The Delaware Child Care Act

The act governs the licensing and regulation of child welfare agencies and child care facilities — including child care institutions, group homes, day care homes and centers, and shelters for homeless youth — defining each category largely by how many children are served and for how long. It gives a state child welfare department authority to issue, deny, and revoke licenses and permits, to investigate suspected unlicensed operation, to order closures, and to hold administrative hearings whose decisions are subject to judicial review, with courts available to compel witnesses and records. It also imposes operating standards on licensees, addressing advertising, confidentiality of records, referrals to law enforcement, placement practices including a child's religious faith and the reporting of children received from outside the state, and limits on financial arrangements such as payments to birth parents and loans or other credit extended in connection with placements.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.