6 Steps To Follow After Your Child Is Hurt At Daycare
My child was hurt at daycare, what should I do next?
If your child have been harmed or abused within a private daycare or after-school facility there are certain things you should do immediately to ensure your child the best chance of receiving full compensation for their injuries. Below is a 6 step list that will protect your child health, safety, and rights and help you when seeking a recovery from childcare facility.
1. Seek Medical Care For Your Child
If your child is injured to the point of needing medical treatment, it is important to seek care immediately. The police should be notified of the incident. You should call 911 if the facility did not take action. In cases that involve child injuries the police department will also send an ambulance to determine whether your child needs to be transported to a nearby emergency room or children's hospital. This is important as a medical professional will be able to address the cause, severity, and level of injuries your child faced. This will help your personal injury attorney bring your case to justice and retrieve proper reimbursement for all damages. Provide your lawyer with all documents, receipts, and bills from the pediatric hospital. Try to keep a detailed file of all medical documents and additional information acquired throughout this process.
Daycare injuries are often serious in nature. Children that get hurt while at a daycare or childcare facility of suffer arm or shoulder injuries, scarring and disfigurement, paralysis, head injuries, or traumatic events that cause the child to experience ongoing distress or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
2. Meet With The Daycare Director
The second step is to request an in-person meeting with the daycare director as soon as possible. After a child is hurt within a childcare facility, or even while in bus transit to or from the facility, the director does not always contact the parents and provide forthcoming detail of what occurred. In the meeting, inquire as to what went wrong and whether any teachers or employees tasked with supervising your child received any form of reprimand or write-up regarding the accident.
Daycares will not also comply with your request. In this circumstance, a premises liability attorney that also handles child safety accidents is needed. Oftentimes, the childcare center will have already consulted with an attorney and is being instructed to withhold access to any records or related documentation that could implicate the facility. A child injury lawyer understands the many legal issues that could be involved and is able to send an evidence preservation letter, which after received, legally prevents the daycare from destroying any evidence related to the injury event.
3. Photograph Your Child's Injuries
After seeking emergency medical treatment, take photographs of your child’s injuries. Photos prove the nature, degree, and extent of injury and are evidence later used when negotiation the claim with the commercial insurance company insuring the daycare. In the case is not resolved pre-litigation, these photos can be later shown to a Texas mediator, or to the jury if the case goes to trial.
4. Ask For Review The Camera Footage
Daycare centers are not require to grant a family access to review their camera footage. However, you should ask to review any footage capturing your child's accident. Some childcare facilities feel obligated to allow parents to review the footage, but refuse to provide parents a copy due that potentially violating Texas privacy laws.
If you are allowed to see the video, keep track of what factors have led to the injury of your child. Also try to note for how many children and supervisors are present in the room. If there are any concerning or unsafe objects around, take note of that as well. Daycare centers are required to follow strict standards in Texas, including providing a safe facility and provides a proper amount of supervision at all times.
5. Report The Daycare Accident To The Department of Family Protective Services
In every child accident situation, you should contacted by the Texas Department of Family Protective Services and report the accident. The facility should have already filed a report, but it is important to take the step to ensure the process has been initiated. If a daycare intends to hire their negligence, they may not follow through on the Texas requirements to report all child accidents.
The Department will reach out to schedule a meeting with you and your son or daughter. This is mandatory and is not a reason for concern. An investigation into the root cause of the incident is needed. Although it can be stressful to get a visit from and inspector of investor from the State, just remember they are only there to help. The investigator will also go to the daycare to discuss the incident, review evidence, and inspect the facility before making a determination.
6. Consult With A Legal Professional
If your child is injured while at daycare, consider hiring contact a child injury lawyer as soon as possible. Attorney Brit Mitchell is a Daycare Negligence and Abuse Lawyer and regularly holds negligent and unsafe childcare centers liability for violations of Texas safety standards and can help your family recover the compensation you deserve. When daycare businesses cut corners in staffing levels or fail to proper supervise their staff or children, they should be held fully responsible when it results in injury to a child.
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