Review and Expunction of Central Registries and Reporting Records - Delaware

Right of the Reported Person to Review and Challenge Records
Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 16, § 929; Pol. Man., Pol. 1501

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 the following:

• The nature and circumstances of the original substantiated incident
• Any substantiated incidents of abuse or neglect while on the registry
• 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
• Compliance with the terms of probation, if applicable
• The risk, if any, the registrant poses to the victim, the community, and to other potential victims
• The impact of registration and employer notification on the victim, community, and other potential victims
• 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
• The adverse impact of registration on the person and the rehabilitative process, including the impact on employment opportunities

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 Division of Family Services. The division may file an objection or answer to the petition within 30 days after being served. In every case, the division shall inform the court whether 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.

In policy: At the conclusion of an investigation, the division shall send written notice to the investigated person of its intent to place the individual on the child protection registry for having committed child abuse or neglect. The notice shall advise the person of the opportunity to request a hearing in family court and shall be sent to the person's last known address by both certified mail, return receipt requested and by First Class U.S. mail. Each person the division intends to enter on the child protection registry shall receive their own investigation outcome letter, providing notice of the division's intent to substantiate them. This includes married and unmarried partners, when the division intends to substantiate both parties, and minors.

The child protection registry shall only contain substantiated incidents of child abuse and neglect. The registry shall not include cases substantiated for dependency, parent/child conflict, adolescent problems, or cases opened for risk of child abuse and neglect.

A hearing request form shall be included with each notice of intent to substantiate and should be specific to the regional office that conducted the investigation. The letter will designate a child protection level related to the risk of future harm and explain what that level means regarding employment in a health-care facility, child care facility, and the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, as well as eligibility to become a foster or adoptive parent.

The hearing request form must be received or postmarked within 30 days of the postmarked date of the division's notification to the substantiated person. Only the person who has been notified of the division's intent to substantiate for having committed child abuse or neglect or their attorney may request a hearing in family court.

When Records Must Be Expunged
Citation: Ann. Code Tit. 16, § 929

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 if the person has not been substantiated for an incident of abuse or neglect while on the registry.

A person who was entered on the child protection registry at any level as a child may, at any time after their 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 previously listed.

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 Division of Family Services' internal information system as substantiated for all other purposes, including, but not limited to, the division's use of the information for historical, treatment, and investigative purposes; child care licensing decisions; foster and adoptive parent decisions; reporting pursuant to § 309 of title 31; reporting to law enforcement authorities; or any other purpose set forth in § 906(e) of this title.