Rule 220.Post termination placement orders
Ch. XIV: Child Dependency, Neglect and/or Abuse Proceedings · Last amended 2015 · Current through June 1, 2026 · Last verified September 9, 2026
Full Text of Rule 220
Amendment History
Delaware prints each rule’s amendment history as a single “Credits” line naming every order that adopted or amended it. It is reproduced verbatim below.
[Formerly Rule 221 adopted September 12, 2002. Renumbered Rule 220 and amended effective April 20, 2015.]
Plain-English Summary
Within 60 days after the entry of the final termination order or decree as to both parents, the court may convene a hearing to review the proposed placement plan of the agency responsible for placing the child. The plan, and any amendment to it, is submitted to the court and the parties 10 days before the hearing.
Why this hearing exists. A termination of parental rights ends a family, and the justification for it is that the child will get another one. That promise is easy to make at the termination hearing and hard to keep afterwards, when the case that produced the order is over and the child is legally an orphan. This rule brings the court back within 60 days to ask what is actually happening.
What the plan must contain. Three things: a description of the agency's progress toward arranging an adoptive placement; where adoptive parents have not been selected, a schedule and description of the steps to be taken to place the child for adoption; and a description of any barriers preventing placement, and how they should be overcome.
The third item is the honest one. Older children, sibling groups and children with significant needs wait longest, and the rule makes the agency name the obstacle rather than report progress in general terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens after parental rights are terminated in Delaware?
Within 60 days after the entry of the final termination order or decree for both parents, the court may convene a hearing to review the proposed placement plan of the agency responsible for placing the child.
When is the placement plan filed?
The plan, and any amendment to it, is submitted to the court and the parties 10 days prior to the hearing.
What must the placement plan say?
The agency's progress toward an adoptive placement; where adoptive parents have not been selected, a schedule and description of the steps to be taken; and a description of any barriers to placement and how they should be overcome.