This resolution urges the Director of the Delaware Division of Public Health to designate Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias as public health issues.
This Concurrent Resolution acknowledges June as LGBTQA+ Pride Month and recognizes the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall.
This Act amends the Delaware Governmental Accountability Act to make the annual budget process part of a performance management system of strategic planning, performance metrics and performance budgeting, dedicated to continuous process improvement that makes government more efficient, reduces costs and eliminates waste in the process and operations that deliver goods and services to taxpayers, customers and employees of State government.
This Act requires the Department of Education (“Department”) to establish a uniform kindergarten registration process. The Department must establish a uniform kindergarten registration process by the 2021 through 2022 school year and the school districts and charter schools must use the process beginning with the 2022 through 2023 school year. This Act requires the uniform kindergarten registration process to be Internet-based and in paper form and in English and Spanish. This Act also requires that certain information must be provided in the process and that the Internet-based uniform kindergarten registration process must include certain features. Finally, this Act requires the Department to establish a kindergarten registration date 6 weeks before the school choice program deadline, provide training to certain school district and charter school employees regarding the uniform kindergarten registration process, and issue guidelines for privacy of information submitted as part of the registration process.
This Act increases the age requirement for compulsory school attendance in Delaware from 16 to 18 years of age. The age increase is phased in over a 2-year period; accordingly, there is a 1-year interim period where the compulsory school attendance age requirement will be 17 years of age. The Act further provides that a child may be exempt from the age requirement for compulsory school attendance if the child has received a high school diploma or a diploma of alternate achievement standards or obtains permission to withdraw from school from the superintendent of the district in which the child is enrolled or from the president of the board of the charter school in which the child is enrolled. To obtain a waiver from the date of enactment of this Act until August 31, 2022, a child must be at least 16 years old. To obtain a waiver on or after September 1, 2022, a child must be at least 17 years old. The Act preserves the exemption under which a child may be excused from compulsory attendance upon request of the child's parent or legal guardian coupled with supporting written documentation from a qualified health professional.
This legislation gives authority to the Executive Director of the Delaware Commission of Veterans’ Affairs to use the term “Delaware Office of Veterans’ Services” when carrying out the work of the Commission. This will enable the Executive Director and other staff of the Commission to conduct business under a banner that better describes their role as providers of services to Delaware veterans and their families. Applying the name “Delaware Office of Veterans’ Services” also serves to distinguish the office from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and will help alleviate confusion among members of the public. This legislation also removes outdated language.
This Act revises the circumstances under which an applicant can be denied a license by the Real Estate Commission because of a criminal conviction. Similar to the recent changes made other professional license requirements, this Act does all of the following: 1. Defines when a crime is substantially related to the professions regulated by the Real Estate Commission. 2. Reduces the time since conviction to be eligible for a waiver of a felony conviction for a crime against a person from 5 years to 3 years. 3. Reduces the time since conviction to be eligible for a waiver of all other felony conviction for a crime from 5 years to 2 years. 4. Clarifies what is meant by being on parole. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill creates licensing for recovery housing, which is housing for individuals recovering from substance use disorders that provides a safe and supportive substance-free environment and that may include peer support and other recovery support services. Right now recovery housing has no oversight although DSAMH has broad authority to license any setting that treatment is provided. This bill creates guidelines for the Division to actually oversee recovery housing and for recovery housing to obtain licensure by the Division.
It is an unfortunate reality that many offenders have difficulty re-entering society. Without the ability to provide for themselves and their families through gainful employment, 67.8% of released prisoners are rearrested within three years of release nationally. One of the reasons that offenders have difficulty is because they often face the unrealistic requirement to pay off large fees and fines, which grow with interest if not paid, at the same time as they have to pay for housing, food, care for children, or other necessities of life. Failure to pay can result in the offender found to be in violation while on probation or being denied a pardon. Furthermore, most offenders tend to be non-affluent, and the state spends resources chasing fines and fees it will not recover. Unlike motor vehicle fines under Title 21, which generate large sums of revenue, fees and fines under Title 11 and 16 are modest and collection costs are high. The social costs in terms of impacting rehabilitation and successful re-entry are even higher. To address this problem and to give the Department of Correction a positive incentive to reward participation in work programs in its facilities or in the community, this Act authorizes the Department of Correction to give minimum wage to inmates to pay off fees or fines by participating in an earned credit program established by the Department of Correction. The court would establish how many hours need to be worked in order to discharge this financial obligation by computing the hours based on the then prevailing state minimum wage hourly rate. The Department of Correction will establish an earned credit program and certify to the court when the individual has completed the required number of hours. The earned credit program cannot be used to discharge other financial obligations owed, such as restitution, child support obligations, or bail.
This Bill clarifies language allowing for the direct deposit of child support owed and collected by employers from individuals under a support order from the Family Court. In addition, this Bill requires employers who have 50 or more employees to send payments to the Division of Child Support Services by electronic funds transfer and allows employers with less than 50 employees to do the same. Finally, the bill requires payments made via electronic transfer to be made before or at the time the employee is paid.
