RI DEM wants to teach more children to swim, but can they find instructors?

PROVIDENCE – Concerned about drownings in Rhode Island, the state Department of Environmental Management wants to teach more children to swim, especially children who live in urban areas.

As part of a new program, the DEM is looking for vendors to offer swim lessons this summer to children ages 5 to 12 at Lincoln Woods State Park in Lincoln, Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick and Roger Wheeler State Beach in Narragansett.

Lincoln Woods and Goddard State Park were chosen because they are the state’s two open-water swimming facilities that are closest to urban centers, the DEM said in announcing the efforts. The agency also hopes to find instructors who are bilingual.

The DEM is also looking for vendors to provide paddle-craft safety lessons.

"Our focused goal with these water safety programs is to save lives," DEM Director Terry Gray said in a news release. "We want swimming and small watercraft use to be accessible to more Rhode Islanders, and that starts with safety training."

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Drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death, after motor-vehicle crashes, among children ages 1 to 15, the DEM said, citing information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How many people drowned in Rhode Island last year?

Seventy people drowned in Rhode Island between 2019 and 2023, the DEM said, quoting statistics from the Rhode Island Department of Health. Last year alone, nine people drowned in the state, the DEM said.

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Economic status, geography and race play big roles in whether children have access to swim lessons, the DEM noted, citing information from the YMCA.

"Historically marginalized communities," including Black and Hispanic populations, have "disproportionately higher drowning rates than in other communities," the YMCA says.

Will the DEM find vendors to run the programs?

The DEM says it is seeking bids from "qualified contractors" to run the swim and paddle-craft lessons. It posted a request for proposals through the state Division of Purchases.

Gov. Dan McKee proposed $85,000 in funding for the DEM to develop the programs in the fiscal year 2024 budget, which the state enacted in June 2023, the DEM said.

To offer the lessons, the DEM must find qualified instructors. As of Monday, the agency hadn't heard from any applicants, nor did any potential vendors attend a pre-bid meeting on Friday, according to Michael Healey, a DEM spokesman.

"We’re hopeful," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: To prevent drownings, RI's DEM wants to teach urban kids to swim