Services for Justice-Involved Youth

Del. Code tit. 31, ch. 51

in effect

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5101 Definitions.

As used in this chapter: (1) “Commitment” refers to the vesting of legal custody of juveniles in the custody of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families under the provisions of §§ 5106-5108 of this title. (2) “Court” means any court of competent jurisdiction. (3) “Department” means the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. (4) “Detention” refers to the holding of a juvenile by the Department in the separate Detention Department provided for in § 5110 of this title. (5) “Juvenile” means a minor. (6) “Legal custody” denotes those rights and responsibilities associated with the day to day care of the juveniles. It includes the right to the care, custody and control of the juvenile. It includes the duty to provide food, clothing, shelter, education, ordinary medical care and to train and discipline. “Ordinary medical care” shall mean medical examination, medical treatment including surgical procedures and mental health treatment other than inpatient psychiatric hospitalization.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5102 Functions of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families.

There shall be 1 state agency known as the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families one of whose functions shall be the administration of all state-owned training facilities for the detention, care and treatment, and after-care supervision of juvenile delinquents. These include: Ferris School for Boys, Kruse School, Woods Haven School for Girls and the Detention Home for Juveniles (Bridge House). In addition, the Department shall foster the expansion of community services directed toward the overall prevention of juvenile delinquency.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5103 Payment of accounts.

All of the accounts on the Department shall be paid by warrant drawn upon the State Treasurer in accordance with § 6515(b) of Title 29.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5104 Annual report to the Governor and to the General Assembly.

The Department shall make an annual report to the Governor and to the General Assembly of its activities and operations and shall include its receipts and expenditures and such recommendations as it may deem appropriate in detail as to fully inform the Governor and the General Assembly or such other legally authorized agency of this State.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5105 Misnomer of Department in donation.

Any misnomer of the Department shall not defeat or annul any gift, grant, devise or bequest to the Department if it sufficiently appears by the will, conveyance or other writing that the party making the same intended to pass and convey thereby to the Department the estate or interest therein expressed or described.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5106 Powers and duties of the Department.

(a) The Department shall: (1) Have sole and complete control of the training schools and any other state facilities for readjustment of delinquent children; (2) Appoint advisory committees having such membership as it deems appropriate or desirable; (3) Provide suitable food, clothing, medicine and all things necessary for the comfort and improvement of delinquent children in the Department’s legal custody; (4) Make rules and regulations for the government of the training schools not inconsistent with the laws of this State which it deems necessary and proper for the public welfare and best interest of the juveniles entrusted to the Department including the release of juveniles to after-care supervision; (5) When deemed necessary, to provide after-care supervision for delinquent children released from the training schools; (6) Provide suitable buildings, with all the necessary land and appurtenances for the use and occupation of the Department; (7) Establish such rules and regulations relative to the religious and moral education, training, employment, discipline, management, government, instruction, safekeeping and the disposition of the juveniles; (8) Exercise all powers not inconsistent with this chapter as are necessary to discharge their responsibility of legal custody of a juvenile. Powers inconsistent with this chapter shall include without limitation the power to sue and be sued or to implead or be impleaded in all courts of law and equity; and (9) Place a juvenile committed to its custody pursuant to § 1009 of Title 10, in a facility providing the maximum available security. (b) Notwithstanding prior enactments accepting the Ferris School for Boys as a state-operated facility, nothing contained therein or in any other law was intended by the General Assembly to constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity for the Ferris School for Boys.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5107 Commitments to the Department.

The Family Court of the State may commit to the custody of the Department any juvenile who is subject to the jurisdiction of such Court and who is delinquent, as that term is defined in § 901 of Title 10; provided, however, that where the adjudication is pursuant to § 1009(e) [repealed] of Title 10, the juvenile shall be committed for the designated statutory period. The Department shall accept the custody of any juvenile so committed to it.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5108 Power to discharge or release.

(a) Except as to a delinquent child committed for a mandatory period pursuant to § 1009(e) [repealed] of Title 10, the Department may at its discretion discharge finally any juvenile committed to its custody if the Department shall determine: (1) Such discharge is in the best interests of the juvenile; and (2) That the juvenile does not pose a probable threat to property or person; provided, that a certificate of discharge, setting forth grounds establishing compliance with these conditions of release, shall be provided 10 calendar days prior to the date of release to the Judge of Family Court who originally signed the commitment order, or, in such judge’s absence, to the Chief Judge of said Court. (b) No person shall be retained in the legal custody of the Department beyond that person's 18th birthday; provided, however, that any delinquent child who is 17 years of age or older but less than 18 years of age who has been committed to the custody of the Department may remain in said custody for 1 full year; provided further, that any delinquent child who is committed to the custody of the Department for a mandatory period pursuant to § 1009(e) [repealed] of Title 10 shall be transferred into or retained in the custody of a facility established pursuant to § 6526 of Title 11 for youthful offenders upon reaching the age of 18 where the youthful offender shall remain until the completion of the mandatory period of custody; provided further, that any child who is charged with an act of delinquency prior to reaching 18 years but becomes 18 years of age prior to disposition on the charge may be committed to the custody of the Department until the child’s nineteenth birthday. (c) No child committed to the custody of the Department under § 1009(e) [repealed] of Title 10 shall be released on pass or on extended leave for any purpose except in accordance with the procedure set forth in subsection (a) of this section. Upon receipt of notification that the Department intends to extend such privileges to a child so committed, the Court may deny, or may impose such reasonable terms and conditions as it deems necessary, upon said temporary release.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5109 Treatment of juvenile inmates with mental conditions or mental disabilities; transfer.

(a) The Secretary of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families may transfer to other appropriate state institutions for care and treatment juveniles committed to the custody of the Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services whom the Secretary has determined to have psychotic disorders or mental conditions. Transfer may also be made to such facilities in other jurisdictions, or to municipal or private facilities, upon the consent of responsible administrators of such facilities. (b) When, in the judgment of the administrator of the institution to which a juvenile in custody has been transferred, the juvenile has recovered from the condition which occasioned the transfer, the juvenile shall be returned to the Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services. (c) The transfer shall become effective as soon as the Secretary of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families requests it. The parents or guardians of the juvenile, if they can be reached by a reasonable effort, shall be notified of the transfer within 30 days. They may demand in writing a hearing before the Secretary of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to be held within 2 weeks. The decision of the Secretary may be appealed within 30 days to the court which committed the juvenile to the Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services. The decision of the court on appeal shall be final. (d) When the juvenile is returned to the Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the parents or guardians of the juvenile, if they can be reached by a reasonable effort, shall be notified of the transfer within 30 days by the Secretary of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. They may demand in writing a hearing before the Secretary of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to be held within 2 weeks. The decision of the Secretary may be appealed within 30 days to the court which first committed the juvenile to the Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services. The decision of the court on appeal shall be final.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5110 Separate operation.

(a) The Department shall operate a separate department for the proper transportation, care and detention of any juvenile detained by authority of law. (b) In the operation of the Detention Department the Department shall have all of the powers listed in § 5106 of this title.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5111 Aiding or harboring escapee from a facility of the Department; penalty.

Whoever knowingly: (1) Advises, promotes or aids in the escape or running away of any juvenile from the custody or detention of the Department; or (2) Harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing any juvenile who has escaped from a facility of the Department, after such juvenile has been regularly committed thereto or detained thereat, shall be fined not less than $10 nor more than $1,000.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5112 Ferris School for Boys.

The Ferris School for Boys, in New Castle County, a facility of the Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services of Delaware, shall be officially known as the Ferris School for Boys.

Del. Code tit. 31, § 5113 Re-entry programs.

(a) There is hereby established a fund for the provision of juvenile re-entry services ( “Juvenile Re-Entry Services Fund” ). This fund shall be overseen and administered by the Department, and shall be used exclusively for the provision of re-entry services to minors who have been adjudicated delinquent or convicted of a crime and detained in a secure facility as a result of that adjudication. (b) As used in this section, “re-entry services” means services provided to a juvenile after release from a secure facility that have the specific purpose of reducing the risk that the juvenile will commit a future criminal offense or act of delinquency. This includes continuing services for up to 1 year after release, even if the juvenile turns 18 during confinement or after release. (c) Funds appropriated to the Juvenile Re-Entry Services Fund shall be awarded by the Department to public or private third parties on a competitive basis for the provision of re-entry services. Up to 5% of appropriated funds may be retained by the Department for administration of funds and monitoring of services provided under this section. (d) Funds from the Juvenile Re-Entry Services Fund may not be awarded in a manner that supplants funding from any other public source. (e) The Department shall report to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1 of each year all expenditures made from the Juvenile Re-Entry Services Fund, the results of all monitoring of grants made from the Juvenile Re-Entry Services Fund, and its funding priorities for grants to be made in the following calendar year.

Source: DE Code (Official Site)URL: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title31/c051/index.htmlFetched: 10/4/2026