San Antonio Daycare Abuse Law Firm

What Parents Must Do in the Event of Daycare Abuse to Your Child

When a child suffers some form of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse at a daycare facility in San Antonio, the first thing the parent asks is who is responsible for such a terrible act? The next thing they wonder is how this person or persons can be brought to justice, both criminally and civilly.

How can the daycare facility make certain it will never happen again? This is where bringing a civil complaint, with the assistance of a daycare facility abuse liability attorney, becomes an effective weapon in their quest. By paying damages for responsibility, the abusive or negligent party is held accountable for causing harm to a child in a daycare facility.

However, the issues surrounding daycare abuse liability and negligence are numerous and not all that well-known. There are many claims of negligence that an aggrieved family can bring against a liable party should their child suffer abuse in a Texas daycare center. A number of different negligence claims may be brought, but if only one claim can be substantiated, the defendant (or defendants) can then be held liable for the consequences of their actions. This is why we are taking a few moments to explain the many claims that can be made when it comes to daycare abuse liability and negligence and the civil process designed to identify the guilty parties and bring them to justice.

It’s a Sad Fact That Child Abuse Happens All Too Often

Though recent statistics are hard to come by as to the actual number of child abuse and neglect cases that occur in Texas, national trends show the number of child abuse and negligence cases reported, as well as the number of liability and other damage-related lawsuits that are filed against those who abuse children, is definitely on the rise.

Child abuse occurs in several forms. It can involve neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse emotional mistreatment or, not as well-known, offensive actions that are not meant to be abusive, but still harm children physically, emotionally and psychologically. Often, the abuse can involve more than one of the above-mentioned offenses.

We do know that across America, at least five children die every day because of child abuse, well over 20,000 children in the U.S suffer every day from abuse, and there are at least a quarter million active child abuse cases being investigated every year. Nationally, child neglect makes up about half of reported abuse cases. Physical abuse involves between 15-20%, sexual abuse at least 10-15%, with emotional and other less-pernicious forms of child abuse accounting for the rest of reported cases. All of these numbers are conservative estimates based on research that, in some areas, has not been updated in several years.

This information is chilling indeed. It speaks to the need that every responsible adult must report suspected child abuse to law officials and the state agencies charged to investigate these pernicious and predatory crimes so those little ones who can’t defend themselves from this heinous behavior can have a hope for a better tomorrow.

While daycare abuse incidents make for attention-grabbing headlines, state agencies and law enforcement officials tell us that daycare-related abuse, foster parent abuse, and institutional abuse probably don’t comprise more than 5 percent of confirmed child abuse cases. Over the years, that percentage has remained relatively stable. So, even though the occurrences of daycare abuse can often be over amplified by media sensationalization, the actual occurrence of “day care or institutional child abuse” is still not very pervasive. But even one incident of daycare center abuse is one too many. If your child is suffering from abuse at a daycare center, you will not find any comfort in those comparatively small odds.

Recognizing the Signs of Daycare Abuse or Neglect in Your Child

If you have a good reason to suspect that your child is suffering some type of abuse while at the daycare center that you trust to guard your child’s welfare, you can probably see the signs if you are carefully observant. Most of the time, your good parental instincts and intuition can be trusted to tell you when your child is acting differently. But, just as often, those signs can be subtle and hard to pin-down because small children can have a hard time expressing their emotions or telling you what is really going on in their little minds. But one thing we know - abused children often act confused or afraid for no apparent reason. Sometimes they don’t know how wrong the child abuse they might be suffering from is. Maybe they think that if they tell you about the abuse, something even worse will happen to them, or someone they love. In their minds, not only does the abuse feel inexplicably wrong to them, they feel they must guard this dirty secret when the abuser threatens to harm you or another family member in order to assure your child’s continued silence. This can be very common behavior by a child abuser in order to avoid suspicion for their despicable behavior.

These are just a few of the many reasons why your child’s ongoing ordeal of abuse at the hands of a daycare or other child care worker can remain hidden, forcing your little one to suffer in silence and by extension, the rest of your family who remain in the dark and unaware of the pain your child suffers. The following are some things to look for in your child’s behavior that might tell you if he or she suffers abuse from a child care professional:

Physical abuse may be noticeable if you see any of these signs in your child:

• If there unexplained bruises or swollen areas on your child’s body.
• Unexplained injuries such as burns, cuts, scratches, or especially fractures.
• Crying, fighting or other aggressive behavior.
• Noticeable mood swings.
• An abnormal desire not to go to daycare. Sometimes it can become acute fear.
• Failure to engage in normal child-like activities or play.
• Complaints of pain, but an inability or aversion to fully or truthfully describe how it happened.

Sexual abuse may be perceived by any of these signs:

• Difficulty sitting or walking.
• Torn or stained underclothes.
• Bleeding, bruises or rashes in or near the genital area.
• The sudden development of urinary tract infection or yeast infections in a little girl.
• An abnormal interest in sexual issues.
• Inappropriate sexual playing when the child is with friends.
• Fear of even innocent physical contact.

Emotional abuse may manifest itself if you see any of the following characteristics in your child:

• Speech disorders.
• Delays in normal development.
• Severe allergies, asthma, or ulcers.
• Appearance of a habitual disorder, such as thumb-sucking, rocking back and forth, or aggression such as biting.
• Anti-social or hyper-aggressive behavior.
• Ongoing nightmares, an inability to sleep, or some other form of sleep disorder.
• Pronounced extremes in the way they behave which can appear to be manic, quickly moving from passive behavior to aggressive and then rapidly back.

Other evidence of abuse or neglect may include:

• A daycare that discourages unscheduled parent or guardian visitations.
• Dirty diapers or dirty appearance.
• Understaffing or a disproportionately small number of daycare supervisors to children.
• Abnormal thirst or hunger after your child leaves daycare.
• Withdrawal symptoms; either the child withdrawing from his or her friends at the daycare center or from family activities.
• Aggressive behavior.

Civil Options Open to Texas Parents and Guardians if Your Child Suffers Daycare Abuse

Negligent supervision, legally referred to as negligent entrustment, can be claimed in the event that a supervising adult failed to provide for the safety of a child in their care. Such a claim can be brought against a daycare worker, a peripheral employee such as a bus driver or janitor, or any other adult whose job it is to watch over a child or group of children at daycare. When an adult fails to appropriately respond or otherwise prevent a dangerous situation, or immediately remove a child from a hazardous circumstance and the child then suffers physical or psychological injury (or death), this person or people may be held liable through a claim of negligent entrustment.

Negligent hiring practices by the daycare center may also be claimed in instances where an employer, whether the daycare itself or an ancillary employer like a bus company, failed to conduct a reasonable background check on a prospective employee. If a soon-to-be employee with a criminal history or a background that suggests this person is apt to future, detrimental behavior, subsequently commits an act of child abuse, the employer can be included as a defendant in a daycare child abuse personal injury case because of negligent hiring practices.

Many other claims of negligence can be brought against a liable daycare center, its workers, or other entities involved in the event of San Antonio daycare child abuse. For example:

• Failure to meet the very clear regulations that are governed by the Texas Minimum Standards for Licensed Child Care Centers.
• Breach of contract.
• Failure to show general competency or sound judgment in caring for your child.
• Lack of proper supervision by daycare employees.
• Failure to immediately remove a child from a dangerous situation.
• Failure to meet an acceptable standard of care for a daycare, after-school program, shelter care, or home child-care.
• Failure to provide reasonable and timely treatment of an injured child.
• A claim of res ipsa loquitor (“the thing speaks for itself”), which means that a child under the exclusive control of the daycare center would not have experienced an injury were it not for the negligent behavior of a daycare worker or other entity at the site.
• Misrepresentation or fraud.
• General negligence.

When any of these claims of daycare abuse liability and negligence can be substantiated against a liable party, the aggrieved family will likely be able to seek compensation and pursue justice against all negligent parties through a personal injury lawsuit in San Antonio. By seeking legal action against these liable parties who directly caused your child harm, or by proving they allowed harm to befall your child, your family will be working to make certain that future incidents do not occur to other children because of continued negligent behavior of a daycare center, its workers, or others involved in the daily routine of a daycare center’s business.

What to do First if You Suspect Your Child Suffers From Daycare Abuse

If you reasonably suspect that your child is experiencing physical harm, emotional damage, or sexual abuse while at a San Antonio, or any other Texas daycare center, the first thing to do is talk quietly with your spouse or partner and decide together if your child is behaving unusually or acting out of the ordinary. If you remain concerned, the next suggested step is to quietly reach out to other parents who have children at the same daycare center and ask if they have similar concerns or suspicions. They may also notice a sudden, different behavior in their children, which could also lead them to form the same suspicions as you.

But if you all agree there is something wrong, it’s wise to not immediately jump to the quick conclusion that a daycare worker is responsible without further, discrete investigation. Sometimes the “abuse” is really your child’s reaction to a bullying child. Carefully visiting with other parents may help you to identify a bully as the actual reason for your child’s altered behavior. Once you rule out unusual social situations caused by misbehaving children at the daycare center, the evidence that actual worker abuse could be causing your child’s uneasy behavior might become clearer. Quietly comparing notes with other parents will also help you, as a group, decide on an effective course of action that will guard all of your little children.

Typically, the signs of physical abuse and sexual abuse are more apparent than those found in emotional abuse or child neglect. However, emotional abuse to a child or neglect of a child can also leave deep and lasting emotional scars. One way to monitor the emotional health, or changes, of a child in daycare is to pay very careful attention to the words and expressions they use to describe their time at the daycare center. Even when things are going well, good parents make it a routine part of their day to ask them about their time at the daycare facility. Let your children know that you really are interested in their day at daycare and put them at ease in talking about it. Because if there is something wrong, and since you and your child have a history of visiting about their day, every day, you’re more likely to see the signs that something is wrong, and why, sooner than later. Children will let you know when things aren’t right if you encourage them in a calm, stress-free manner because they know that you genuinely care about their day at daycare, whether something is wrong or not.

If they begin to appear reluctant to tell you of their daycare experiences, or appear unexplainably sad or fearful when talking about it, you may be right to be concerned and need to act quickly in getting to the bottom of whatever the problem is.

If your child is consistently exhibiting any of the signs previously described, it might be a tipoff that alerts you to possible child abuse or child neglect. If you clearly suspect that the problem is actually a daycare worker or some other adult who is in charge of caring for you child, contact your local police or county sheriff at once, or the San Antonio Child Protective Services Division (CPS) of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

As all educators and adults who supervise children for a living well-know, it is the law in Texas that such professionals who even remotely suspect that child abuse has occurred must immediately contact CPS. Incidents of suspected child abuse that may require such immediate attention can be reported to the CPS toll-free abuse hotline at 1-800-252-5400 any time of the day, seven days a week. If the abuse has clearly caused an emergency situation, they must contact local law enforcement (911) without delay. If an emergency response is not necessary, the CPS online reporting system on the Web (www.txabusehotline.org) may be used. Allegations of child abuse sent through the CPS Web site can take up to 24 hours to process and generate a response.

The next step that needs to be taken quickly is to seek appropriate medical attention for your child. An experienced doctor will know what to look for in regards to suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. They are duty-bound to conduct a thorough examination of your child in order to fully assess whether or not daycare child abuse or neglect has occurred. Should you need assistance in finding proper medical attention, our San Antonio daycare facility abuse liability attorneys can assist you to find the appropriate medical or psychological help for your child.

Who Is Liable for San Antonio Daycare Center-related Child Abuse?

In the legal world, the person responsible for an injury is called the “liable party.” The specific circumstances surrounding a daycare abuse case will likely dictate who the liable parties are. There have also been many instances of daycare abuse where the offender is not a daycare worker or daycare teacher, but rather a support employee like the business manager or someone else with the daycare facility who does not commonly come in contact with the abused child. For example, a liable party might be a part-time worker at the center such as a janitor or bus driver.

Sometimes family members of daycare workers are implicated in daycare abuse cases. If an employee of a daycare center, or worker with another company who has dealings with the center, is guilty of child abuse at your daycare center, we’ve already told you how both the employee and the employer can be held liable for this employee’s negligent or predatory behavior. In the event that one or more perpetrators have been found to have committed child abuse in Texas, separate civil lawsuits may be pursued against each one for their particular act of negligence. This is why a careful investigation by both law enforcement officials and your San Antonio daycare facility abuse liability attorneys must be made in order to identify and hold fully liable all who are responsible for the full extent of their negligent or abusive behavior.

However, heed this strong word of warning: If allegations against alleged child abusers that, upon investigation, prove to be improper, ill-founded or reckless, they can damage a child care worker’s good name and reputation. The parents who leveled those incorrect charges run a dangerous risk of becoming the target of civil slander or liable charges by the accused daycare worker once he or she is exonerated. So it’s vital that everyone get things 100% right and the alleged child abuser investigated is actually the guilty person. Daycare facility abuse liability attorney Michael Grossman can help you understand why you must approach daycare abuse or neglect allegations quietly and very delicately until you are completely certain that legal action must be taken.

The Differences Between Child Neglect and Abuse

Daycare centers must prove reasonable efforts are made to provide for your child’s safety. A daycare worker or the center itself may also be the target of civil litigation through a charge of general negligence. You know that negligent hiring practices may be proven if the daycare center did not perform due diligence in vetting an employee prior to their coming to work.

Another claim of negligent supervision may be cited as grounds for a personal injury lawsuit, even if a child suffered an injury due to an adult becoming distracted for even a few seconds. Unlike many other personal injury cases that only have one, or only a scant few options, when it comes to citing claims of negligence, child abuse cases may involve many different types of inattentive or negligent behavior as contributing factors to your child’s injury. Again, if just one claim of negligence is substantiated, then you are allowed to seek compensation for the injuries suffered by you and your child.

Your Opponents in a Daycare Abuse or Negligence Lawsuit Can Be Vicious

When an employee of a daycare center is found liable for an incident of child abuse, the employer themselves and their parent company will likely be held explicitly liable for this child abuse incident. But sometimes finding out who the actual owner of a daycare center is can pose several challenges. While some daycares are privately owned, many others are owned by parent corporations with substantial legal clout on their side. Some daycare centers can be owned by “shell corporations” where the actual owner is unknown without a great deal of intense investigation. Without an experienced San Antonio daycare abuse attorney to represent you against such formidable defendants, justice for your child could end before it begins. In addition to any legal investigation, it is possible that discovering the actual owner of a daycare facility in San Antonio may require the work of independent investigators to uncover the truly responsible owner who bears the financial liability for your child’s daycare abuse.

That company’s insurance carrier is all but certain to be responsible for the defendant compensating you in a daycare liability case. However, be aware that insurance companies all-too-often have experience in dealing with similar cases brought against the defendants they represent, as well as civil liability cases in general. Insurance carriers and their attorneys are well-armed to aggressively defend their interests to the fullest. If they are successful, a great deal of money is saved by the insurance carrier.

Contact Grossman Law Offices to Speak with a San Antonio Daycare Facility Abuse Liability Attorney

Regardless of whether these defendants must answer criminal charges, a personal injury lawsuit can be brought against those responsible for child abuse at a San Antonio daycare facility. While no amount of money might seem to be fair compensation for the suffering caused to your child, damages assessed against those liable can be viewed as a punitive measure. By seeking, and winning, a civil case against those whose negligence causes harm to your child, you are working to fight daycare child abuse or neglect that would certainly harm another child, and save other families from the agony and pain you are now dealing with.

If you suspect your child may be suffering from physical abuse, emotional abuse, or sexual abuse at a daycare center, contact Grossman Law Office’s daycare facility abuse liability attorneys toll-free at 1-855-393-0000. You may also send us an email or fill out the contact form at the top of this page. We provide a free, comprehensive and fully confidential legal consultation. We encourage you to ask however many questions you need in order to completely understand your child’s daycare abuse injury case and how it may be best pursued.

After we learn more about your needs and the facts surrounding the case, we can share with you all possible legal options and their likely result. If you wish to proceed in seeking legal action against those responsible for harming your child, we can help you pursue justice through a personal injury lawsuit in a Texas civil court. Once we are engaged, we will conduct an in-depth investigation of every aspect surrounding the daycare provider, its workers, and the abuse you suspect. We will aggressively negotiate with all of your opponents to reach a fair settlement. If they don’t want to settle, we’ll just as forcefully represent you and your child in court.

We despise those who abuse and neglect children too. Like you, we want to hold these monstrous people fully accountable for their actions and bring them to full justice for their offenses.