Atlanta Daycare Injuries and Child Neglect Attorneys

One of these cases was concerning a boy only seven years old that climbed the fence of the Georgia child care facility to try to get to his house that happened to be over two miles from the center. A small fine was given to the owners, which was the least of the possible fines. These cases normally result in around ninety percent being settled with fines and no other punishments. Georgia will not regularly put restrictions on the licensee after having been in a child abuse or neglect case. Only forty-four licenses for child care have been revoked in the State of Georgia over a five-year period.
 
It is a requirement of Georgia law that any owner or operator of a daycare facility adhere to certain guidelines concerning the protection and safety of the children in a daycare learning facility in the state of Georgia. Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (Bright from the Start) further encourages daycare centers to follow certain Standards of Care designed with the age and developmental characteristics of children in daycare in mind.
 
Although Bright from the Start’s Rules for Child Care Learning Centers and the Standards of Care spell out in clear terms that strict supervision is required for all age groups, all too often children are left unsupervised in daycare centers, resulting in avoidable injuries and even death at the hands of adults entrusted with their precious lives.

Unfortunately, cases of neglect and abuse at daycare facilities do happen in the State of Georgia. In 2013, a worker at a daycare center was put in jail for an incident of abuse that happen a couple years earlier, according to WRDW. The worker was caught striking a three-year-old with an object while screaming at the child. She was seen violently grabbing the young child and forcefully sitting him on the seat of a toilet with the child pants still up. In another case, the Augusta Chronicle stated that in October of 2011, a baby only eight weeks old was discovered lying in a puddle of blood after attending the daycare for only two days. It was also reported by the Augusta Chronicle that criminal punishment for abuse in a daycare is more likely to end with a fine than in other states where jail time is the standard. This conclusion was reached after the Augusta Chronicle revealed that the Department of Early Care and Learning has seen fewer daycare workers lose their license than in the states surrounding Georgia.
 

In the last several years, close to five hundred severe penalties stemming from incidents occurring in over four hundred child care centers. That is out of roughly seven thousand licensed child care workers in the state. The incidents, in part, included:

• The wrong child being given to the blind grandfather of another child;
• Two children being kidnapped by the boyfriend of a daycare provider while the children were in her care; and
• The cases of nearly fifty children walking off from child care centers.

Children harmed by a daycare center’s failure to comply with Bright from the Start’s Rules or Standards of Care may be entitled to recover damages from the center’s owners or operators to compensate for their injuries, pain and losses. Daycare centers may be held responsible for injuries or harm caused by any of the following:

• Leaving a child unsupervised inside or outside of the daycare facility
• Depriving a child of food or drink
• Failing to change an infant’s soiled diaper or a toddler’s training pants
• Yelling at a child
• Calling a child cruel names
• Failing to keep the facility playground safe
• Failing to keep exterior doors to the facility locked
• Physically abusing a child with hands or objects
• Using cruel or excessive punishment to discipline a child
• Allowing children to harm each other
• Showing pornographic and other inappropriate material to children
• Sexually abusing a child

Detecting abuse or neglect in Atlanta, Albany, Columbus and throughout the state of Georgia daycare centers can be difficult due to the inability of young victims to clearly communicate what has happened to them. However, there are warning signs that can help parents and other caregivers determine if their children may have experienced harm at the hands of trusted childcare providers. Potential indicators of daycare abuse or negligence include:
 

• Erratic behavior when preparing to go to daycare
• Reoccurring pain or bruises on a child’s body
• Unusual silence after leaving the daycare center
• Extreme mood swings
• Extreme adult or infantile behavior
• Changes in potty training-related behavior