Nonprofit compliance in Delaware

Delaware has among the most comprehensive volunteer background check laws for its size, with mandatory fingerprint-based checks for child-serving entity volunteers (expanded in 2024–2026), a volunteer firefighter background check law (HB 411, 2024), and requirements for DSCYF-affiliated volunteers. House Substitute 1 for HB 47 (signed 2024, effective July 2026) extended checks to all private school volunteers.

• Child-Serving Entity Background Check Expansion (Delaware HS 1 for HB 47 (signed 2024); 31 Del. C. § 309 and related provisions) — Strengthens background check requirements for child-serving entities and private schools. All employees, contractors, and volunteers must undergo fingerprint-based Delaware SBI and FBI criminal history checks plus a Child Protection Registry (CPR) check via DSCYF. Effective July 1, 2026, with a compliance deadline of September 1, 2026.
• Volunteer Firefighter Mandatory Background Check (Delaware House Bill 411 (signed September 19, 2024); 16 Del. C. Chapter 66) — Requires mandatory background checks for any member or applicant of a Delaware Volunteer Fire Department, as certified by the Delaware State Fire Commission. No fee may be charged to the applicant for the State Bureau of Identification check.
• DSCYF Volunteer Background Check (29 Del. C. § 7999 (2024)) — Requires background checks for employees, contractors, and volunteers of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) who visit children in homes or communities or have regular, direct access to minors under 18.
• Healthcare Facility Criminal Background Check (16 Del. C. § 1145 and § 1190 (2024)) — Requires criminal background checks for volunteers in licensed healthcare facilities, including long-term care, with checks processed through the State Bureau of Identification.
• Who it reaches: All volunteers at child-serving entities and private schools (effective July–September 2026); DSCYF volunteers with home-visit or direct child access duties; Volunteer firefighters and applicants in all Delaware volunteer fire departments; Licensed healthcare facility volunteers including nursing home and long-term care settings; Foster care and child placement household members.
• Check types in use: Fingerprint-based Delaware State Bureau of Identification (SBI) criminal history check; FBI national criminal history check; Child Protection Registry (CPR) check via DSCYF; Sex offender registry check; Adult abuse registry check (healthcare settings).
• Administered by: Delaware State Police — State Bureau of Identification (SBI); Delaware State Fire Commission for volunteer firefighter checks; DSCYF for Child Protection Registry checks.
• Typical processing: SBI criminal checks: approximately 5–10 business days; FBI fingerprint checks: 2–4 weeks; CPR checks: varies by DSCYF workload.

Yes. Delaware names certain professionals AND requires any person to report, regardless of profession — so your volunteers are covered by the universal provision whatever role they hold. Confirm Delaware's current statute before writing your policy — these are amended often.

• In every state, territory and the District of Columbia, ANY person is permitted to report suspected abuse even when not required to. A volunteer who is not a mandated reporter can still call, and should.
• The safest operating posture, whatever the statute says, is to train every volunteer on what to report and to whom — a policy that only trains "mandated" staff leaves the person most likely to witness something untrained.
• Reporting duties are personal. A volunteer who is a mandated reporter cannot discharge the duty by telling a supervisor and stopping there in most states.
• Screening and reporting are different obligations. Clearing a background check does not satisfy a reporting duty, and no reporting policy substitutes for screening.

Delaware is one of ten states with no general charitable solicitation registration requirement. That is not the same as nothing to do: county or municipal rules can still apply, professional fundraisers are often regulated separately, and registering elsewhere may still be required the moment you solicit residents of another state.

• No statewide registration for the charity itself under current guidance.
• Soliciting residents of other states can trigger registration in those states regardless of where you are based — an online donate button reaches all fifty.
• Exemptions exist in most registering states (small organizations, religious organizations, membership appeals) but they are specific and usually must be claimed rather than assumed.
• Confirm current requirements with your state charity office before relying on this — thresholds and exemptions are amended frequently.

These apply regardless of which state you operate in, and they are the ones most commonly missed by small organizations that assume state registration is the whole picture.

• Annual Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N. Three consecutive years of non-filing revokes exempt status automatically — this is the single most common way small nonprofits lose their status.
• If you run background checks on volunteers, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to you as a user of consumer reports: a standalone written disclosure, separate written authorization, and the pre-adverse and adverse action sequence before acting on a result.
• Public disclosure: your exemption application and recent 990s must be made available on request.
• Employment obligations attach to paid staff regardless of exempt status — payroll tax, worker classification, and wage and hour law all apply.