Back to Delaware

HB313 • 2025

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 14 AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 14 AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.

Children Education Labor
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
K. Williams
Last action
2026-06-23
Official status
Passed 6/23/26
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The effective date is listed as empty in the metadata, so it remains unknown when this law starts.

HB313: Creating an Official Education Unit within Delaware's Child Welfare Department

This law officially creates a specific unit inside the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to provide K-12 education services to children living in state-run facilities.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates a DSCYF Education Unit responsible for providing and supervising K-12 education programs in department-operated residential centers.
  • Requires that employee qualifications match those required for public school employees under Delaware law, with the exception of secretaries.
  • Sets salary rules based on standard schedules, including adjustments to calculate 12-month salaries from a 10-month base and extra pay for hazardous duty or supervisory roles.
  • Allows the Education Unit to act as a local education agency only for loan forgiveness programs, competitive grants, and issuing student credits.
  • Excludes students in these facilities from state funding calculations based on unit counts used by regular schools.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Children and youth living in residential facilities operated by the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF).
  • Teachers and staff working within the new DSCYF Education Unit.
  • The Secretary of DSCYF who must appoint an administrator to lead this unit.

Terms To Know

Codifies
Writes a rule or practice into official law so it becomes permanent and required.
Local Education Agency (LEA)
An organization that manages schools; this bill lets the DSCYF Unit act as one only for specific grants, loans, and credits.
Unit Count
The number of students used to calculate how much money a school district receives from the state.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify an exact date when these new rules will take effect.
  • It states that job duties and schedules are defined by DSCYF, but it does not list those specific details in this text.
  • The law limits the Education Unit's status as a local education agency only to loans, grants, and credits, excluding other standard school district powers.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HA 1

1 • K. Williams

Passed 4/23/26

Plain English: This amendment changes House Bill No. 313 to remove a rule that excluded certain Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) students from being counted in school unit totals.

  • Deletes the section stating that DSCYF students are not included in unit counts under Chapter 17 of Title 14.
  • The amendment text only shows which lines and code sections to delete or change, so it does not explain exactly how many specific circumstances allow these students to be counted.
  • Without the full original bill text, we cannot see all other rules that might still affect DSCYF student counts.

Bill History

  1. 2026-06-23 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  2. 2026-05-13 Delaware General Assembly

    Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 5 Favorable

  3. 2026-05-13 Delaware General Assembly

    Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 5 Favorable

  4. 2026-04-23 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 1 to HB 313 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  5. 2026-04-23 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By House. Votes: 35 YES 6 ABSENT

  6. 2026-04-23 Delaware General Assembly

    Assigned to Education Committee in Senate

  7. 2026-04-09 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 1 to HB 313 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  8. 2026-03-18 Delaware General Assembly

    Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 12 On Its Merits

  9. 2026-03-05 Delaware General Assembly

    Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in House

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 14 AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.
This Act codifies the Education Unit in the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF). The Education Unit provides educational services to children and youth residing in facilities operated by DSCYF.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. K. Williams & Sen. Sturgeon

Reps. Berry, Chukwuocha, S. Moore, Kamela Smith

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 313

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 14 AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend Part I, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

Chapter 24A. DSCYF EDUCATION UNIT

§ 2400A. Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter,

“DSCYF” means the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, under Chapter 90 of Title 29.

§ 2401A. Purpose.

The Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) must maintain an Education Unit that will provide educational services for the children and youth residing in facilities operated by DSCYF.

§ 2402A. Staffing and qualifications

.

The qualifications of employees for the DSCYF Education Unit, except secretaries, shall be the same as those qualifications for public education employees pursuant to § 122(c) of this title.

§ 2403A. Job duties.

Employees of the DSCYF Education Unit shall have responsibilities as defined and developed by DSCYF.

§ 2404A. Salary.

(a) Salary for employees of the DSCYF Education Unit shall be in accordance with the regularly adopted salary schedules set forth in § 1305 of this title. The salary so computed shall be divided by 0.7 for 10 months employment and the 10-month amount shall be multiplied by 1.2 to calculate the 12-month salary.

(b) An employee whose primary job location is onsite within a facility operated by the Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services shall also receive hazardous duty supplements as provided in the Merit System, under § 5916 of Title 29.

(c) DSCYF Education Unit employees with supervisory responsibilities shall receive an administrative supplement in accordance with § 1321 of this title.

(d) Should the standard work hours for DSCYF Education Unit employees exceed the number of hours identified in § 1335 of this title, Education Unit employees shall have their annual salary adjusted accordingly to account for hours worked under § 2406A of this title.

§ 2405A. Unit count.

Students served by the DSCYF Education Unit shall not be included in the calculation for unit count purposes as defined in Chapter 17 of this title.

§ 2406A. Work hours and school schedule.

The work week for employees

of the DSCYF Education Unit shall be 37½ hours per week in accordance with the standard work hours for executive branch employees. The school schedule will be developed by DSCYF in coordination with the respective facility operation schedule.

§ 2407A. Limited local education agency.

The DSCYF Education Unit shall be considered a local education agency only for the purposes of:

(1) Any federal, state, or private loan forgiveness programs available to educators.

(2) Any federal, state, or private competitive grant made available to, and awarded directly to, local education agencies, provided that any specific qualifying requirements are met.

(3) Credits issued for youth who complete the requirements for credit-bearing courses provided through the DSCYF Education Unit and credits for youth returning from placement by the Department.

Section 2. Amend § 9003, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 9003. Powers, duties, and functions.

(a) The Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families has the following powers, duties, and functions:

(8) To supervise the provision of education in all facilities operated by the

Department, with the Education Unit of the Department being considered a local education agency only for purposes of:

a. Any federal, state, or private loan forgiveness programs available to educators.

b. Any federal, state, or private competitive grant made available to, and awarded directly to, local education agencies, provided that any specific qualifying requirements are met.

c. Credits issued for youth who complete the requirements for credit-bearing courses provided through the Education Unit in the Department and credits for youth returning from placement by the Department.

Department.

Section 3. Amend § 9005, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 9005. Powers, duties and functions of Secretary.

The Secretary shall:

(3) Appoint the following administrators and any additional personnel as may be necessary for the administration and operation of the Department within such limitations as may be imposed by law:

a. An administrator of the Office of Case Management who shall be known as the Administrator of Case

Management; and

Management.

b. An administrator of the Office of Prevention who shall be known as the Administrator of

Prevention;

Prevention.

c. An administrator of the Education Unit who shall be known as the Education Administrator/Director of Education Services.

Section 4. Amend § 9006, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 9006. Major organizational units created.

The following Divisions and other major organizational units are hereby created within the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families:

(1) The Division of Family Services which shall be responsible for the provision of child protective, placement, treatment, prevention,

adoption

adoption,

and related

services;

services.

(2) The Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services which shall be responsible for the provision of prevention, outpatient and residential mental health, and drug and alcohol treatment services for children and

youth;

youth.

(3) The Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services which shall be responsible for the provision of detention, institutional care, probation, aftercare and prevention services for children and

youth;

youth.

(4) The Division of Management Services which shall be responsible for administering and coordinating fiscal affairs, record keeping, personnel, accounting and purchasing, and other general services for the Department as the Secretary may deem necessary for the proper, efficient and economical operation of the

Department;

Department.

(5) The Office of Case Management which shall be responsible for monitoring case management among the divisions within the Department. This Office shall have the authority to assign case management responsibility to one of the service divisions whenever

necessary;

necessary.

(6) The Office of Prevention which shall have the responsibility for providing training, public education and consultation services aimed at preventing child abuse, dependency, neglect, juvenile delinquency, mental health disorders and drug and alcohol abuse among children and youth.

(7) The DSCYF Education Unit which shall have the responsibility for the provision and supervision of K-12 education programming for children and youth in department-operated residential programs. The Education Unit must comply with all state and federal laws relating to individuals with disabilities, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) [20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.], Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act [29 U.S.C. § 794], and Chapter 31 of Title 14 of the Delaware Code (Exceptional Children).

SYNOPSIS

This Act codifies the Education Unit in the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF). The Education Unit provides educational services to children and youth residing in facilities operated by DSCYF.