In November 2023, every parent’s worst nightmare became a reality for a family in Celina, Texas. Their young daughter was unknowingly handed over to a complete stranger by caregivers at the daycare center. The daycare center’s careless and negligent actions put the toddler in danger and caused lasting emotional trauma for her and her family.
On the late afternoon of the incident, as parents arrived to collect their children, a man came in to pick up his granddaughter. Without checking a sign-out sheet to verify the man’s identity and ensure he was taking the correct child, the Celina daycare center released the toddler into his care.
The mistake of being given the wrong child wasn’t discovered until the man arrived at his home. Meanwhile, the daycare center called the correct parents to inform them that their child was still at the center after closing time. Only then did the man return to the daycare center with the toddler, where her frantic parents and police had arrived because of a possible kidnapping.
Thankfully, the toddler’s parents contacted our experienced North Texas daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm. Our legal team fought to make the Celina daycare center answer for its terrifying and negligent actions that endangered the toddler. We got justice for the family and secured compensation to help them move forward from the nightmare they experienced that evening at the Celina daycare center.
How Did the Celina Daycare Center Send the Wrong Child Home with a Stranger?
Daycare centers are responsible for protecting children from harm, a duty that the Celina daycare center clearly failed to fulfill. This scary incident was entirely preventable had the center followed Texas’ strict childcare laws, also known as minimum standards. These regulations dictate every aspect of childcare, including safety protocols for dismissing and releasing children with their parents or another designated adult.
In this case, the Celina daycare center endangered the toddler by violating multiple minimum standards, including:
- Checking and verifying identification from unfamiliar individuals
- Establishing and following policies and procedures for a child’s drop-off and pickup times
- Having and maintaining a safety system for tracking each child
- Implementing and enforcing policies for drop-off and pickup
- Releasing children only to authorized individuals
- Training its caregivers and staff on all safety policies and minimum standards
Releasing the toddler from the daycare center with an unknown man, not having a record of the man on file for the child he intended to pick up, or not possessing any information on the man was a serious safety violation. The fact that the man was able to take the toddler to his home put the toddler at risk of being a victim of assault, kidnapping, or worse.
How Did The Button Law Firm Fight for The Celina Toddler and Her Family?
In this case, the toddler’s whole family suffered the consequences of the safety failures at the daycare center in Celina.
After the incident of being taken by a stranger, the toddler became clingy, wanting to be held by her mother all day, and became wary of anyone other than her immediate family, even her grandparents. Once a friendly and outgoing child, her demeanor changed to be shyer. Her sleep patterns were also disrupted, as she experienced night terrors that had her waking up screaming. She even regressed in her developmental stages, constantly using a pacifier to help self-soothe.
As you can imagine, her parents also suffered distress after thinking that their daughter had been kidnapped from the Celina daycare center. They were forced to make lifestyle changes that impacted the whole family. The toddler’s mother had to take a week off from work to stay home with the toddler after the incident. The family removed their daughter from the daycare center in Celina and enrolled her in another center that is farther from their house. This change required both parents to rearrange their work hours to accommodate the drop-off and pickup times at the new center.
Our legal team got the daycare center to answer for the numerous safety failures that endangered the toddler. We secured justice for the family with financial compensation that made up for the many disruptions to their daily lives, covered the therapy that allowed them to process the traumatic incident, and helped them move forward in a healthy way.
Was Your Child Endangered or Harmed at a Daycare Center? Contact The Button Law Firm.
If your child was endangered or harmed because a daycare center did not comply with Texas childcare safety laws, contact our experienced daycare and child injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm. With lawyers in Dallas, Houston, and Midland, we are ready to listen, fight for your family, and help your family move forward. Our lawyers at The Button Law Firm are recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Call us at 214-699-4409, email us at [email protected], or fill out a contact form for a free case evaluation.
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