You put a lot of effort into finding a daycare program for your child. You wanted to leave your child somewhere where he would be safe and happy during the hours that you were apart. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. Instead, the people that were supposed to keep your child safe were the ones who caused his injury. Whether that injury occurred because of abuse or neglect, it has harmed your child and you have the right to pursue a fair recovery on your child’s behalf. That’s where our experienced Kentucky daycare injury lawyers can help.
When you contact us, the experienced legal team at Gray & White Law will conduct a thorough investigation to find out exactly what happened to your child. Our daycare injury lawyers, staff nurse, and the rest of our legal team will determine what caused your child’s injury and discuss your legal options with you so that you can make the important decisions about how best to protect your child after a child care center injury.
How Children Are Hurt in Child Care Settings
While some daycare injuries are simply accidents, other times injuries occur because of something that the child care facility or an individual daycare worker did wrong. More specifically, daycares and preschools may be liable if the injury occurred because of:
- Negligence. Daycare staff and management owe the children who attend their facilities a duty of care. If individual daycare workers or the policy or procedures of the daycare center breach that duty of care and a child is hurt, then the family may have grounds for a negligence lawsuit.
- Abuse. Intentional abuse of any kind, sexual or non-sexual in nature, may result in significant injuries and result in criminal and civil lawsuits.
- The failure to comply with state regulations and standards. Kentucky Child Care Regulations require daycare facilities to comply with certain safety standards. Any violations of these standards may be evidence of negligence and could be relevant in a personal injury claim.
At first it can be difficult to know what caused your child’s injuries. Accordingly, it is important to take all signs of potential abuse or negligence seriously.
Signs Your Child May Be in Danger in His Child Care Center
Your child is too young to tell you what is happening. He can’t use words to report what is occurring at daycare, to tell you that he is scared at preschool, or even to tell you that he has been hurt in his child care center. However, your child may communicate potential signs of daycare abuse or negligence in other ways, such as:
- Behavioral changes.
- Excessive crying.
- Fear of being left at daycare.
- Unexplained bruises or marks.
- Burns.
- Cuts.
- Broken bones.
Additionally, you may notice signs of potential danger within the daycare, such as:
- Overcrowding.
- Stressed out or angry daycare providers.
- Broken equipment.
- Dangerous conditions such as uncovered electrical sockets, blind cords that are hanging too low, or other conditions that create safety hazards.
All of these signs should be taken seriously because they may indicate that your child has been hurt.
Types of Injuries Children Suffer in Daycare and Preschool Settings
Any time a child care center or an individual worker is negligent, a serious injury can result. Some potential injuries include:
- Allergic reactions due to the daycare’s negligence.
- Bite injuries.
- Brain or head injuries.
- Bruising.
- Broken bones.
- Burns.
- Choking on food or foreign objects.
- Dental injuries.
- Drowning or near drowning.
- Electrocution.
- Emotional injuries, including injuries from verbal abuse.
- Eye injuries.
- Fall injuries.
- Food-borne illnesses if food was not appropriately stored or handled..
- Injuries caused by other children.
- Injuries caused by outsiders gaining access to the daycare facility.
- Injuries caused when a child is allowed to wander away from a facility.
- Injuries from being struck by a vehicle.
- Lacerations.
- Playground injuries.
- Poisoning (typically by medication or chemicals that are not properly stored).
- Physical abuse injuries.
- Sexual abuse injuries.
- Shaken baby injuries.
- Sprains.
- Spinal cord injuries.
- Suffocation.
- Wrongful death.
If your child has been hurt because of abuse or negligence at a daycare facility, then it is important to know that your child’s injuries could have been prevented.
How Kentucky Daycare Facilities Should Have Protected Your Child
Whether your child was enrolled in a small home daycare, a large national daycare chain, a local preschool, or another child care center, the program had a duty to protect your child from injury. This means that the facility should have:
- Followed all applicable regulations, including staff-to-child ratios, hiring procedures, licensing, and properly maintaining the facility and its equipment.
- Provided your child with reasonable care and supervision.
- Made sure that your child was safe from abuse.
- Known how to act if a medical emergency occurred.
You had the right to trust that your child was well taken care of in the daycare facility that you selected. Any mistake or injury should have been reported promptly to you—if it had to occur at all. While you can’t go back and undo the harm that your child has already suffered, you can take action now to protect your child’s future.
How Our Kentucky Daycare Injury Lawyers Can Help Protect Your Child
You should not confront the person responsible for your child’s injuries; however, you should promptly remove your child from the daycare and contact the authorities and daycare injury lawyers for help.
Your child is too young to take action alone. Instead, you must be your child’s voice and fight for your child’s fair recovery of damages. If you take action now then your child may be compensated for his:
- Medical care.
- Ongoing disability, disfigurement, or other complication of his injury.
- Physical pain.
- Emotional suffering.
- Other costs, expenses, losses, and damages.
While your child is counting on you, you don’t have to take legal action alone. Instead, our legal team is able to help you make sure that all of your child’s legal rights are protected while you focus on taking care of your child. Our Kentucky daycare injury lawyers have the resources, the experience, and the drive to negotiate a fair settlement or to try your child’s case in court.
To learn more about how we can help your family now, please contact us via this website or at the phone number above to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.