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HB438 • 2025

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SERVICE LETTERS, CHILD-CARE FACILITIES, AND HEALTH-CARE FACILITIES.

Children Education Labor

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor: Romer
Last action: 2026-06-30
Official status: Passed 6/30/26
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

HB438: Service Letter Rules for Child-Care and Health-Care Jobs

This law updates rules so employers in child-care and health-care facilities must get service letters from recent employers, including schools and camps.

What This Bill Does

Adds the definition of 'child-serving entity' to include places like schools, youth camps, summer schools, residential child-care facilities, and state agencies where employees may have worked.
Requires new hires in child-care or health-care facilities with direct access to patients to provide service letters from their current or most recent employer if they were previously employed.
Mandates that employers also get service letters from any 'child-serving entity' where the applicant worked within the past 5 years.
Allows applicants who have never been employed or were self-employed to submit two reference letters from non-relative adults instead of a service letter.
Requires prospective employees to report it if a previous employer fails to respond to a request for a service letter.

Who It Names or Affects

Employers operating child-care facilities, health-care facilities, or temporary agencies placing workers in these settings.
People applying for jobs that involve direct contact with patients or residents at these facilities.
Previous employers who are asked to provide service letters about former employees.

Terms To Know

Child-serving entity: Organizations defined in Title 31, Section 309 that include the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF), schools, youth camps, summer schools, and residential child-care facilities.
Service letter: A document from a previous employer confirming details about an employee's past work history.
Direct access: The opportunity for an employee to have personal contact with people receiving care while doing their job duties.

Limits and Unknowns

The official text does not state the specific date this law will take effect.
It is unclear if there are penalties for employers who fail to respond, as the bill only requires reporting the failure.

Bill History

2026-06-30 Delaware General Assembly
Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
2026-06-24 Delaware General Assembly
Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 4 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits
2026-06-19 Delaware General Assembly
Re-Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate
2026-06-18 Delaware General Assembly
Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES
2026-06-18 Delaware General Assembly
Assigned to Labor Committee in Senate
2026-06-17 Delaware General Assembly
Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 5 On Its Merits
2026-06-11 Delaware General Assembly
Re-Assigned to Administration Committee in House
2026-05-21 Delaware General Assembly
Introduced and Assigned to Labor Committee in House

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SERVICE LETTERS, CHILD-CARE FACILITIES, AND HEALTH-CARE FACILITIES.
This Act adds the definition of child-serving entity for the purpose of requiring a service letter verification from any child-serving entity where an employee may have worked. “Child-serving entity” is already defined in § 309 of Title 31 and includes DSCYF, residential child-care facilities, public and private schools, youth camps, summer schools, and other entities. If a previous employer fails to respond to a service letter, this Act also requires that the prospective employee report the failure to respond to the DOL.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Romer & Sen. Lockman

Reps. Gorman, Harris; Sen. Hoffner

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 438

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SERVICE LETTERS, CHILD-CARE FACILITIES, AND HEALTH-CARE FACILITIES.

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

Section 1. Amend § 708, Title 19 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows and by redesignating accordingly:

§ 708. Special employment practices relating to health-care and child-care facilities.

(a)

Definitions. —

(1) “

Child care

Child-care

facility” means any

child care

child-care

facility which is required to be licensed by the Department of Education, Office of Child Care Licensing.

(2) “Child-serving entity” means as defined in § 309 of Title 31.

(2)

(3)

“Direct access” means the opportunity to have personal contact with persons receiving care during the course of one’s assigned duties.

(3)

(4)

“

Health care

Health-care

facility” means any custodial or residential facility where health, nutritional or personal care is provided for persons, including long-term care facilities as defined in § 1102 of Title 16, hospitals, home

health care

health-care

agencies, and adult

day care

day-care

facilities.

(4)

(5)

“Person seeking employment” means any person applying for employment in a

health care

health-care

facility or

child care

child-care

facility that affords direct access to persons receiving care at such a facility, or a person applying for licensure to operate a

child care

child-care

facility.

(b)

Service letter. —

(1)

No employer who operates a health-care facility or child-care facility, or provides health, nutritional, or personal care in such a facility, shall hire any person seeking employment without obtaining 1 or more service letters regarding that person, provided such person has been previously employed.

The

Any

service

letter(s)

letters

obtained must include a service letter from the person’s current or most recent previous employer. In addition, if a person seeking employment was employed in a health-care facility or

child-care facility

by a child-serving entity

within the past 5 years, the employer

shall also

must

obtain a service letter from

all

such

employer(s).

employers.

If the person seeking employment has not been previously employed, or was self-employed, then the employer must require the person to provide letters of reference from 2 adults who are familiar with the person, but who are not relatives of the person.

b. If the prospective employer attempts to obtain a service letter from a previous employer and the previous employer fails to respond, the previous employer’s failure to respond must be documented and reported to the Department of Labor.

(c)

Temporary agencies. —

Any temporary agency responsible for providing temporary employees to a

health care

health-care

facility or child-care facility, when such employees qualify as “persons seeking employment” for purposes of paragraph (a)(4) of this section, is considered an employer and is responsible for complying with the requirements of this section.

SYNOPSIS

This Act adds the definition of child-serving entity for the purpose of requiring a service letter verification from any child-serving entity where an employee may have worked. “Child-serving entity” is already defined in § 309 of Title 31 and includes DSCYF, residential child-care facilities, public and private schools, youth camps, summer schools, and other entities. If a previous employer fails to respond to a service letter, this Act also requires that the prospective employee report the failure to respond to the DOL.