Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In Washington and other States, parents rely on day care center to provide a safe, clean, and healthy environment for their children during working hours. Parents, with children in day care centers, should visit frequently and at odd times. In other words, a parent should visit at different times of the day in order to see how the staff is supervising the children under their care. The staff in the morning may be different than the staff in the afternoon. Furthermore, if the day care center staff believes that a parent could walk in at any moment of the day, this may, in turn, make the day care center staff more attentive to the duties and responsibilities at hand. For most children, day care centers, schools, and summer camps provide that certain educational environment that certainly contributes to the growth and happiness of a child. Unfortunately, some child care providers use their position of trust and access to abuse and neglect the very children that they are responsible for supervising and protecting from harm. Certainly, the good child care providers outnumber the bad ones; however, one bad child care provider who abused and neglects children is frankly one too many. Day care centers should carefully screen all day care center employees with background checks that are not only completed by an electronic search but also follow up calls to work and personal references. Once hired, day care center employees should be trained and supervised.
In Wisconsin and other States, day care centers should be safe havens for children. They should be placed where children are well cared for in supportive, nurturing environment. Unfortunately, some day care center employees and volunteers abuse the children under the care of a day care center. These reckless employees and volunteers use their positions of trust to prey on children. Some are caught while many others go undetected only to go on to abuse more children along the way.
As a Child Injury Lawyers, we are often asked the following question: Does corporal punishment have a place in day care centers? The simple answer to this question is No. Most States prohibit any form of mental or physical corporal punishment in day care centers. In other words, there are specific laws and / or administrative code proceedings that prohibit this kind of conduct in day care centers. While some parents believe in corporal punishment and would acquiesce if a day care center implemented some forms of corporal punishment, it is typically prohibited. Of course, each State has its own rules, laws, and regulations. As such, the applicable provisions should be reviewed, considered, and enforced when there is an issue, concern, or report of corporal punishment taking place in a day care center. Often times, corporal punishment in a day care center is implemented without any concern or thought as to the physical or psychological impact of the child. Furthermore, many acts of corporal punishment are implemented without the knowledge or consent of the parents. In many instances, the implementation of corporal punishment is an indication of the immaturity of the care givers as well as their lack of training and supervision.
In Arizona and other States, parents rely on day care centers to provide a safe learning environment for their children. In most facilities, the day care center dutifully cares for the child in a supportive learning center for the children. With proper training and due diligence, children can truly flourish in a day care center. Unfortunately, for some children, a day care center experience is quite something else. Tragically, some children are abused, subjected to corporal punishment, or even falsely imprisoned or trapped in a day care center. When a parent learns of the abuse, neglect, or false imprisonment at a day care center, a parent is faced with many challenges and issues. It is at these times that a parent and the child will need the support of family, friends, community, law enforcement, mental health counselors, medical providers, and, yes, in the appropriate situation, child injury lawyers.
In Louisiana and other States, children are the unfortunate victims of abuse and neglect. The victimization of a child can take place at a home, relative’s home, friend’s home, in public, and, yes, even in a day care center. When a child is enrolled in a day care center, the facility has a duty to provide the child with a safe and clean learning environment that is free from abuse. The staff should be well trained. Furthermore the staff should have the personality and patience to be able to optimally and safely work with children. Day care center workers that are unhappy with their jobs, inpatient, immature, or just lazy may end up lashing out at a young child. It is well known that children do not always listen and at times disobey adults. Furthermore, children, especially day care age children, will cry and make messes. If a day care center worker cannot handle the foreseeable and common acts associated with young children, the the day care worker should not be employed in that position. For the safety and well being of the children, a more qualified and patient day care center employee should fill the position by the day care worker who simply cannot or will not handle the serious and important responsibilities of the job.
Parents rely on day care centers to provide a safe educational environment for children. Unfortunately, many children are harmed in the very place where they should be safe. In some instances, a child enrolled in a day care center is harmed, attacked, assaulted, or molested by another child in the day care center. An attack at a day care center can have a profound effect on the victimized child as well as the family of the victimized child. Is a day care center liable for the injuries or damages caused by the attack of a child by another child enrolled in the day care center? Like many legal issues posed to me as a Child Injury Lawyer, the answer depends on the laws and regulations in place, the actions or inactions of the day care center, the knowledge on the part of the day care center, the foreseeability of the incident, preventability of the incident, and other factors.