You just filled an incident report at the daycare facility, and now the Department of Family and Protective Services is knocking at your door. Don’t freak out, it’s normal. They are not questioning your parenting skills, they are simply there to gather more facts on the case against the daycare. They are sent there to gather the evidence for the claim and assist you in the best way they can. Again, this is normal and will actually be beneficial in getting to the bottom of the matter.
Why Is the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Showing Up at My House?
The reason why the Department of Family and Protective Services is trying to schedule a meeting with you and your child after they were injured at the daycare is because it's required to be reported to the State of Texas. This is the standard thing to expect and is completely normal. The parent is not being investigated, they are actually working with you and your child to help solve a problem. Their job is to do that and to investigate the daycare facility where the incident took place.
Even if you called the police, the police are going to defer to the State of Texas agency that is responsible for investigating daycare and injuries that happened to them, and during this investigation process, they're going to meet with the families and parents of the child. They're also going to speak with everyone at the daycare facility that may have facts regarding what happened and how it happened. The habits and character of the alleged suspect will be investigated and other leading information that would be substantial for solving the puzzle.
They're going to look at any video if it was made available and they're going to read any documentation on what happened and about the care that the child had received. Ultimately the Department of Family and Protective Services will come up with an investigation report and come up with conclusory findings. All angles will be addressed which will make the facts easier to present. For parents that are not prepared for this type of visit, can be very intimidated and concerned. Having some legal advice from an attorney that handles these situations can be beneficial to the parents as you would be prepared and aware of what is to come.
How Long Does It Take Before I Get the Report?
That time frame takes anywhere from 15 days to 45 days as we've seen on average. Once it's actually concluded, the family will get a letter and then from that point, the family can then do an open record request to actually receive the investigation materials that came with that involving their injured child. You want to keep all of this information and present it to your lawyer so that the lawyer can have this information on file. This helps the attorney know the facts better and to see what is documented with the state of Texas. Once this is all completed the department of family and protective services will then pass the facts of the case along to the parties involved and your attorney can finish the process of getting you compensated and bringing justice to your family.
What Can The Button Law Firm Do to Help?
The Button Law Firm stands with our youth. We have a passion for children and believe that the children are the future. Our firm also believes in justice and getting the opposition to do the right thing. A lot of the time, these insurance companies that represent the facility that harmed your child try to get sneaky and get you to do things that you should never do. Never meet with an insurance company and definitely never sign any documentation. If you have any questions or want to discuss a daycare injury case involving your child or just daycare in general, give us a call at 214-699-4409, or click here to contact us. We are here to help you with anything we can to make this nightmare a little less scary.
We hope this was helpful to you. Thank you for reading our article, and if you're interested in more information, please check out our video series on our YouTube channel and additional articles on our website.