Just 42 percent of summer day camps surveyed by the state's Department of Job and Family Services have completed mandatory background checks of employees, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

But camps that fail to carry out the checks have little to fear. The state's Department of Job and Family Services has little recourse, since there's no real punishment provision in the state law that requires the checks, department spokesman Dennis Evans said.

A story from the AP says, department employees last month polled 96 of the state's approximately 250 children's day camps, 70 more than it checked a year ago when the department found that nine of 26 camps had not completed the required checks, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Camps must ask the state's Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation to do background checks on employees who have lived in Ohio for at least five years, according to state law. For workers who have lived in Ohio less than five years, checks must be done through the FBI.

Most of the camps not in compliance with state requirements were missing verification of Ohio residency, Evans said. And about 37 percent of camps hadn't requested background checks, data from the department showed.