Does the State Tell the Daycare That We Filed an Incident Report?

What Texas Parents Need to Know About Incident Reports

When an incident has occurred at your child’s daycare, an incident report must be made to the state by the daycare – these are called “self-reports”. However, some daycares unfortunately avoid filing these reports to cover up the abuse or neglect that has happened on their watch. A daycare not filing an incident report for something that happened under their care is a direct violation of the state’s minimum standards for childcare.

If you believe an incident happened involving your child, and the daycare has not provided you with an incident report, be sure to notify the state’s daycare licensing. To learn how to contact the state, click here.

Do All Incident Reports Need to Go Directly Through the Daycare?

A daycare may provide you with an incident report to sign where they complete their own writeup of the incident. These incident reports must also be given to the state.

However, parents are able to submit their incident report by calling the state licensing department directly. In Texas, incidents are reported to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (also known as DFPS).

After I Make My Report to DFPS, Will They Notify the Daycare?

Though they may not call the daycare directly, DFPS will investigate the daycare to determine if there were any violations of the state’s minimum standards. This independent investigation is conducted to see if the state is able to detect violations and substantiate any allegations of abuse or neglect.

To conduct their investigation, the state will typically visit the daycare in person to review records, interview children and caregivers, and search for any other signs of misconduct. When they arrive for the investigation, they notify the staff of their reason for being there.  

Will I Need to Take My Child Out of Daycare if The Daycare Found Out I Reported Them?

Unfortunately, in our experience as daycare injury attorneys, daycares may sometimes retaliate against parents after finding out that they have been reported. This might mean that a daycare terminates an existing contract or agreement for childcare.

Thankfully, many parents we talk to have already removed their child from daycare immediately after an incident has occurred.

What to Do if You Have More Questions After Your Child Suffered an Incident at Daycare

If your child was the victim of abuse, neglect, or any other form of mistreatment while they were at daycare, it’s important to quickly investigate and take action against the daycare. Typically, the statute of limitations for parents filing a civil claim against a daycare on behalf of their child is two years from the date of the injury in Texas.

To learn more about what steps you may be able to take, click here. Other ways to contact us: call (214)699-4409 or fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page. You can also reach out to us by clicking here to start a chat.

Consultations with our team are completely free. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us today.