Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 925 – Petition for substantiation
(a) If a person responds to the Department and requests a hearing in the Family Court before being entered on the Registry, as provided in § 924 of this title, the Department shall, unless the automatic stay provisions of § 927 of this title apply, file in the Family Court no later than 45 days after receipt of the written request, or in the case of a child, no later than 45 days after the notice of intent to substantiate was sent to the child, a petition for substantiation which requests that the Court substantiate the abuse or neglect and enter the person on the Child Protection Registry at a Child Protection Level designated by the Court.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 925
- Child: means any person who has not reached that person's own eighteenth birthday. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- Department: means the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- Neglect: means as defined in § 901 of Title 10. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- Registry: means a collection of information as described in Subchapter II of this chapter about persons who have been substantiated for abuse or neglect as provided in Subchapter II of this chapter or who were substantiated between August 1, 1994, and February 1, 2003. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- Substantiation: means a finding by a preponderance of the evidence that abuse or neglect has occurred. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
(b) The petition for substantiation must be filed in the county in which the alleged incident leading to the petition occurred.
(c) The Family Court may, upon motion by the Department or sua sponte, enter an order that places the person on the Registry at a designated Child Protection Level pending a final order on the petition for substantiation.
(d) The Family Court shall appoint counsel for any unrepresented child against whom a petition for substantiation has been filed.
73 Del. Laws, c. 412, § ?7; 79 Del. Laws, c. 314, § ?1; 83 Del. Laws, c. 228, § 1;