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In July 2024, caregivers at a daycare center in Forney were distracted during recess. One caregiver fiddled with an iPad while another, distracted by a personal cell phone, sat at a picnic table with her back to the playground. Because the caregivers allowed their attention to be elsewhere and not on the kids, they did not intervene when a 6-year-old girl climbed a 7-foot railing on a playground structure. She then jumped from the railing and hurt herself on the hard fall. It was later discovered that she fractured her foot in three places from the jump.What Childcare Laws Did the Forney Daycare Center Break in This Case?
All licensed daycare centers in Texas, including the center in Forney, are required to comply with state childcare laws, also known as the minimum standards. The standards outline every aspect of childcare, providing regulations to keep children safe while under the watch of daycare centers.
In this case, the Forney daycare center breached its duty to keep the little girl safe. Luckily, the daycare center was equipped with security cameras that helped reveal the truth leading up to the incident when the girl fell. This came in handy since the caregivers responsible for the girl’s class on the playground kept changing their accounts from that day.
An independent investigation into the incident conducted by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) cited the center for five different failures that caused the girl’s injuries.
First, the Forney daycare center’s primary job is to keep all children in its care safe and ensure kids are not abused, neglected, or exploited at the center. In this case, caregivers neglected the little girl and her peers on the playground by turning their backs to them. This action also demonstrated that they did not have good judgment since they were not scanning the playground and circulating the area to ensure the little girl and her classmates were safe during recess.
Second, caregivers are required to closely monitor children at all times so that they can intervene quickly when little ones are doing something that could cause serious injury. That clearly did not happen in this case. The little girl was able to climb up on the playground equipment and onto the railing that was 7 feet high without either of the caregivers noticing or preventing her from doing so.
In addition, caregivers at daycare centers are not allowed to be engaging with personal electronic devices that do not directly involve teaching, supervising, or caring for children. It was discovered that the iPad and personal cellphones being used by both caregivers at the Forney daycare center violated this standard.
Caregivers at daycare centers are also required to immediately notify a child’s parents if their child is injured or endangered at the center. The caregivers at the Forney daycare center opted not to contact the little girl’s parents about the incident or tell them that she was hurt and could not properly walk after the playground injury.
Sadly, this was not an isolated incident at the Forney daycare center. The center was cited 11 times for unrelated incidents in a two-year span leading up to the little girl’s injuries. This signaled to our experienced team of daycare injury lawyers that child safety was simply not a priority at this center.
How Did the Button Law Firm Help the Little Girl and Her Family Get Justice?
The little girl’s experience at the Forney daycare center was a traumatic one. Since caregivers did not seek proper medical attention for her immediately, nor did they contact her parents, she was left to suffer in pain for the remainder of the day.
When her parents arrived at the center at the end of the day and found her crying, they rushed her to a local emergency room, where an X-ray revealed she had fractured her foot in three different places. The doctor’s treatment plan for the girl included wearing a medical walking boot at all times for a minimum of four weeks, which meant she had to use crutches to get around.
She also had to see a children’s orthopedic specialist for follow-up care and monitoring.
Her limited movement forced her to sleep in her parents’ room so that they could assist her at night, causing her to lose her independence. She could not move or play with her siblings like she used to, and easily grew frustrated.
The little girl also experienced behavioral changes triggered by her mental anguish from the incident. At her elementary school, other kids asked her about what happened, making her relive the traumatic day at the Forney daycare center all over again.
Thankfully, backed by our team of experienced daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm, we secured justice for the little girl and her parents. Our legal team made the Forney daycare center answer for its failures that caused the girl’s fall injury and secured a life-changing result that helped them move forward in a healthy way.
Contact The Button Law Firm If Your Child Was Injured at a Daycare Center
If your child was endangered or physically or emotionally injured at a daycare center anywhere in Texas, contact our experienced daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm. With lawyers in Dallas, Houston, and Midland, we are ready to listen, fight for your family, and help your family move forward. Our lawyers at The Button Law Firm are recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Call us at 214-699-4409, email us at intake@buttonlawfirm.com, or fill out a contact form for a free case evaluation.
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