Proving Daycare Negligence: When to Involve a Personal Injury Attorney

While many childhood injuries are the result of accidents, negligence can be a contributing factor. Learn more about common examples of negligence in childcare and how to determine if you have a viable case from daycare negligence attorney Paul Galm:

Examples of negligence in childcare

If your child is injured at daycare, any of these common types of negligence could be responsible:

Understaffing

There are many factors to properly staffing a daycare, including the number of children and their ages. If your child is injured at a time when the proper staff to child ratio is not met, you may have a daycare negligence case. Staff to child ratio standards depend on many aspects, including whether the children are in a mixed-age group. There are also maximum group sizes established independently of the number of staff on-site.

Lack of Training

Daycare center employees must meet strict guidelines to qualify as a staff member. In the state of Oregon, staff members must be 18 years or older and meet worker qualifications like having 20 semester hours of early childhood education, child development, or special education training at a college or university, a Child Development Associate credential, or at least one year of full-time work in a group program for children. There are additional standards established for specialized roles at childcare centers.

Lack of Supervision

Even if the staff meets the previous qualifications, you may be able to prove negligence if staff members were engaging in other activities, such as being on their phone at the time they should have been supervising the injured child.

How to Know if You Have a Viable Daycare Negligence Case

While all accidents and injuries incurred at daycare can be scary, not all injuries constitute negligence. The following factors point toward a viable child care negligence case:

Insufficient Care

Daycares are responsible for regularly providing food and water to your child, changing your child’s diaper and/or allowing your child access to the bathroom, and tending to your child if they are crying or screaming. If any of these needs are not met, the daycare could be found negligent in the event of a related injury.

Insufficient Supervision

If you believe that your child was injured as the result of a lack of supervision, you may have a daycare negligence case. This lack of supervision could include everything from understaffing or distracted employees to children being allowed to wander off the premises.

Dangerous Premises

Daycares are responsible for providing a safe environment for kids, so if the daycare is not up to code or if they have failed to repair broken items on the premises, they could be liable for daycare negligence in the event that a child is injured as a result of this danger.

Personal injury attorney Paul Galm has extensive experience in daycare negligence litigation and can help you get the compensation you deserve for your child’s injuries. Schedule your free consultation today.