Daycare injuries can be a traumatic and troubling event especially so because parents entrust daycares with the safety of their children every day. Daycare is a place where you trust to keep your child safe while you’re working so it can be unimaginable for your child to be harmed there. Fortunately, daycares generally have a passion for teaching and caring for your child. However, sometimes negligence can occur resulting in harm to children. Some of the issues commonly seen in abusive daycares are:
- Understaffing. Daycares are often for-profit businesses, meaning they are operating for a profit. Some daycares operate with very little staff in order to maximize profits. This can lead to major issues like neglect. Neglect can result in playground injuries, bottle warmer burns, and possible abuse from other staff members that goes unnoticed.
- Unqualified Employees. The people who have the task of watching your children need to be qualified professionals who have the skills needed for taking care of children. At minimum a daycare facility should run a background check on all employees who will be interacting with children. There have been instances where children have been harmed by employees at daycare and these cases could have been prevented if the daycare had run background checks.
- Violent or Dangerous Employees. Some childcare facilities have used inappropriate actions when disciplining a child. When the employee sees the child doing something they perceive as being wrong the child was harmed using physical abuse. This can include the employee hitting, pushing, or slapping the child among other actions. Physical abuse should never be used towards a child and if it is, those individuals can be arrested and charged with criminal actions.
Some of the signs of physical abuse that can happen in daycares are:
- Cuts/bruising
- Head trauma
- Dehydration
- Malnourishment
- Burns/shocks
- Dislocated shoulders
- Broken bones
- Heatstroke
Some signs of behavioral/psychological Trauma caused by daycare abuse:
- Fearful of returning to the daycare facility
- Nightmares
- Unexplained anger
- Frequent crying
- Sudden and unexplained fears
- Becoming overly-clingy
Some items that you and your child may be compensated for:
- Medical expenses and any future medical expenses from the injury
- Missed work for parents due to the issue
- Mental anguish and physical limitations due to the injury
To prove a daycare was negligent in caring for your child, you and your attorney may use police reports, security camera footage, pictures of the unsanitary or unsafe conditions, witness statements and more to help prove your claim. Pictures of your child’s injuries and documentation from the medical professional treating your child is also very important.
As a parent or legal guardian you may be entitled to sue the daycare facility for harming your child. Many daycare centers have parents sign a no-liability clause which gives the illusion that they cannot be sued for injuries, but this is not always the case. Whether you can bring a suit will depend on the facts and circumstances of the case. It’s important to speak with qualified experienced injury attorneys in Alabaster in order to assess the facts and viability of your case and to explain your legal options. Your child’s daycare center should be held accountable for the failure of keeping your child safe.