's CAPRA, to elevate operational standards.
Our guide answers frequently asked questions that have been shared with the Department. Priority frequently asked questions will be updated regularly.
As the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks celebrates its 75th anniversary, we are taking steps to modernize the Department with more transparent, sustainable, and equitable processes and procedures through Reimagine Recreation and Parks, a long-term, community-driven roadmap based on national best practices.
The below guide answers frequently asked questions that have been shared with the Department. We will continue to do all we can to ensure residents remain informed, engaged and involved throughout this process.
Q: What is a Recreation or Nature Council?
A: Recreation and Nature Councils are 501c3 non-profit volunteer organizations that are certified by the Board of Recreation and Parks but operate independently of Baltimore County government and the Department of Recreation and Parks.
Q: Are Recreation and Nature Councils part of Baltimore County Recreation and Parks Department?
A: No. Recreation and Nature Councils are separate entities outside of Baltimore County Recreation and Parks Department.
Q: Who Manages Recreation and Nature Councils?
A: Currently, Recreation and Nature Councils are run by volunteers and fall under the guidance of the Board of Recreation and Parks. The Board of Recreation and Parks is comprised of appointed volunteers who serve as an advisory group to the Department of Recreation and Parks. There are no formal legal agreements between the Department and Councils.
Q: Why is Baltimore County changing rec program and facility availability?
A: Recreational sports have changed dramatically in the decades since the rec council system was created, and so has Baltimore County. The proliferation of selective travel and club teams has altered the landscape significantly, and at the same time the county has grown to approximately 850,000 residents with incredibly diverse backgrounds. A person’s ZIP code or household income should not determine their recreational opportunities.
To ensure residents at every income level in every community have better access to in-house, nearby recreational opportunities, the Department is implementing a new, equitable permit field use and priority access policy that allows first access to Council recreation-level programs, followed by Council competitive travel, select, club and adult programs, and then followed by outside organizations and general public.
Specifically, the priority order is as follows:
- Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks
- Local Council Recreation In-House Programs
- Other Council Recreation In-House Programs
- Local Council Travel/Club and Adult Programs
- Other Council Travel/Club and Adult Programs
- Outside Groups and General Public
Q: Is the County moving to a first-come, first-served approach?
A: No. The priority order is as follows:
- Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks
- Local Council Recreation In-House Programs
- Other Council Recreation In-House Programs
- Local Council Travel/Club and Adult Programs
- Other Council Travel/Club and Adult Programs
- Outside Groups and General Public
Q: What is the difference between Rec Leagues and Club/Travel leagues?
A: Recreational-Level teams or programs are open to all participants of the appropriate, prescribed, age-group. There is no secondary selection process based on skill, ability, or athletic prowess. Anyone that registers gets to play and participate.
Travel/Club teams or programs are formed exclusively of participants who are selected after passing some level of ability-based screening process such as a tryout. This does not include programs that hold evaluations so that they can attempt to evenly distribute talent throughout all competing teams within a rec program. In addition, Travel/Club teams typically cost more for children to participate.
Q: Who sets my registration fees for Council programs and events? Where do my fees currently go?
A: Councils currently set, collect and direct all fees.
The Department of Recreation and Parks does not currently receive any funds collected by Recreation or Nature Councils and does not receive any portion of the funds the Councils collect for maintenance and operations of public facilities.
The Department also does not have any involvement in setting Council registration fees and does not have any input into what Councils do with the funds they currently collect.
Q: My child plays in a rec league. What do these changes mean for their program?
A: In-house recreation level programs will continue to receive the highest priority access for field and facility space.
There are no expected changes for in-house programs for recreation councils as they will not pay for utilization of fields or spaces.
Q: My child plays in a travel or club league. What does this mean for their program?
A: To provide field and facility maintenance, equipment, operational overhead and quality customer service with field and facility staffing to support on site needs, the Department will begin to collect a nominal facility usage fee from Councils beginning in January 2025 for club and travel leagues.
In addition, the Department will be providing all field equipment (field chalk, goals, nets, etc.) for programs. These services were previously provided by Councils. It will be at the discretion of the Councils to determine whether to adjust their program registration fees.
Q: I play in an adult sports league. What does this mean for my program?
A: To provide field and facility maintenance, equipment and operational overhead and quality customer service with field and facility staffing to support on site needs, the Department will begin to collect a nominal facility usage fee from Councils for adult groups beginning in January 2025.
In addition, the Department will be providing all facility equipment (field chalk, goals, nets, etc.) for programs. These services were previously provided by Councils.
It will be at the discretion of the Councils to determine whether to adjust their registration fees.
Q: How are fees being determined?
A: In an effort to ensure minimal impacts to Recreation and Nature Councils, fees have not been set and will be determined based on ongoing collaborative discussion with Councils. Following completion of robust stakeholder engagement, the Department plans to finalize the fee schedule by June 1, 2024, ahead of January 2025 implementation.
Q: Will these changes prevent club, travel, or adult programs from receiving field space?
A: No. To ensure recreational programs are appropriately prioritized, travel and adult programs will have access in line with the updated permitting order.
Currently, the County has many fields and spaces that are reserved by Councils but ultimately remain unused, often to the detriment of local recreation level programs. For example, one Council may have blanket permits for specific fields that go unused, while neighboring Councils may be turning children away from recreation level programs due to lack of available field space.
Meanwhile, other fields and spaces remain unrequested and unused. The county has plenty of fields and facilities to go around, but the current system does not always allow the county and Councils to maximize utilization.
These updates could result in travel/club and adult programs being offered spaces and times different from prior years to accommodate in-house recreation leagues.
Q: Will this updated order give a higher priority to programs from outside existing Council boundaries?
A: No. Outside organizations and the general public will only receive permit access after recreation, travel, club, and adult programming.
The new Priority Permit Order exists as follows:
- Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks
- Local Council Recreation In-House Programs
- Other Council Recreation In-House Programs
- Local Council Travel/Club and Adult Programs
- Other Council Travel/Club and Adult Programs
- Outside Groups and General Public
Q: If I want to play lacrosse or soccer year-round, can I?
A: Yes! As part of Reimagine Recreation and Parks, the Department focused on increasing access to all residents. As part of this process, the department is changing a long-standing policy that limited sports per season and aims to eliminating barriers for recreational level activities.
Q: I am a volunteer coach for my child’s team. Am I covered under the County's insurance?
A: Council volunteers acting directly in their volunteer capacity are treated the same as County employees for liability and insurance coverage.
Q: Why is the county going to require Rec Councils to purchase insurance policies for volunteers?
A: In alignment with best practices, the Department will be requiring Councils to procure their own organizational insurance in order to provide increased liability protection in addition to the County’s current coverage. Individual volunteers will still be covered by the County’s policy and there is no change for the volunteers involved directly in the programs. Additionally, the Department will create grant opportunities for Councils to offset this cost.
Q: Did the Department engage with Councils on making these updates?
A: Yes. Extensively. Several Councils were consulted as part of the report drafting process. All Council Presidents received an invitation to two input sessions in September 2023.
The County has held 10 meetings with Councils to discuss these meetings since December 2023.
In addition, the County has is continuing robust engagement with Recreation Councils and Nature Councils to discuss specific concerns and to work towards solutions.
Q: Where can I find a full list of programs?
A: CivicRec is Baltimore County’s new user-friendly online one-stop destination for all things related to County recreation facilities, programs, and park reservations.
CivicRec allows for online sign-up and easy online payments to be made online services.
Q: Can I still register through my Council’s page?
A: Yes! Programs that take place on County sites will be reserved and visible on CivicRec; however, registration for Council programs will continue to take place on each individual Council registration page.
Q: What if I have additional questions?
A: More information is available at: https://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/departments/recreation/reimagine-recreation. Please email ReimagineRecandParks@baltimorecountymd.gov with additional questions.
Priority Recommendations
The Department engaged PROS Consulting, an established recreation and parks consultant, to conduct an organizational change assessment. PROS created a Community Assessment Report which outlines 19 recommendations. Four of those 19 recommendations will be implemented first:
The CivicRec online registration platform will be launched, which is a new, one-stop destination for all things related to County recreation facilities, programs and park reservations.
A Permit Process and Priority Access Policy will be implemented, which will prioritize access to fields and facilities for community-based recreation programs for youth, followed by competitive travel, select, club and adult programs.
The Department will work to establish memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with each of the Recreation and Nature Councils.
All staff employed by the Department of Recreation and Parks will work exclusively for the Department of Recreation and Parks.
While the Department hopes to implement some form of each recommendation provided in the report, the actual achievement will depend on available resources, input and collaboration.
Timeline
- January 1, 2024: Online registration and permit process launch.
- June 30, 2024: Transition of program leaders to Recreation and Nature Councils payroll.
- End of 2024: MOUs established with all Recreation and Nature Councils.
- Next 30 months: Implementation of additional recommendations.
The initiative is supported by this dedicated webpage for "Reimagining Recreation and Parks" providing comprehensive resources, and it also facilitates public engagement through open events, opportunities for input and a designated email address. Access the Reimagining Recreation presentation.
The Department of Recreation and Parks engaged a consultant after operating for decades with no changes to the program and service delivery model. This decision arose from the need to assess all processes, especially as the Department pursued CAPRA accreditation, revealing discrepancies in operations, policies and procedures. The competitive bid for a recreation and parks consultant aimed to identify appropriate and efficient first steps for potential necessary changes.
Recreation and Nature Council programs will unquestionably continue, supported by established Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) that outline best practices to ensure safety, equity and clarity.
After the closure of priority access registration windows, for-profit organizations will have access to utilize County facilities by making direct requests through CivicRec.
These recommendations aim to provide residents with a robust, equitable and enriching program inventory directly from the Department, in collaboration with Recreation and Nature Councils and beyond. Additionally, they ensure the implementation of best practices with transparency and clarity regarding roles, responsibilities and fiscal management.
For Questions
For questions, email ReimagineRecandParks@baltimorecountymd.gov.