Fayetteville, AR Daycare Injury Lawyer
Sending your child to daycare is a major life event in many parents lives, however, it is also a necessary event for many parents. However, what happens when you send your child to daycare and they are injured, or end up on a trip to the hospital? Not only will you be worried about your child’s health and well-being but you also may have concerns about your finances.
If your child was injured while at a daycare facility, and you think that there is someone else to blame, then you should contact one of our attorneys. Ken Kieklak, Attorney at Law knows that there is nothing more important or valuable to you than your child’s safety.
Common Causes of Daycare Accidents and Injuries
Children and toddlers are known for being energetic and getting into everything. We expect daycare workers, teachers, and staff to not only keep an eye on our children but also to provide a safe environment for our children. In Arkansas, the Department of Human Services is tasked with the oversight of daycare centers, and despite expansive regulations and safety protocols, accidents in daycare facilities happen. However, daycare centers can be filled with hazards that can lead to accidents including:
- Unsupervised children
- Unsafe playground equipment
- Loose handrails
- Wet floors
- Falling objects
- Ladders
- Chemicals accessible to children
- Medications not stored properly
- Unsafe sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots
- Uneven, crumbling, or dangerous walkways, hallways, and doorways
- Unsafe and defective toys
- Children left unsupervised
- Access to swimming pools
Parents and guardians trust daycares to keep their children safe from harm. However, it is a sad reality that it only takes a second for a worker to turn their back and your child to be injured.
Who is Responsible for Your Child’s Injuries at a Daycare?
When you drop your child of at a daycare facility you expect that the workers and caregivers will keep your child safe and out of harms way. However, all too often a worker who is not paying attention can miss a child in a dangerous position. Daycare facilities are highly regulated by the Department of Human Services and provide comprehensive regulation’s and requirements for daycare centers. If a daycare center breaches one of these regulations, then this may be a basis for imposing liability. However, a parent will need to demonstrate that not only was there a violation, but that there was some negligence which resulted in their child’s injury.
Negligence is often the basis of a daycare injury claim, and is the root of many other personal injury claims. Negligence claims are based on four elements, each of which must be proved to establish liability on the part of a daycare facility.
- A day care center has a duty to not only follow all of the applicable regulations, but daycare centers and nursery’s also have a duty to provide all the reasonable and necessary care for a child.
- Breach of Duty – A breach of the duty of care refers to the failure of a nursery center or worker to act in a reasonable manner. One means, but not the only means of proving a breach of duty is to demonstrate that the nursery center has breached one of one of the safety regulations prescribed in by the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
- Causation – The causation element of a personal injury claim is often one of the most difficult elements to prove. To meet this element of a nursery center injury claim you will need to demonstrate that the daycare center’s breach of duty was the actual and proximate cause of the child’s injuries.
- Damages – This element generally refers to the injuries or damages suffered by the child such as a broken bone and the resulting medical bills.
When you entrust your child to the care of a nursery center they can be held liable for any injury that the child suffers while they are while under their care. Professional caregivers are required to exercise the highest degree of care when they are charged with protecting a child. This duty of care includes taking all appropriate precautions that may be necessary to prevent dangerous conditions from being on the premises. When a daycare center fails to follow their duty of care to your child, and the child is subsequently injured as a result, then the daycare center of the nursery can be held responsible for any injury.
However, as any parent will tell you that children don’t always play a gently as they should. There is an important distinction between a child who is injured by another child as a result of normal children’s’ play and a child who is injured because the daycare or nursery was negligent. In most situations, when a child at a daycare center is injured by another child, it is the result of normal childhood play. Courts typically recognize that when children interact normally, physical injury is a possibility. However, if there is a child who is particularly aggressive and is known for causing injuries to other children, and the daycare center does not take any action to remedy that danger, then liability may be a possibility.
Contact Arkansas Daycare Injury Lawyer Ken Kieklak
If your child was injured while at a daycare or nursery center because of another’s negligence, you may have a case to recover for your child’s injuries and expenses. To speak with an experienced Fayetteville, Arkansas personal injury attorney, call Ken Kieklak at (479) 316-0438, or contact us online.