Many Texas parents rely on childcare help from local daycare centers to protect and care for their children throughout the workday. However, serious incidents such as pediatric skull fractures can happen at daycare centers, traumatizing both little ones and their parents.
State daycare laws, known as minimum standards, provide safety guidelines to prevent children from suffering skull fracture injuries. When they occur, state agencies such as the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Texas Health and Human Services carefully track injuries at the daycare centers and investigate serious incidents, citing facilities for negligent practices. Facilities cited too many times are at risk of losing their license. Therefore, some daycare centers attempt to sweep incidents that cause skull fracture injuries under the rug in hopes they’ll be forgotten or cover them up entirely, leaving it up to parents and local authorities to fill in the blanks and uncover the truth.
Our Texas daycare injury lawyers are here to reveal these deceitful daycare injury cover-up tactics to help warn parents and provide key questions to ask if a child suffers a pediatric skull fracture in the care of a local daycare center.
What Are the Main Causes of Pediatric Skull Fractures at Daycare Centers?
Little ones, especially those who are two years old and younger, are at the greatest risk of suffering a pediatric skull fracture, according to a 2023 study published in the National Library of Medicine. Horrifically, abuse at the hands of a caregiver is among the top causes of pediatric skull fractures at daycare centers.
Our experienced legal team has seen incidents of caregivers forcing a child to hit their head on a hard floor by knocking the little one off a nap cot or purposely pushing them into a wall or other hard surface in the classroom. Some caregivers use prohibited corporal punishment tactics such as stepping on a little one or kicking them and causing a child’s skull fracture.
Incidents of daycare neglect and a lack of supervision can also lead to pediatric skull fractures at local childcare centers. The minimum standards require caregivers always to maintain close visual and auditory awareness of children. When daycare centers operate negligently, untrained or overwhelmed caregivers can cause a child to suffer skull fracture injuries from:
- Car accidents when a daycare center is transporting children in a van or bus,
- Falls from a high surface like age-inappropriate playground equipment, an infant bouncy chair, or even a changing table,
- Negligent caregivers at a daycare center dropping an infant in their care,
- Unsecured furniture in a classroom or around the facility, such as a wall-mounted TV, heavy bookcase, or dresser falling on top of a child.
Read this article to learn more ways that skull fractures happen in Texas daycare centers.
How Do Texas Daycare Centers Attempt to Cover Up Skull Fracture Injuries?
It is no secret that falls, a common childhood injury, especially as little ones learn how to walk, run, and develop balance and fine motor skills, can lead to pediatric skull injuries. However, these serious injuries do not excuse negligent daycare centers to wash their hands of liability.
To avoid responsibility or a potential citation from the state, negligent daycare centers in Texas may try to blame a child, telling parents the child injured themselves by tripping or losing their balance, falling from a low surface like a stepstool, or holding onto a chair that tipped over. We have also seen instances where daycare centers try to accuse other children of shoving a child and claiming that the incident led to a skull fracture injury.
What Should I Do If I Suspect My Child Suffered a Skull Fracture, but the Daycare Center Didn’t Tell Me?
The good news is that false narratives provided by negligent daycare centers always come to light. If your child experienced a pediatric skull fracture at a local daycare center, we encourage you to:
- Take pictures of your child’s injuries,
- Talk to the daycare center and alert them that you suspect something is off. During that conversation, ask them to tell you what happened—the center must provide you with an incident report—and request a review of surveillance footage and record it with your smartphone.
- Report your concerns to the state by calling the Texas Abuse Hotline at 800-252-5400 or make a report online here. The state will conduct an independent investigation and involve local authorities if needed.
- Contact an experienced daycare injury lawyer like our team at The Button Law Firm. We have helped families across the state with daycare cover-up cases and are here for your child and family.
Watch this video to get more details on what to do if you suspect your child’s daycare covered up a serious incident or injury like your child’s skull fracture.
What Are Some Free Resources on Pediatric Skull Fractures?
Our Texas daycare injury lawyers have created several free resources to guide parents in the aftermath of a pediatric skull fracture caused by a negligent daycare center:
- A Parents’ Guide to Navigating a Daycare Skull Fracture in Texas
- A Closer Look at the Causes of Skull Fractures in Texas Daycare Centers
- Parents’ Guide to Children’s Skull Fractures
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