Delaware DDS Regulations, Policies and Guidance
This page has links to regulations, policies and guidance for DDS services in Delaware.
State: Delaware
Delaware DVR Benefits Counseling
This page includes information about benefits counseling services for Delaware Division of Vocational Rehabilitation job seekers with disabilities. It includes information about Delaware’s 529(a) savings plan.
Delaware Executive Order 1: Committing to Increasing Youth Apprenticeships and Earn-and-Learn Opportunities (2025)
“January 21, 2025.
WHEREAS, youth apprenticeships, registered apprenticeships, and other work-based learning opportunities are a key way to provide educational opportunities, real-world skills, and pathways to success…NOW, THEREFORE, I, MATTHEW S. MEYER, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Delaware, do hereby DECLARE and ORDER the following… 1. A Working Group is hereby established to encourage and promote the expansion of youth apprenticeship opportunities in the State of Delaware, particularly as it applies to youth apprenticeship prospects within state government.”
Delaware VR Transition Services
This page has information about transition services and programs available in Delaware.
Delaware HB 60: ABLE (2015)
“This bill creates an Achieving a Better Life Experience (“ABLE”) Program in Delaware, to implement federal legislation enabling the creation of savings accounts with tax advantages similar to 529 accounts, designed to be used by persons with disabilities to save for qualifying disability and education related expenses.”
Delaware SB 33: Education (2015)
“This Act implements the legislative recommendations of the IEP Improvement Task Force created by the 147th General Assembly. The recommendations it implements are to:
- Provide more detailed and helpful information to parents about their rights and resources in the IEP process;
- Solicit the input of parents and children regarding the IEP process before IEP meetings occur;
- Provide advance notice to parents and children of documents that will be discussed at IEP meetings;
- Require the facilitation of parent councils to provide peer support for the parents of students with disabilities;
- Ensure that teachers, staff, and contract employees do not suffer retaliation for offering their candid opinions during the IEP process;
- Ensure that employment planning during the IEP process is consistent with Delaware’s employment first policy;
- Require a robust annual survey of parents and children to ensure that school districts and charter schools are adhering to state and federal law with respect to the IEP process.
- Ensure that charter schools are attentive to their responsibilities and available resources with respect to students with disabilities.
- Require that the Department of Education report to the General Assembly on the status of and possible alternatives to the IEP Plus computer system, which has been an impediment to the preparation of IEPs by teachers, staff, and contractors.”
Delaware Disability Mentoring Day Expansion (2015)
“New Castle, Del. – Delaware’s Disability Mentoring Day will expand to host sites in each of the three counties for a day of job networking and career discovery. Disability Mentoring Day, which is held each October during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, is scheduled for Oct. 21.
Disability Mentoring Day has been hosted by the University of Delaware Center for Disabilities Studies for six years. The Delaware Department of Labor’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation helps identify students. Last year’s event was expanded to include students from Glasgow High School and young people with vision loss, with assistance from the Delaware Department of Education’s Exceptional Children Resources.
This year, host sites will expand to also include Dover Downs Hotel in Kent County and Woodbridge High School in Sussex County, with more than 50 students from across the state expected to receive career-building experiences.”
U.S. v. Delaware – 11-CV-591 – (D. Del. 2010)
On July 6, 2011 the Division filed in District Court a Complaint and a simultaneous Settlement Agreement resolving its ADA Olmstead investigation into whether persons with mental illness in Delaware are being served in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs and its CRIPA investigation into conditions of confinement at Delaware Psychiatric Center. The fundamental goals of the Agreement are: to ensure that people who are unnecessarily institutionalized, at the Delaware Psychiatric Center or other inpatient psychiatric facilities, can receive the treatment they need in the community; to ensure that when individuals go into mental health crisis, sufficient resources are available in the community so that they do not need to go unnecessarily to psychiatric hospitals or jails; and to ensure that people with mental illness who are living in the community are not forced to enter institutions because of the lack of stable housing and intensive treatment options in the community.
Delaware Report: A Better Bottom Line, Employing People with Disabilities (2013)
Governor Jack Markell spearheaded an initiative at the National Governor’s Association called, “A Better Bottom Line: Employing People with Disabilities.” Governor Markell released a blueprint for governors from this year-long study on policy recommendations to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities. The goal is to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce.
Delaware HB 319: Employment First Act amended by House Amendment Number 1
“House Bill 319 would require state agencies that provide services to persons with disabilities consider, as their first option, employment in an integrated setting for persons with disabilities. The bill also establishes an Employment First Oversight Commission as part of the State Council for Persons with Disabilities to review goals and objectives and prepare an annual report.
All persons with disabilities, including veterans with service-connected disabilities, have a right to the opportunity for competitive employment. To promote the realization of this right, this bill creates the Employment First Act. The Act requires that state agencies that provide services and support to persons with disabilities shall consider, as their first option, competitive employment in an integrated setting for persons with disabilities. The Act does not require an employer to give preference to hiring persons with disabilities.
This Act further establishes an Employment First Oversight Commission as part of the State Council for Persons with Disabilities. The Commission reviews measurable goals and objectives as submitted to it by each relevant state agency to ensure implementation of the Act. The Commission tracks the measurable progress of state agencies in implementing the Act. The Commission prepares an annual report as part of the annual report submitted by the State Council for Persons with Disabilities to the Governor and the General Assembly. The report details progress made toward the goals and objectives as well as strategies and policies to help realize the employment first initiative.”