If you suspect day care abuse, you need to make two calls right away: the first to authorities, and the second to an attorney.
These calls, however, are only the beginning of what you need to do. Unfortunately, discovering that abuse has been going on is usually only the beginning of the nightmare. A daycare child abuse attorney will need to conduct a thorough investigation, as will law enforcement. The first steps after you suspect abuse are oftentimes the most painful, but they must be done.
Here are some of the most important things you can do following an incident of child abuse at a daycare facility:
- Report Suspected Child Abuse to the Proper Authorities: If children are in danger, call 911 immediately. Otherwise, report your suspicions to the proper authorities in your state.
- Withdraw your Child: Take your child out of the day care center immediately. If you’ve prepaid, let it go. Your attorney will likely recover that money for you if it turns out that there was abuse going on.
- Document Abuse: If you notice the telltale signs of abuse, you need to get your child to a doctor as soon as possible. You can take all the pictures of bruises or other injuries you want, but they don’t mean as much as those taken by a doctor or hospital staff. Again, don’t sweat the money, go to the ER if you have to. The sooner and more thoroughly the abuse is documented, the better.
- Don’t Pressure your Child: Let a professional handle talking to your child about the abuse. You don’t want to end up coaching your child into giving the answers you expect to hear if they don’t reflect what happened at the day care facility. Remember, if your child is young, they probably don’t understand the difference between lying and telling the truth; they only understand making you happy.
- Call an Attorney: Not surprisingly, the best firms to call are often those that focus on daycare abuse lawsuits. These firms usually handle myriad types of personal injury cases, including day care abuse. The attorney will help you immediately by telling you what to do, to whom you should speak, and to whom you should not.
- Take Care of your Child: None of this will be without further traumatizing your child, unfortunately. You’ll have to be there for them like never before. Most importantly, let them know that none of what’s going on is their fault. Even adults hate dealing with the authorities, imagine how it feels to a child.Day care abuse is devastating and you deserve to be compensated for having your trust violated.