A daycare worker in Milwaukee is being charged with a charge of Child Left Attended in a Child Care Vehicle, according to TodaysTMJ4.com. The child was left in the van after the daycare driver had dropped off all the other children he’d picked up from their school and dropped them off at the daycare center.
It didn’t become apparent that the child was even missing until the mother phoned the daycare to check on him. When she did, the teacher told her that the child was not at the daycare and that he’d never been dropped off, according to the report. The mother then phoned the van driver, who was already on the way to the daycare with the child, after discovering the child sleeping in the van.
Fortunately, there were no injuries reported as a result of the incident, but it could have gone much worse. It also gives some important information that parents should be aware of regarding daycare centers.
They’re Complex
When your child is at a daycare, they’re not only under the care of the people who actually attend to the children. Van drivers, administrators, receptionists and everyone else at the daycare, to some degree is responsible for caring for the children, even if that only means giving reports to the parents on request. Remember to take a good look at everyone’s qualifications when you assess the competence of the staff at a daycare where you’re considering having your child spend their days or nights.
Check Regularly
Even if you have a good daycare facility, don’t be afraid to call once and a while and ask if your child is okay and if everything is going as planned. The mother profiled in the above-mentioned story calls every day to check on her child and, fortunately, she called that night, as well.
If your child is the victim of some sort of negligence—or outright abuse—at a daycare center, call a daycare abuse attorney. The money you spent to have your child cared for may have been wasted if this was the case and there’s no reason that you should be on the hook for bills for a useless service. If your child was injured, you may stand to win additional damages from a jury award or from a settlement, if the case is particularly strong and the daycare center does not want to go to trial over the matter.