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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.

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
2026-05-21
Official status
House Labor 5/21/26
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on enforcement mechanisms or penalties for non-compliance.

Amending Rules for Service Letters in Delaware

This act changes how employers must check past employment records of people applying for jobs at child-care and health-care facilities by requiring service letters from previous employers, including those who work with children.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds the definition of 'child-serving entity' to require service letter verification from any place where an employee may have worked.
  • Requires that if a previous employer does not respond to a request for a service letter, the prospective employee must report this failure to the Department of Labor (DOL).
  • Expands the requirement for service letters to include all child-serving entities within the past five years, not just those directly related to health-care or child-care facilities.
  • Ensures that temporary agencies providing workers to health-care and child-care facilities comply with these requirements.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Employers of health-care and child-care facilities
  • Employees applying for jobs at health-care and child-care facilities
  • Temporary employment agencies

Terms To Know

Child-serving entity
An organization that works with children, such as schools, camps, or youth programs.
Service letter
A document from a previous employer describing an employee's job performance and behavior.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if the Department of Labor receives reports about employers who do not respond to service letter requests.
  • It is unclear how this act will be enforced or what penalties might apply for non-compliance.
  • The exact impact on employment processes and timelines at child-care and health-care facilities remains uncertain.

Bill History

  1. 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

Rep. Gorman; 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)

a.

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.