One of the most devastating calls a parent can receive is that their child was injured at a daycare or during after-school care. Sadly, these injuries are more common than people suspect. Parents do their due diligence as best they can when entrusting a facility with their child, however mistakes can still occur. While most facilities are safe and reliable, some put profits over people by cutting corners where they can, to the detriment of your child’s safety, which then leads to negligence. This can be in the form of not doing full background checks on employees, unsafe conditions on the property, or simple neglect by not having enough resources to properly monitor the number of children in their care. At Rana Law, we can evaluate whether the facts of your situation rise to the level of negligence and, if so, ensure proper compensation and medical care for the child’s injuries and any potential trauma related to the incident. We hope you never have to make a phone call to our office for a daycare incident involving a loved one but, if you do, you will be in experienced and compassionate hands.
Types of Daycare Cases
Failure to supervise
This typically happens from a combination of inadequate staffing or untrained/unqualified employees. In most situations, the law mandates a certain caregiver to child ratio. Daycare centers are aware of the requirements, however, sometimes there may not be enough employees present on any given day, which can lead to an overwhelmed employee failing to properly do their job. Facilities are also required to run background checks on employees to ensure they meet certain minimum requirements (both in terms of ensuring proper training/education but also to ensure nothing in the background search raises red flags about the employee being around children). Facilities can cut corners to save costs and thereby increase their profits if they have too few employees present and by hiring unqualified people to whom they can pay less money.
Unsafe Premises
States will occasionally inspect childcare premises but they rely mainly on facilities to conduct their own safety checks. The requirements range from ensuring furniture is properly secured (for instance, a piece of furniture that could topple over on top of a child), to covering electrical outlets to ensuring anything used to transport children has enough safety harnesses or proper licensing. If a child is injured due to a dangerous condition, the daycare center may be liable.
Medication
Some children receive medication, which can be administered incorrectly or with an improper dosage, leading to serious medical issues. Some daycares assure parents they know how to properly handle their child’s medical needs and then betray that trust when the child gets sick through negligent administration of the medication or exposing the child to needless risk.
Criminal Acts
These are the worse types of cases and involve a daycare worker physically, sexually or emotionally abusing a child. After one of these incidents, it is important for the family to get the child all the support possible, which includes medical attention and, if necessary, the proper therapy to process what occurred. Hiring a lawyer in this situation is also important to ensure the prosecuting attorneys properly conduct their criminal investigation and seek justice for the family. While a criminal case is separate from a potential civil case, a strong criminal case assists in the civil case and turns over evidence that may not otherwise be accessible in a civil case.
Steps for a Parent After an Incident
- Recognize red flags, which can include:
- Your child acting differently. This could be in the form of anxiety or fear when around a certain individual, or behavioral changes such as aggression, sleep disturbances, or regression with toilet training.
- Unexplained injuries on your child with dismissive explanations from the staff.
- Other parents raising issues about their child or the facility, with limited or no explanation to other parents related to the incident.
- Personnel issues – if the facility struggles to employ people consistently or is shorthanded, the odds increase for a potential problem.
- If you notice any of these things, immediately notify the facility in writing of your concerns and observations so they can be documented.
- Contact an experienced injury attorney to discuss whether the facts of your situation rise to the level of negligence. This is especially important as potential evidence can disappear (for instance, bruises on your child’s body, removal of a dangerous condition, or internally dealing with personnel issues rather than reporting them). Most attorneys work on a contingency fee agreement (no upfront cost and you pay nothing unless compensation is obtained). Allowing a professional to handle the potential case lets the family focus on the child while the attorney handles the rest, which includes:
- Working with medical professionals and psychologists to assist a child with injuries and potential trauma related to the incident.
- Investigating and sending preservation letters to ensure important evidence is not lost, ensuring the facility faces serious legal consequences for spoliation of evidence.
- Assisting other entities (such as the State or health departments) to ensure a thorough investigation of the facility, including filing a complaint with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.**Note: K-12 school complaints are handled separately.
- Working with industry experts on the facility’s liability to establish negligence.
- Obtaining fair compensation for everything the family went through, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages (if applicable), and loss of a normal life. While money is not the primary concern, it is often the only remedy available in a civil context. It is important to engage a lawyer willing to go to trial and respected by insurance companies for aggressive litigation.
At Rana Law, we hope you never have to make a phone call to our office for a daycare incident involving a loved one, but rest assured that if you do, you will be in experienced and compassionate hands.
SHOULD I HIRE A LAWYER FOR MY PERSONAL INJURY CASE?
Is it a good idea to hire a lawyer in a personal injury case? Fact or Fiction: the lawyer and the doctors will get all the money and I will not get nothing. Fiction! At Rana Law Group, your case is on a contingency fee, which means you do not pay us unless we collect a recovery on your behalf, however, more importantly, we promise you will get more than us because we reduce our fee, if applicable, to ensure you receive more than us. If necessary, we will also get reductions from your medical providers to ensure we maximize your recovery. After all, as the one that was injured, it is only fair that you walk away getting a fair settlement, while still having access to experts in the form of doctors and lawyers to help you with your case.
WHAT IS MY CASE WORTH?
What a case is worth is subjective. There is no book or guide out there that equates a certain injury to a certain dollar figure. The value of a case depends on many factors, including the liability/facts of the case, the severity of injuries, where the case occurred and many other factors, including who is your attorney. At the end of the day, a case is worth what a jury renders as their verdict or what an insurance company offers that you are willing to accept.
WHAT IS A DEMAND PACKAGE AND WHY DO WE SEND IT TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY?
Congratulations, we are finally at the stage of your case to send a demand package to the insurance company for settlement negotiations. Before we can send everything in, a few things need to be verified. Are you still feeling better? If not, this is the last opportunity to change course and resume medical treatment before we send this information to the insurance company. It is better to ensure you are completely done before sending in information. You should receive additional information via email or mail regarding the medical providers, dates and amount of bills. It is important to compare this information to your calendar, notes and medical bills to ensure no one was missed. Once you review everything, call our office to discuss with the attorney assigned to your case to finalize this process and get your demand package out the door.