1. Delaware Courts
  2. Agencies, Boards, & Commissions

Agencies, Boards, & Commissions


Other agencies associated with the Delaware Judiciary include the state funded agencies:

Child Placement Review Board

The Child Placement Review Board was established by the State of Delaware in 1979 by the Foster Child Review Act, Title 31, Chapter 38, of the Delaware Code. On June 26, 2018 Delaware General Assembly enacted SB 235 and sections 48 to 55 eliminated the statutory provisions related to the Board, bringing the board’s work to a close.

Questions about the former functions of the Child Placement Review Board, should be directed to the Child Protection Accountability Commission (CPAC) or the Delaware Family Court. If you have questions about the Educational and Training Vouchers program (ETV) please contact the Division of Family Services or call (302)-633-2638.

Delaware Nursing Home Residents Quality Assurance Commission

The Delaware Nursing Home Residents Quality Assurance Commission (DNHRQAC) was created in 1999. It is comprised of 12 members who work closely with reviewing policies and laws to implement changes/improvements for Delaware nursing home residents. DNHRQAC's mission is to monitor Delaware's quality assurance system for nursing home residents in both privately operated and state operated facilities so that complaints of abuse, neglect mistreatment, financial exploitation and other complaints are responded to in a timely manner so as to ensure the health and safety of nursing home residents.

Key objectives:

  • Examine the policies and procedures and evaluate the effectiveness of the quality assurance system for nursing home residents.
  • Monitor data and analyze trends in the quality of care and life of individuals receiving long-term care in Delaware.
  • Review and make recommendations to the Governor, Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services and General Assembly concerning the quality assurance system and improvements to the overall quality of life and care of nursing home residents.
  • Protect the privacy of nursing home residents

Maternal and Child Death Review Commission

The Maternal and Child Death Review Commission was established in 1995 by statute (§ 320 et seq.). The mission is to safeguard Delaware's children by examining the deaths of children under the age of 18. The Maternal and Child Death Review Commission has the power to create up to three regional Review Panels, establishes confidentiality for the reviews, and provides the commission with the ability to secure pertinent records.

The primary purpose of reviewing child deaths is the prevention of future child deaths. The review is a retrospective system intended to provide meaningful, prompt, system-wide recommendations in an effort to prevent future deaths and to improve services to children. A child death is considered preventable if one or more interventions might reasonably have averted the child's death.

Office of the Child Advocate

The General Assembly declares that the welfare of the children of this State shall be safeguarded by the establishing of an Office of the Child Advocate, with a Child Advocate who shall serve as Executive Director of the Child Protection Accountability Commission. The Advocate shall also coordinate efforts on behalf of children; work with advocacy groups; promote system reform; recommend changes in law, procedure and policy necessary to enhance the protection of Delaware's children; and to implement and coordinate a program providing legal representation on behalf of a child. In order to effectuate these goals, the Child Advocate shall be an attorney duly licensed to practice law in Delaware.

Goals of the Office of the Child Advocate are to:

  • Ensure that every child's voice is heard in every court proceeding which affects their life.
  • Ensure that every player in the child protection system has the necessary education and training to put a child's safety and well-being above all else: children are not personal property...they are human beings.
  • Ensure that Delaware's child welfare laws reflect the needs of our children and are a model for the nation

Public Guardian

There is established the Office of the Public Guardian. The Governor for the State of Delaware shall appoint the Public Guardian. The Public Guardian, when appointed as guardian by Court order, shall serve as a guardian of the person or property, or both, of persons who are disabled for reasons other than minority.

A guardian is a person or institution appointed by the Court of Chancery to manage the affairs of another, called the ward. Goals of the Office of the Public Guardian include: advocate for the agency, its mission and its service to individuals through education and networking with the public and other professional communities; maintain the certification as registered guardians of key staff in whom decision-making is vested.