Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
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.
Is there a legal case of a day care center failed to notify a parent of an injury and timely fashion? Day care centers at the duty to Carrigan supervise the children enrolled in the program. Under most state day care regulations, there are provisions in the day care center rules that require the facility to kindly notify a parent when there is injury and illness of the child. Often times I am asked, as a Child Injury Lawyer, if the failure to notify a parent of an illness or injury can the the basis of a case or claim to bring against the day care center. It is very important that day care centers following the state mandated rules and regulations as well as the facilitity’s own policies and procedures. As such, a day care center should timely notify the parents when there is an incident or injury involving the child; however the failure to timely notify the parent of an incident or injury does not necessarily form the basis of a viable civil claim or case against the day care center by the parent seeking compensation for the negligent or bad conduct by the day care center. There are essentially four elements to a day care center claim or case as follows:
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is launching a new rating system for day care centers in the State of Georgia. It is estimated that there are 6000 or so day care centers in Georgia. About 25 % of these day care centers are enrolled to participate in the Three Star Child Care Rating System that will go live in July 1, 2013. It will take some time to get the 1200 or so day care centers properly rated, evaluated, and listed online to provide information to parents considering their day care / child care options in the State of Georgia. Since the Three Star Rating system is voluntary, there are many very good day care center as well many bad ones that may have no rating at all. Furthermore, a Three Star Rating may be a good sign that a day care center follows rules and regulations and otherwise generally provides a safe environment for children; however, a parent should still use his or her best judgment, common sense, and due diligence when evaluating or re-evaluating a day care center in the State of Georgia. You can read more about the new Three Star Child Care Rating System at 
In North Carolina and other States, infants are at risk for serious personal injury and even wrongful death while under the care of a day care center. Many people believe that the safest “activity” for an infant at a day care center is nap time or sleeping time. Actually, nap or sleep time can be a very dangerous activity if the child is not properly monitored. In particular, there are serious risks to an infant when an infant is placed on his or her stomach. The risks include those related to suffocation especially when an infant is placed on a soft mattress or near stuffed objects. The National MCH Center for Child Death Review has more information on the topic of 
In Wisconsin, day care centers, that provide for transportation on a van or a bus for six or more passengers, are required to have a safety alarm installed. The law was put in place in response to the tragic death of Jalen Knox-Perkins who was mistakenly left in a day care van by a Milwaukee Wisconsin day care center. Jalen was only 4 months old at the time of the incident. The death of this child was a loss for the family, day care center, and community. The death of Jalen Knox-Perkins helped, in part, convince lawmakers in the State of Wisconsin to pass a law requiring safety alarms be placed in day care center vans and buses.
When a child is injured or dies at a day care center, a parent is often faced with a number of issues and challenges. Many questions come to mind. How could this happen? Did I leave my child in the wrong facility? What exactly happened? What am I going to do next? What should I do next? As a Child Injury Lawyer, I am often contacted after a child is injured or when a child dies while under the care of a day care center. Here are the key factors that are evaluated when a child is injured or dies at a day care center:
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.