Articles Posted in Daycare Injuries

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that as American families increasingly rely on dual incomes, childcare outside the home is the norm. In a typical week, 61 percent of children under 5 were in some type of regular child care arrangement, whether with a relative or in a daycare center.

We trust these individuals and facilities to provide the very best care for our children. At the very least, we expect them to keep our children safe. In fact, by taking on a supervisory role, they have  a legal duty to use reasonable care in shielding children from foreseeable harm.

Unfortunately, this is not always, and Boston day care injuries are far too common.

Boston personal injuryThis is not to say that all accidents are the result of someone’s negligence, as children are after all children, and some accidents cannot be prevented. However, children cannot, by virtue of their age and inexperience, be expected to foresee all possible dangers. It is negligence if a foreseeable danger existed and the daycare worker or caregiver failed to take action to mitigate that risk. And of course, child abuse at a daycare center is not only criminal, it is a legal breach of duty of care, and may be actionable in civil court.  Continue reading

There are many ways a child can get injured at even the most well staffed daycare facility in Boston.  Even with proper supervision and the best safety protection, children tend to run and trip and that can result in a serious personal injury.  While your child can fall and become injured without any negligence whatsoever, the daycare employees are sometimes very careless  in what they do after the accident and it is often this response, or lack thereof, that can lead to aggravation of the injury, and that is where negligence comes into play.

Daycare Workers Responsibilities in Boston Child Injury Cases

Boston personal injuryUnder the law in Massachusetts, the daycare workers have a duty of due care to prevent foreseeable harm to foreseeable plaintiffs, and in the case of daycare injuries, we are talking about the children enrolled in the program.  This  includes acting as reasonable and prudent daycare provider in preventing injury to the children, but in responding properly if a child is injured. Continue reading

If a child suffers abuse or neglect at a daycare facility, there is a high likelihood police will be called. This could be because the parents called the police, but the manager at a daycare center is also a mandated reporter and must contact the police.  The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) typically gets involved, and it may result in charges being filed against the daycare staff member or manager/owner responsible for the alleged child abuse and neglect.

Boston Personal Injury However, charges may not be filed right away.  The police and DCF may first wish to conduct and investigation.  This can include interviewing witnesses, reviewing camera footage at the daycare, examining medical records pertaining to the child, as well as speaking with parents and the child if the child is old enough to communicate. Continue reading

When a parent drops off a child at a daycare center before work, they are placing much trust in the facility. Parents expect the center is in good and clean condition, the staff is properly trained and background checked and children are being properly cared for and supervised at all times.

Daycare Injury While it is true that most parents will choose to tour several daycare facilities before selecting one, they are still placing a lot of trust in management and staff to keep their children safe.  The problem is compounded in big cities, where daycare centers are often lacking any vacancies and you have much less choice in where to send you child.

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According to a recent news article from ABC News, a childcare worker is now in jail after being accused of hitting a 9-month-old child when that baby would not stop crying.  This particular defendant was running a childcare center out of her apartment.  While many childcare providers do so in an actual facility, it is not uncommon for people to bring their children to a childcare provider who operates a business out of his of her home.  While there may be licensing and inspection issues with doing so, this is something that happens in Boston and around the country on a regular basis, as childcare has become so expensive.

childWith respect to this case, prosecutors have said police first learned of this alleged situation when a neighbor saw the woman slapping a small child in the face multiple times.  This caused great concern for the witness, and she flagged down a police officer who was already in the area. This witness allegedly told the investigators that this was not the first time she had seen this woman being abusive towards the children in her care.  She alleged that she had seen defendant throw the baby across an apartment and that she was letting other tenants abuse the child. Continue reading

When we drop our children off at daycare, we hope for the best and assume they will be fine. However, there is always a chance that an accident will happen.  Day care workers and administrators have a duty to ensure your child is protected from unreasonable and/ or foreseeable hazards. When they fail, they may be held liable.

eating-snake-1404011Whether an accident is preventable or not may come down to a case-by-case determination, but it has a lot do do with whether the accident was foreseeable.  The more common a certain type of accident is, the more foreseeable it may be. Continue reading

According to a recent news feature from ABC News, one father is asking police and prosecutors to file charges against staff or owners at his child’s daycare facility after his son came home with abrasions all over his face.

marker-1480659The father said the previous night, two of his children had drawn on each other’s faces with permanent markers.  When he realized what they had done, he did his best to wash off the black marker with soap and water, but, as most people are familiar, it is very difficult to get all the marker off, and it is usually necessary to just wait until it fades on its own.  This can usually take a day or two, but there is no harm caused by the marks other than how it looks. Continue reading

There is nothing more tragic than a death of a small child.  The effects on the parents can be so devastating it’s hard to even comprehend what they must be going through following such a tragedy. When the death of a child is alleged to be the result of what is essentially the reckless or intentional actions of another, it would be hard to even express the pain and suffering of the child’s family in words.

1172422_police_on_the_sceneAccording to a recent news feature from the Boston Herald, the defendant who is accused of killing a child at a daycare facility she was operating has decided to speak out in her defense. She is trying to get the charges against her dismissed and said she is still hurting and grieving over the tragic death of a child in her care.  She said she did not do anything that resulted in the death of the infant.  Continue reading

When we typically think of a daycare accident Boston, or the greater Boston area such as the town of Billerica, we tend to think of a child somehow getting hurt by falling, being attacked by another student, eating something he or she wasn’t supposed to, or even walking into the edge of a table.

868517_a_driverHowever, according to a recent news article from CBS Local Boston, a young child was injured when a sport utility vehicle (SUV) crashed into a daycare facility in Billerica, Massachusetts.  Authorities have said that local woman, who was 38 years old, was driving her SUV when she had what is believed to be a medical incident that caused her to lose control.  Continue reading

A recent news feature from ABC News reports that a five-year-old boy was allegedly injured by bullies at a daycare in Tampa, Florida.  Authorities are saying that the boy suffered serious wounds to his face and abdominal region as result of that they are calling severe physical bullying or abuse. The family has released pictures showing the child with bruises all over the side of his face from his jaw to his forehead.

1350860_hand-in-handWhen the incident occurred, his parents immediately called the local police and the Department of Children and Families, which is the agency responsible for investigation of any incidents of child abuse and also with the oversight of daycare facilities within the state, including the one which this child was attending. Continue reading

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