How The Button Law Firm Helps Kids Who Have Suffered Daycare Abuse
Here at the Button Law Firm, we represent families when their children have been injured, neglected, and abused at daycare centers all throughout Texas. We always like to represent working families and single parents. That's how I grew up. I grew up in the daycare system; both my parents worked. And so we found the need for young families that have young kids. When they've got to send them to daycare, and they spend their hard-earned money to have a daycare take care of their kids, watch them throughout the day, the least that they can do is make sure that their kids are safe and taken care of while they're hard at work. And that's where we come in. Anytime a daycare violates the parents' trust, we want to hold them accountable and also take care of the damages and get the kid in the family compensated for what they've had to endure.
Understaffing in Texas Daycares
One of the ways that children are harmed is having an understaffed facility, meaning inadequate staffing. One of the reasons why inadequate staffing is so dangerous, and those daycares should be avoided and held accountable, is because when children aren't monitored, I mean, you know, your parent watching one or two little ones, that's difficult enough. Monitoring eight to 10 to 15, that's just asking for it. And so that's why it's adequate staffing is so important at the daycare facility. Now while the number may look right on paper, throughout the day as the turnover at the daycare facility--they're coming in, they're signing out, they're going on lunch, throughout the end of the day, when parents are picking up their kids, and they're starting to mix groups, that's when bad things happen in the ratios provided.
Unqualified Daycare Workers
In Texas, one of the ways that children are harmed is by having unqualified workers. An unqualified worker can mean a background check, that something was missed, or a red flag. It could also mean that they didn't meet the minimum requirements for the state of Texas, whether through training or certifications. It could also mean they're unqualified because they're just not fit look after kids. Why are they actually they're working at the daycare center? Is it just another job to them, or are they there to actually take care of the kids during the day? But having qualified daycare use is absolutely vital to keeping your kids safe. And that's one of the major reasons why we see kids are either abused or neglected or injured at a daycare.
Unsafe Equipment in a Daycare
Another reason why kids are injured, abused, or neglected at a daycare facility is when there's some sort of unsafe equipment that's at the daycare. For example, we've handled cases where there's a bottle warmer that's not strapped to the wall, and kids have cords accessible to them, and they can pull on them and burn them. We've also handled cases where the playground equipment out back has been neglected and not maintained, and it either breaks off, or it's some sort of dangerous piece of equipment that the kids are injuring themselves on. There's a multitude of ways. For example, with bookshelves--if the bookshelf is not secure, or it's broken, and it leans over and falls on the kids that is an unsafe piece of equipment. And you all know - y'all are parents, anytime there's something that that just seems dangerous, and your child was injured on them, that's something that we need to be able to hold the daycare accountable for, to prevent that from happening to future children.
One of the last ways that we can look for whether or not a child was injured at the daycare and whether that daycare can be held accountable is if there were criminal acts. Now a criminal act can be child abuse; it can also be child neglect, such as leaving a child off a field trip and not putting them back on the bus, leaving a child in a hot van during the summer, and locking the doors. It can also mean actual abuse, whether physical abuse, such as slamming them down to take a nap or being frustrated with them, putting them in a dark closet to make them not want to talk or cry or yell, giving them medication, or tying them up.
We've seen a lot of different things here at The Button Law Firm with regard to what daycare teachers will do and the criminal acts that they actually are able to get away with. One of the last ways that criminal acts are notified and are found out about them is sexual abuse and sexual assault. Anytime a child is exposed to that, it's devastating, and it needs to be created awareness about; the daycare needs to be held accountable for allowing that to happen on their watch.
How You Can Get Justice for Your Child Who was Hurt at Daycare
Here at The Button Law Firm, we've handled daycare cases for many families and getting that call in the middle of the day, or finding out that your child has been neglected or abused and you go to pick them up, that's the worst time. That's the most frustrating and hectic. There's a lot of chaos that's going on in your life. You need to be able to have some peace of mind and put your mind at ease. Just give us a call here at 214-888-2216. We're here for you and your family to help answer questions, help guide you through the process, understand what you need to do when you find out that your child was injured, neglected, or abused at a daycare, and help guide you through the investigations process that DFPS and the detectives will do as well. Don't be afraid to give us a call.
.png)
.png)
