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Often, yes, when the injury came from a supervision or safety failure. A licensed childcare operation is required to meet ratios, supervision and safety standards. Those requirements are inspected and recorded by the State, and that record is often where your claim begins.
The step that cannot wait is the incident report and the scene. Get the report in writing before you leave, and photograph the equipment or condition involved. Camera footage and sign in logs can be overwritten or lost quickly. Call 713-521-0059.
Yes. Negligent injury and neglect are different claims from intentional abuse. If a child was sexually abused at a daycare, school or youth program, our page on childhood sexual abuse civil claims and our public school pages cover those claims. A daycare injury claim is about supervision failures: a fall from unsafe equipment, a burn, an unsecured door, a hot vehicle, a choking incident, a medication error, among other things.
Texas licensing inspections, prior deficiency citations and complaint histories for a licensed operation are maintained by the State. They are frequently the fastest way to establish that a problem was known. Alongside that, the evidence usually includes staff to child ratios on the day, staff qualification and background check records, the incident report, the sign in and out log, and any camera coverage.
A prior citation for the same kind of problem often matters most. If a daycare was cited for an unsecured gate and your child later walked out through that gate, the risk was not a surprise. The same is true of a prior complaint from another family about the same room, the same equipment or the same staff member.
The daycare’s duty to supervise is the same when the harm comes from another child. Young children bite, push and hit, and those are ordinary risks in a room full of small children.
What the daycare knew about the other child, what its ratios and rules required, and what it did when it first heard are the questions that usually matter. The age of the child who caused the harm can affect a claim against that child’s family. It does not change what the daycare owed your child.
The licensed operator is the usual defendant. Some daycares operate under a franchise or a corporate parent that writes the policies, sets staffing budgets and trains the directors, and that company may be part of your claim depending on the facts. The owner of the building may be responsible in some cases for a condition it controlled, such as a playground surface, a fence or a door. Where equipment failed, the manufacturer may be responsible. Where a daycare van was involved, the transportation company and its insurer may be part of your claim, depending on who operated the van.
In Texas, the duty reaches every adult, not only professionals. Every adult who has reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused or neglected must report it under Family Code Section 261.101(a). A professional must report not later than the 24th hour under Section 261.101(b). The statute’s definition of a professional includes day-care employees.
Get the incident report in writing before you leave, photograph any equipment or condition involved, and request the licensing file. Ask what other families were told, because what changed afterward can help show what the hazard was.
Take your child to be seen by a doctor, even if the injury looks minor, and keep every record from that visit. Write down what staff told you at pickup, word for word if you can, and who said it. Save the texts, app messages and photos the daycare sent that day. Many daycares use a parent app that logs naps, meals and incidents, so save those entries before they change.
Under Section 16.003 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, most injury claims must be filed within two years after the day the claim accrues, which is usually the date of the injury. When the injured person is a child, other rules can affect that timing. Ask about your dates rather than assume, and do not wait for the daycare to finish its own review. Call 713-521-0059.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
The State holds the licensing file, and the daycare holds nearly everything else. Your own photographs, the doctor’s records and your notes from pickup fill in the rest. A written request to keep the footage and the logs is the first step. The second is a request for the licensing file, which shows how the daycare’s inspection history compares with what happened to your child.
We start with the licensing file and the daycare’s own records, because together they show what was known before your child was hurt. Then we identify every responsible party: the operator and, depending on the facts, the owner of the building and the maker of any equipment that failed.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston personal injury firm with 50 plus years of combined experience representing injured people across Texas.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Written by Jacob Schiffer, Attorney, Schiffer Law Firm. State Bar of Texas No. 24105175.
Call 713-521-0059.
Texas licensing inspections, prior deficiency citations and complaint histories for a licensed operation are maintained by the State. They are often the fastest way to show that a problem was known.
The incident report, in writing, before you leave. Then photograph any equipment or condition involved, and ask for the sign in log and any camera coverage.
The daycare's duty to supervise is the same when the harm comes from another child. The other child's age can affect a claim against that child's family, but it does not change what the daycare owed your child.
Every adult who has reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused or neglected must report it under Family Code Section 261.101(a). A professional must report not later than the 24th hour under Section 261.101(b).
No. A daycare injury claim is about supervision and safety failures. Our childhood sexual abuse page covers abuse claims.
Generally two years after the day the claim accrues, which is usually the date of the injury, under Section 16.003 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Other rules can affect a child's claim, so ask about your dates early.