Sen. Jack Walsh

This Act requires each school district and charter school to adopt a policy regarding appropriate relationships between school employees, contractors, coaches, and volunteers and students. The policy must include a provision establishing appropriate and inappropriate interactions; a prohibition against adult sexual misconduct; a prohibition against any sexual relationship between a school employee, contractor, coach, or volunteer and a student; an emphasis on the mandatory reporting obligations under § 903 of Title 16; a procedure for notifying the Department of Education and law enforcement of suspected adult sexual misconduct; guidelines for the preferred and prohibited methods of electronic communication; notice that substantiated incidents of adult sexual misconduct will be reported in future reference checks; and a provision requiring the development of hiring practices to screen for adult sexual misconduct. This Act will be implemented for the 2023-2024 school year.

This Act establishes the Delaware Expanding Access for Retirement and Necessary Saving (“EARNS”) program to serve as a vehicle through which eligible employees may, on a voluntary basis, provide for additional retirement security through a State-facilitated retirement savings program in a convenient, cost effective, and portable manner. The EARNS program will be designed to serve small businesses who are unable to offer retirement plans to employees due to the cost and administrative burden. Because there are documented wealth gaps in Delaware, disproportionately impacting women and people of color, a state-facilitated savings plan aims to alleviate barriers small employers face in offering options, close the wealth gap among low to modest wage earners and keep Delaware competitive with neighboring states by attracting talented workers to Delaware. A state-sponsored savings plan, funded by employees, facilitated by employers, and overseen by the State, will offer one solution to the quickly emerging crises stemming from generations of workers without adequate savings. The Act creates the Delaware EARNS Program Board to oversee initial design and implementation of the program. The board will be disbanded no later than December 31, 2025, at which point all duties and functions of the board will be transferred to and assumed by the Plans Management Board. The effective date of the Act is contingent upon an appropriation by the General Assembly necessary to implement the Program. This Act also makes technical changes to the existing law to make it conform to the standards of the Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act, modeled on similar laws in Virginia and Maryland, requires a health-care provider to provide notice to a patient at the time blood is drawn to perform a laboratory test for Lyme disease that explains the limitations of the test and instructs the patient to see their health-care provider if the patient continues to experience unexplained symptoms. This Act was previously passed by the 150th General Assembly in Senate Bill 15, and is the same except for the removal of the sunset provision.

This bill provides unit funding for full time employees who shall be hired to provide permanent substitute teaching support in Delaware schools. The bill also provides professional development requirements for those hired into these positions and creates a pathway to teaching to those individuals who meet the requirements for an emergency certificate.

This Act renames the Human Trafficking Interagency Coordinating Council as the Delaware Anti-Trafficking Action Council (Council) for the purpose of providing a clearer description of the work that the Council performs. This Act also transfers the Council from under the authority of the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) to the Criminal Justice Council. DHSS's clerical staffing duty is removed. This Act requires the Council to appoint an Executive Director, who will serve at the Council's pleasure. The Executive Director shall support the Council in carrying out its statutory duties. Subject to the approval of a quorum of the Council and within the limits of any appropriation made by the General Assembly or available funding from another funding source, the Executive Director shall also employ staff and contract for services as necessary to assist the Council with performing its duties. By providing the Council with staff, the Council will be better able to comply with its statutory mandates under Delaware's Human Trafficking law. It will also be able to pursue grant funding opportunities that it previously did not have the infrastructure to support. Additionally, this Act broadens several existing statutory duties of the Council to ensure the Council has the flexibility necessary to perform its work and allows it to pursue work that may broaden opportunity to obtain grant funding. This Act also clarifies that one member of the Council must be an individual with prior experience in working with victims of human trafficking in a legal or advocacy capacity and that this individual may reside in any county. This Act also clarifies how this member must be appointed. This Act adds additional reporting requirements, clarifies that the report is intended to be an annual report, and adds that the report must also be submitted to the Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Council. This Act removes language related to the initial startup of the Council because this language is no longer relevant. This Act also repeals § 787(k)(2)j. of this Title because the paragraph contains language that is no longer relevant. Procedural requirements for Council business are located in § 787(k)(4), so the procedural requirements in § 787(k)(2)j. were moved to § 787(k)(4)b. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including corresponding corrections to internal references in § 787(l) and § 787(m) since paragraphs within § 787(k) have been renumbered. The Council wishes to name this Act for and honor the late Ms. February O’Donnell and the late Ms. Amy Day. Ms. O’Donnell, a human trafficking survivor, and Ms. Day, a victims’ services volunteer who started the nonprofit, Meet Me At The Well, were remarkable women who helped lead the way in Delaware’s fight against human trafficking.

This Act is an interstate compact called the Multistate Professional Counselor Licensure Compact, and it facilitates the interstate practice of licensed professional counseling. The Counseling Compact allows a counselor who is licensed in their home state and has not had any encumbrances on their license within the last 2 years to obtain the ability to practice counseling in other states participating in the Compact if the counselor satisfies the requirements, including completion of a criminal background check. A counselor must comply with the rules of any state in which they are practicing. Any state in which the counselor practices has the authority to remove the counselor's ability to practice in their state for a specific period of time, impose fines, and take other actions necessary to protect the health and safety of its citizens. If the counselor's home state license becomes encumbered, the counselor will lose the ability to practice interstate under the Compact until their home state license is no longer encumbered and at least 2 years have passed. Additionally, the Compact establishes protections, including data sharing requirements between participating states to enhance the exchange of licensure, investigative, and disciplinary information among participating states. The Compact establishes a commission to administer the Compact, and establishes that each participating state will have one delegate that serves on the Commission. The Compact also has a special provision to make it easier for active duty military personnel or their spouses who are counselors to practice counseling despite frequent moves. Counselors do not have to participate in the Compact to practice; counselors may choose to only apply for their state's license or to apply for licenses in other states without going through the Compact. The Counseling Compact must be enacted in 10 states to become effective. As of March 26, 2022, the Counseling Compact has been enacted in 6 states. The Compact is pending in 16 other states.

By this Act, Delaware would join the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact (the “Compact”). The Compact is an interstate compact, or a formal agreement among states, to facilitate the interstate practice of audiology and speech language pathology. Under the Compact, audiologists and speech-language pathologists (collectively, “practitioners”) who are licensed and in good standing in a Compact member state may practice in any other Compact member states via a “compact privilege,” which is equivalent to a license. This will remove the need for practitioners to get an individual license in each state where they want to practice. The Compact is the same in form and function as other occupational licensure compacts such as the Nurse Multistate Licensure Compact (adopted by Delaware, 24 Del. C. Ch. 19A), the Physical Therapy Compact (adopted by Delaware, 24 Del. C. Ch. 26C) and the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (adopted by Delaware, 24 Del. C. Ch. 17A). The Compact authorizes in-person practice and telepractice based on a valid, unrestricted home state license in Compact member states. The Compact has been adopted by 17 states: Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The Compact is pending before the legislatures of 9 other states. The Compact establishes a licensure data system allowing for instantaneous verification of licensure information. The Compact also establishes an interstate commission, composed of member state officials, to carry out the Compact’s purposes.

This Act expands the period in which an ARTC program participant must meet the program requirements to obtain standard certification from 2 years to 3 years.

This bill amends Chapter 33, Title 18 of the Delaware Code by adding a new § 3370E to require coverage of an annual behavioral health well check. This bill also amends Chapter 35, Title 18 of the Delaware Code by adding a new § 3571Z to require coverage of an annual behavioral health well check. This bill also amends Chapter 5, Title 31 of the Delaware Code by adding a new § 530 to require coverage of an annual behavioral health well check. This bill also amends Chapter 52, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by adding a new § 5215 to require coverage of an annual behavioral health well check. Finally, the bill creates an advisory committee of health professionals tasked with creating recommendations for implementation of the Act. The requirement for coverage of the behavioral health well check is effective January 1, 2023.

This Act establishes a mental health services unit for Delaware middle schools. The unit is phased in over 3 years, beginning in FY2023, to arrive at a final ratio of 250 full-time equivalent students grades 6-8 for a full-time school counselor, school social worker, or licensed clinical social worker. Additionally a unit ratio of 700 full time equivalent students for grades 6-8 for employment of a full-time school psychologist. This Act defines “mental health services” as prevention, response, and coordination services delivered to students in elementary schools. Mental Health disorders are the most common health problem for school aged youth. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one in five youth are affected by a mental health disorder. Additionally, 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. Untreated mental illness leads to negative outcomes including increased risk of dropout, homelessness, substance abuse, other chronic illnesses, incarceration, and possibly suicide. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, ninety percent of people who have taken their own life have had an underlying mental health condition, and suicides are on the rise. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides are now the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14. Delaware schools need trained and experienced mental health professionals to provide prevention and support programs and services to students. This bill will lower ratios of students to counselors and increase access to mental health services for middle school students.