Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 901 – Purpose
The child welfare policy of this State shall serve to advance the best interests and secure the safety of the child, while preserving the family unit whenever the safety of the child is not jeopardized. The child welfare policy of this State extends to all child victims, whether victims of intrafamilial or extrafamilial child abuse and neglect. To that end this chapter, among other things, does all of the following:
(1) Provides for comprehensive, multidisciplinary investigative and protective services for abused and neglected children.
(2) Mandates that reports of child abuse or neglect be made to the appropriate authorities.
(3) Requires various agencies in Delaware’s child protection system to work together to ensure the safety of children who are the subject of reports of abuse or neglect by conducting coordinated multidisciplinary investigations where required, judicial proceedings and family assessments, and by providing necessary services.
(4) Provides for the protection of children in facilities or organizations primarily concerned with child welfare and care that are required to be licensed under Delaware law by requiring the Delaware Department of Justice to notify any such facility where an employee of, or other person associated with, the facility has been charged with or convicted of an offense involving child sexual abuse.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 901
- Child: means any person who has not reached that person's own eighteenth birthday. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- convicted: means entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, regardless of whether the plea was subsequently discharged or dismissed under the first offenders domestic violence diversion program pursuant to § 1024 of Title 10, or under the first offenders controlled substances diversion program pursuant to § 4767 of this title, or of a Robinson plea, or of a probation before judgment discharge without judgment of conviction notwithstanding the provisions of § 4218(g) of Title 11, or a finding of guilt after trial, or a finding of not guilty after trial as a result of the defense of mental disease or defect pursuant to Title 11, or adjudication of delinquency for conduct which if committed by an adult, would constitute a crime; or "conviction" or "convicted" under similar proceedings of another state, territory or jurisdiction. 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
- Sexual abuse: means as defined in § 901 of Title 10. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 902
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
This chapter also provides for the protection of children in facilities or organizations primarily concerned with child welfare and care that are required to be licensed under Delaware law by requiring the Delaware Department of Justice to notify any such facility where an employee of, or other person associated with, the facility has been charged with or convicted of an offense involving child sexual abuse.
16 Del. C. 1953, § ?1001; 58 Del. Laws, c. 154; 60 Del. Laws, c. 494, § ?1; 68 Del. Laws, c. 440, § ?1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 199, § ?2; 78 Del. Laws, c. 403, § ?1; 81 Del. Laws, c. 144, § ?1;