Things You Need to Know About Child Care Lawsuits

By Chris N. Jackson

Every day, thousands of children all across the country are placed in the care of child care facilities. Since more and more families are struggling financially, it is quite common that both parents need to work, making child care an attractive option. Child care facilities provide a safe place for children to learn, communicate, and interact with other children on a daily basis. While the majority of these facilities are quite reputable and provide great care when parents are not able to do so themselves, there are times when children are harmed while in the care of others. These injuries can range in severity from very minor cuts and scrapes, to more significant injuries such as broken bones, head injuries, and even death.

Child care facilities, like all personal premises and other types of businesses, are expected to exercise a duty of reasonable care in order to avoid harm coming to all third parties who are on their property. If for any reason this duty of reasonable care is not properly exercised, and injuries result, there may be a strong case of negligence. When negligence happens, a legal claim may be possible in order to seek damages for the injuries that have occurred.

Negligence can occur at child care facilities in a number of ways. One of the most common ways is based upon the legal theory of premises liability. This theory requires all operators and owners of a particular property to be held liable for any injuries that take place on that property. These cases are especially important if the injury that occurred was foreseeable and could have and should have been avoided.

While some might argue that children are more susceptible to injuries because of their developing motor skills and curious nature, and that it is natural for children to suffer minor bumps, bruises, and scrapes, there is simply no excuse for serious injuries to take place. When children are placed in the care of a child care facility, this facility is taking on the role of the parent for a range of designated hours. This means that the facility needs to exercise a high level of care in order to prevent the children from becoming injured while in their care. All precautions should be taken in advance of the children arriving, and all staff should be adequately trained in how to deal with children and protect them at all times.

While this may seem like a no brainer, each year, thousands of children are injured while in the care of child care facilities. Some of the more common injuries happen because of conditions that are considered to be unsafe and unfit for children. Examples of unsafe conditions for children include light sockets that are not properly covered up, stairs that are not properly barricaded, hot items such as a stove or fireplace that are left available for children to touch, pets that are vicious and bite children, non child friendly toys that are thrown or pose pinching or choking hazards, and rugs or other items that are left in travel areas that pose tripping hazards. All of these issues are grounds for a lawsuit should an injury be sustained.

On top of issues with the premises and environmental hazards, there is also the issue of negligence on the part of employees working at the child care facility. Each year a large number of children are harmed because of the carelessness or blatant disregard of employees. Issues such as dropping a child, hitting a child, allowing a child to run off unsupervised, not stopping another child from hitting or hurting a child, or even physically, emotionally, or sexually abusing a child can all give rise to liability and are all grounds for a lawsuit.

Another issue that sometimes plagues child care facilities and is grounds for a legal claim is that of child neglect. There have been a number of cases of children being left completely alone for hours on end, while they were supposed to be in the care of a professional. During these unattended hours children were left in squalor conditions, were not fed, and were left to wander unsupervised causing physical and emotional harm. In these cases the absence of reasonable care is most definitely grounds for a legal claim, as the adults in charge made a conscious decision not to provide proper care for the children they vowed to watch and protect.

While it is quite obvious that the children are the ones who really suffer the most in these situations because they are harmed either physically or mentally, and in some cases, both, the parents also suffer a bit of harm. The guilt that is experienced on the part of a parent whose child has been hurt because of a decision he or she made to place them in someone else's care can often be unbearable. There have even been cases of parents becoming so overwrought with guilt that they have taken their own lives because they could not stand their feelings. These cases are devastating on so many levels, and are all because someone chose not to do the right thing and act in a responsible manner.

If your child or the child of someone you know has be injured while in the care of others at a child care facility is important that you seek legal assistance as soon as possible. These cases hinge on concrete evidence, and small details, and a personal injury attorney who specializes in this area of the law will know exactly how to proceed.

From start to finish, and every step of the way in between, a personal injury attorney will handle all aspects of your case. He or she will gather the needed information, interview witnesses, and compile medical reports. Even though a personal injury attorney cannot undo the harm that the child has experienced, he or she can obtain financial compensation to help cover the cost of past, present, and future medical bills, as well as pain and suffering.

For more legal information on child care injuries please visit http://www.feldmanshepherd.com

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Child Care - The Basics

By Michael Russell

The consensus among researchers, child care experts and working parents is that there are inadequate child care arrangements for working parents. This problem is even worse for single parents who do not have a spouse to look after the children in emergency situations. Child care problems can be detrimental to employers. Employees are less productive when they have to deal with child care issues. They use a significant amount of company time making inquiries about possible child care providers or checking up on a sick child. Child care issues can also cause a person to be tardy or even miss several days of work. Studies indicate that one out of every three sick days taken by a working parent is due to an illness that causes a child to stay home from school. If you bring your child with you to work because your child care arrangements did not work out, then you may have to divide your attention between your work and child. Your coworkers may also find your child a distraction. Also, child care problems may cause a business to lose valuable employees because child care may be too expensive and too much of a hassle.

For the reasons mentioned above, businesses should develop suitable child care arrangements for their employees. This will increase employee productivity, help retain employees who otherwise would go to another company with the proper child care arrangements and help recruit potential employees. Businesses will find that these child care arrangements will save more money than any other employee benefit. These child care programs are also not that expensive since they are tax-deductible to businesses.

There are several child care assistance options that are available for businesses including on-site facilities, consortiums, salary reduction plans, reimbursement plans and outside referral agencies.

Of all of the options available, employees would most prefer an on-site child care facility because it will allow employees to visit their children during lunch breaks and they can avoid the complications of having to drop-off and pick-up their children at off-site facilities. An on-site child care facility can also be used to attract potential employees. However, this is also the most expensive child care assistance option. This is the reason why you will not see this type of facility at smaller businesses with limited resources. It requires significant up-front costs. Some states have certain qualifications that need to be met before a child care facility worker can be hired. This may require you to hire new personnel to work in the facility. The business may also have to pay more money for utilities and liability insurance. But the expense of an on-site child care facility can be deducted from your taxes.

A consortium is a very popular child care assistance option among small businesses with limited assets. A consortium is made up of several small businesses that combine their resources to pay for an off-site child care facility. Each business is only required to pay for a certain number of openings that they make available to their employees. If there are any unused openings, they can be made available to people who work for businesses that are not a part of the consortium.

A salary reduction plan allows employees to put a specified amount of their pre-tax income into a flexible spending account that is used to reimburse them for their child care expenses. A reimbursement plan requires that tax-deductible payments either be paid to the child care facility or to the employees by the business.

An outside referral agency can be used by businesses to provide their employees with the rates, locations and openings at various licensed child care facilities. Parents will have to spend a lot of time trying to sift through all of this information on the various facilities. This is also the cheapest child care assistance option.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Child Care [http://child-care-guides.com/]

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