Atlanta Daycare Injury Lawyer

Millions of parents entrust the care of their children to daycare centers across the nation every day.

Working parents must trust the caretakers of these facilities with the safety and well-being of their children. They drop them off with the belief that the center has implemented all rules and regulations to ensure the safest practices and standard of care.

When that trust has been broken — and your child has been injured as a result — you may be worried about the long-term physical and emotional trauma, as well as how you’ll pay for the medical costs and other damages you have suffered.

If your child was injured at a daycare center and the injuries are due to negligence of the center or staff, as the parents or guardians of the child, you can file a claim to seek to recoup all damages.

It may be time to contact an Atlanta daycare injury lawyer. CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm can help you file a claim to seek to see the maximum compensation possible.

Schedule a 100% free consultation to learn how our experienced personal injury attorneys can assist you with your daycare injury claim.

The CEO Lawyer’s free, confidential case review is designed to help answer your questions and arm you with the knowledge you need to start or continue with the claims process. To schedule your no-obligation case review, contact us online or call (404) 777-8800.

How Can an Atlanta Daycare Injury Attorney Help You?

An experienced Atlanta daycare injury attorney can provide knowledgeable support in your claim to seek compensation for personal injuries or abuse that occurred at the daycare facility. It’s a multi-step process requiring knowledge, dedication, and determination to explore and establish all avenues of recovery for damages.

Part of the process includes the ability to prove negligence in your daycare injury case. This may be a difficult task, that a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer in Atlanta and legal team can help you prepare for, even when the care facility wants to deny liability or refuses to provide all evidence. Our sole goal is supporting your claim and moving it forward with the with the most optimal legal strategy possible.

Benefits Of Working With The CEO Lawyer

There are many benefits to working with The CEO Lawyer immediately after the injury has occurred, or at any time during your daycare injury claim.

We understand that caring for a child with injuries can be demanding, and it may be overwhelming to simultaneously seek damages from the responsible parties. However, you don’t have to do this alone. CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm is here to help you and your family pursue your legal options.

Some of the many benefits of choosing The CEO Lawyer include providing you with:

• A comprehensive case review, and case management with dedicated professionals willing to fight for your rights
• A detailed calculation of a fair compensation package, specific to your daycare injury claim
• Our experience earned from thousands of personal injury cases
• Care, compassion, and determination to guide your family through all phases of litigation, potentially including discovery, trial, and punitive damages requests
• Negotiation for settlement offers or preparation of a lawsuit on your behalf

Main Causes Of Child Injury In Daycare Centers

With over 3,000 child care centers in the state of Georgia, most centers take care to avoid the accidents and follow safety regulations. However, well-meaning safety measures are not always enough to ensure the welfare of each and every child. Further, some facilities slip on basic safety practices, while others do not properly vet and supervise the employees they hire.

As any parent knows, groups of children playing on their own can often lead to minor injuries — but distracted employees, staff errors, and negligent behavior can create a dangerous environment for young children, leading to severe injuries that may have lifelong ramifications.

Studies show that children in daycare centers that experience minor injuries are more likely to sustain severe injuries, and that children under five years old are the most at-risk age group for severe injuries

Although the state of Georgia has a star rating program to identify childcare centers that met or exceed licensing requirements, the requirements are not fail-proof.  Accidents happen, and so our injury attorneys fight to ensure that you can receive compensation from the damages you and your family have endured together.

Different Types Of Daycare Centers

Childcare centers encompass daycare facilities for infants and toddlers, preschools, and before and after school programs. Most daycare facilities are for children under six years of age. However, some offer after-school programs for older children or siblings of daycare participants.

Here are common categories for childcare programs:

• Traditional daycare centers — Typically in commercial buildings, where children are grouped by age and can vary in numbers. Interchangeably called child care centers, often with a maximum age of 6 years. Daycare centers may also have an infant center component.
• In-home daycare — Where a child care provider has set up a small daycare program in their home
• Preschools — Ranging from ages as early as 2 ½ or three years old and continuing until the start of kindergarten or five years old
• Before and after school programs — Provide child care during the hours before school starts and after school ends and may also include child care during holidays and over the summer
• Nannies or au pair — Sometimes provided via an agency, and often one-on-one care or for three or fewer children total — nannies might live in the home, but even if they are not live-in, they provide full-time child care.
• Babysitter or relatives — When a relative or a friend provides child care services in the child’s or caregiver’s home

Minimum Staffing for Daycares in Georgia

Rules and regulations in the state of Georgia stipulate that the maximum ratio of adults to children depends on the age of the child.  For example, the allowed ratio the staff to child ratio for two years olds is one adult to up to 10 children.

Georgia regulations dictate the following staff-to-children ratios:

• Infants under one year or any child that is not walking who is under eighteen months of age, the ratio is 1:6
• One-year-old walking, the ratio is 1:8
• Two years old, the ratio is 1:10
• Three-year-olds the ratio is 1:15
• Four-year-olds the ratio is 1:18
• Five-year-olds the ratio is 1:20
• Six-year-olds the ratio is 1:25

As you can see, the number of children under the care of one adult steadily increases as the children grow older until you reach a ratio of one teacher to a maximum of 25 children for a group of six-year-olds.  If the daycare center has mixed age groups, then the ratio is calculated according to the youngest participants in the group. Staff-to-child requirements may differ during naptime; when the children are sleeping.  At that time there may be only one adult supervising an entire group.

If there has been an incident at your daycare center or childcare facility and you suspect that overcrowding and understaffing may be the cause, it’s important to confirm current local and state regulations for up-to-date information and contact a lawyer.

Common Hazards In Daycare Centers

In childcare centers the most common hazards identified in daycare centers are

• Unattended children — Including when a staff member’s attention is drawn away and children are left inadequately unsupervised
• Lack of safety protocols — Improper storage of cleaners or toxic substances that are not locked away or stored out of reach
• Open stairs — Includes stairwells, entryways, and landings that are not properly blocked from entrance
• Wet surfaces — In the case of a spill or after cleaning where the surface might be slippery
• Faulty playground equipment — If the playground equipment is old, or if it has not been maintained on schedule or adequately checked for safe use
• Hazards stemming from wear and tear — On furniture, or toys where shard edges protrude or small jagged and broken pieces can create a chocking hazard
• Motor vehicle accidents — Including accidents that occur in the parking area of the facility
• Failure to screen or improperly train employees — When employees don’t follow the rules and regulations or they are hired with little or no experience in child care

What Are the Most Common Daycare Injuries?

The Childcare Safety Network reports that falls in the playground tend to be the most severe and can result in fractures and head injuries. Other common injuries in daycare include:

• Lacerations and puncture wounds — Including scratches from broken toys and punctures from equipment that may require stitches
• Bites and bruises — Human bites or animal, as well as bruising from falls, strikes, or objects falling from high surfaces
• Concussions and traumatic brain injuries — from falls or collisions resulting in head trauma; with severe head injuries in children there’s a high propensity that they can lead to permanent difficulties and disabilities as an adult
• Burns — Pediatric burns on small children can be quite severe and require prolonged medical care and attention to prevent nerve damage or scarring
• Bone fractures and dislocations — From falls or falling objects, fractures are often complicated in growing children and can require medical specialists to ensure there is no damage to growth plates, or long-term damage to ligaments, tissues or joints.
• Dental injuries — When teeth are broken, or another dental treatment is required for optimal dental health as a result of the daycare injury
• Suffocation or choking — Instances where you or your family has experienced the devastating loss of a child due to a fatal incident of suffocation or choking while under care at a daycare center; sadly, choking is a leading cause of death in children ages 14 and under

With proper precautions, many of these injuries can be avoided.  However, once in motion, these types of daycare injuries have the potential to cause severe damage that may require emergency pediatric trauma care.

Personal Injury Claims at Daycare Centers in Atlanta

In Georgia, the Residential Child Care Licensing (RCCL) unit inspects, monitors, licenses, and registers a variety of childcare facilities. Their goal is to monitor childcare centers to make sure they follow state statutes and regulations for safe operations. Additionally, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning has established rules and regulations for childcare learning centers.

When childcare providers fail to provide adequate supervision, if there are signs of child abuse, or if your child was injured due to negligent behavior of a staff member at the childcare center, don’t hesitate to contact a daycare accident attorney. An Atlanta daycare injury lawyer can assist you in investigating the incident and seek a claim to restore all damages that your family has suffered.

Steps To Take When Your Child Is Injured At A Daycare Center

Always be sure to take the following steps when you receive a report of an injury or realize that your child has been injured after attending a day care session.

• Get medical help — Seek medical attention if the situation requires. In most instances, it is helpful to make sure there are no long-term damages from what might first appear to be a minor incident. It’s better to be cautious and have your child examined by medical professionals.
• Ask for an incident report — The Georgia Department of Human Services, under the Office of the Inspector General, requires all childcare centers to file an incident report. They encourage self-filing via an intake form for all registered childcare license holders, and you can ask for a copy of this incident report for your records.
• Take pictures and document — It’s always helpful to document any injuries by taking pictures that might later be used as supporting evidence in your claim. It’s also helpful to take note of any witnesses.

Consult An Atlanta Daycare Injury Lawyer

With more than 50% of working parents relying on daycare or childcare services, the childcare industry in the United States is valued at more than $60 billion. It stands to reason that not all of these facilities follow all the rules or have the required staff-to-child ratio 100% of the time. If these types of negligent practices have contributed to your child’s injuries, it’s time to consult an Atlanta daycare injury lawyer.

A breach in the duty of care is a reason to seek representation in an effort to recoup all damages from all at-fault parties — but you must prepared to demonstrate negligence to pursue the full extent of damages. With CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm representing you, you can rest assured that a legal team with deep knowledge of the law is fighting for you and your family.

Get your questions answered on the claims process and start a case review to move forward on the path to a better future. To schedule your free, no-obligation, confidential case review contact us online or call (404) 777-8800.