When you’re making an assessment of whether or not a given daycare facility is right for your children, you don’t have to jump right to whether or not there’s a risk of abuse. You can start by just taking into account what the facility offers and how your child might benefit from those offerings. Some daycare facilities are very good and have plenty of great things to offer any child that goes to them.
Facilities
Take a look at the building where the daycare is provided. There should be some warning signs that you need to be on the lookout for. They include:
- Places where children could be isolated
- Poor cleaning
- Facilities with unprotected or unmonitored entrances
- Dangerous playgrounds
- Lacking sleeping space
Provided that the facility is clean and that every child seems to have some place to sleep or just sit around and enjoy themselves, there should be no obvious problems.
Staff
Talk to the staff a bit. If possible, do so while the supervisor isn’t around so you get more honest responses to questions. Watch out for the following warning signs:
- Staff that is overworked
- Staff that is generally very young/inexperienced
- Staff that seems unfriendly or rude
- Staff that doesn’t seem to engage with children well
There are some daycare facilities that have wonderful staff and this is usually apparent upon meeting them. Bring your child along, too. Sometimes, you can tell a lot about the staff by how your child reacts to them. If they seem to hit it off right away, that’s always a good sign and it might mean that there is a place for your child at the facility.
Finding a good daycare facility can take a bit of work, so be prepared to visit quite a few before you make any firm decisions either way.
If You Have Problems
If the daycare facility proves to have problems and your child comes to harm because of them, contact a daycare abuse lawyer. Not every case of daycare child abuse involves sexual, psychological or severe physical abuse. In some cases, negligence is the main problem and it’s imperative that parents act to protect their children. Getting money from a jury award or a settlement may provide you with the means to get the best possible help for your child and to make sure that they can recover as well as is possible. Make sure to investigate the daycare first to avoid such problems.