Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 929 – Removal of name from the Child Protection Registry
(a) A person who has been entered on the Child Protection Registry at Child Protection Level II or Level III will be automatically removed from the Registry under § 923 of this title, provided that the person has not been substantiated for an incident of abuse or neglect while on the Registry.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 929
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Child: means any person who has not reached that person's own eighteenth birthday. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Department: means the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- Internal information system: means the Department's system of maintaining information related to all reports of abuse, neglect, investigations, family assessments, services and other relevant information. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- Neglect: means as defined in § 901 of Title 10. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- 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) A person who has been entered on the Child Protection Registry at Child Protection Level II or Level III may file a Petition for Removal in the Family Court prior to the expiration of the time designated for the level. The Family Court shall have the discretion to remove the person from the registry. In making this determination, the Court shall consider all relevant factors, including:
(1) The nature and circumstances of the original substantiated incident;
(2) Any substantiated incidents of abuse or neglect while on the Registry;
(3) The criminal history of the person, including whether the person’s criminal record of arrest or conviction of the incident leading to placement on the Registry was expunged;
(4) Compliance with the terms of probation, if applicable;
(5) The risk, if any, the registrant poses to the victim, the community and to other potential victims;
(6) The impact of registration and employer notification on the victim, community and other potential victims;
(7) The rehabilitation, if any, of the person, or successful completion of a program of evaluation and treatment including any court-ordered or division-recommended case plan; and
(8) The adverse impact of registration on the person and the rehabilitative process, including the impact on employment opportunities.
(c) A person who was entered on the Child Protection Registry at any level as a child, may, at any time after his or her eighteenth birthday, file a Petition for Removal in the Family Court. The Family Court shall have the discretion to remove the person from the registry. In making this determination, the Court shall consider all relevant factors, including those in § 929(b) of this title.
(d) A Petition for Removal from the Registry must be filed in the Family Court in the county in which the substantiation occurred. A copy of the petition must be served on the Department, which may file an objection or answer to the petition within 30 days after being served. In every case, the Department shall inform the Court whether or not the person applying for removal has been substantiated for abuse or neglect while on the Child Protection Registry. The Family Court may, in its discretion, dispose of a Petition for Removal without a hearing.
(e) Removal from the Child Protection Registry means only that the person’s name has been removed from the Registry and may no longer be reported to employers pursuant to Chapter 85 of Title 11 or Chapter 3 of Title 31. Notwithstanding removal from the Registry, the person’s name and other case information remains in the Department’s internal information system as substantiated for all other purposes, including the Department’s use of the information for historical, treatment, and investigative purposes, foster and adoptive parent decisions, reporting to law-enforcement authorities, the Department of Education, Office of Child Care Licensing’s use for child-care licensing decisions, or any other purpose set forth in § 906(e) of this title.
73 Del. Laws, c. 412, § ?7; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 78 Del. Laws, c. 403, § ?4; 79 Del. Laws, c. 314, § ?1; 80 Del. Laws, c. 154, § ?3; 83 Del. Laws, c. 228, § 1; 83 Del. Laws, c. 280, § 7;