Understanding Daycare Negligence in North Carolina

According to data from North Carolina’s Division of Child Development and Early Education, nearly 220,000 children were enrolled in public and private daycare programs across the state between 2022 and 2023. During that same time period, the agency documented 587 serious daycare-related injuries, and – tragically – three child fatalities.

When we send our children to daycare, we put our faith in the facility and its staff to care for and protect them. If a North Carolina daycare center violates that responsibility and a child is injured as a result, the facility and those who operate it may be held legally responsible. Before deciding whether an injury was simply an accident or something more serious, it helps to understand what North Carolina actually requires of daycare providers.

Here’s what you need to know about what constitutes daycare negligence in our state and about the legal options available to families whose children are injured while in the care of one of these facilities.

What are North Carolina’s child care safety regulations?

Daycare centers in North Carolina are regulated by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). The agency’s Division of Child Development and Early Education handles licensing, inspections, and enforcement of statewide standards for home, commercial, and religious facilities.

While the rules for these facilities aren’t exactly one-size-fits-all, the agency provides clear guidance around major regulatory areas like:

• Staff-to-child ratios
• Caregiver training and background check requirements
• Facility safety standards
• Emergency preparedness procedures and protocols
• Sanitation and health expectations

To ensure compliance with these regulatory requirements, DHHS conducts periodic inspections of facilities and their records. If a daycare facility fails to adhere to any of these regulations, its operators could face harsh consequences like licensure violations, civil penalties, and temporary or permanent closure. What’s more, if a child suffers harm as the direct result of a regulatory violation, the violation could serve as evidence of negligence in a civil claim and open up the facility to the possibility of legal and financial consequences.

What kinds of injuries occur at daycare?

Anyone with children probably knows that kids have a knack for injuring themselves in creative ways. As a result, the occasional injury during the school day isn’t always cause for concern. However, some daycare injuries happen because of a facility’s failure to provide adequate oversight, supervision, or support.

When a daycare facility falls short of its legal duty of care, children can suffer injuries like:

• Cuts and bruises
• Broken bones
• Dental damage (broken teeth, for example)
• Burns and sunburns
• Concussions and traumatic brain injuries
• Oxygen deprivation injuries due to choking or suffocation
• Emotional injuries due to verbal, physical, and/or mental abuse

Many of the state’s regulatory requirements exist specifically to reduce the likelihood of these injuries occurring, and facilities that fail to comply with the applicable regulations could be putting children at risk. Again, it’s important to understand that not all daycare injuries are the result of facility negligence, which is why it’s so vital to thoroughly investigate any and all factors that may have contributed to a child’s suffering.

Common causes of daycare injuries

While some daycare injuries occur purely due to chance, others take place under preventable circumstances. Some facility oversights that may lead to an increased likelihood of injury include:

Inadequate supervision

Young children require constant monitoring, particularly in a crowded classroom. That’s why daycare facilities are obligated to adhere to specific child-to-staff ratios when children are present. If a child is injured at school and an investigation reveals that the facility was out of ratio at the time of the incident, that fact could be construed as a breach of the facility’s legal duty of care.

Even if a facility is technically operating within its required ratio, staff may fail to provide adequate supervision to its students. If a caregiver is distracted by their cellphone, absorbed in conversation with another member of staff, or chooses to step out of the classroom without coverage, they could be held responsible for any harm a student suffers as a result.

Negligent hiring practices

Daycares are held to strict standards with respect to their hiring practices in order to ensure only safe and qualified individuals are tasked with caring for the children of others. Typically, facilities must conduct thorough background checks and do their due diligence to vet anyone who may have contact with minors. Additionally, many facilities are required to maintain comprehensive employee records for oversight purposes. If a facility opts not to perform required screening, falsifies results of background checks, or does not comply with documentation requirements, it could be considered negligent if a staff member harms a child.

Physical or emotional abuse

Tragically, some daycare injuries result from intentional misconduct – even when hiring and oversight procedures are followed. Physical abuse, harsh discipline, verbal assaults, or emotional mistreatment can do long-term harm to vulnerable children. If a daycare employee is found to have engaged in some form of abusive conduct, the employee and the facility could be vulnerable to both civil claims and criminal investigations.

Sometimes, children get hurt by peers or are injured by toys or faulty equipment. Some of these incidents may form the basis for a claim against a facility, its staff, or certain third parties, such as maintenance professionals. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help families identify parties who may bear responsibility for an incident that took place at a daycare facility so they can fight for the compensation they need to meet their child’s needs.

Who can be held liable for a daycare injury?

Licensed daycare facilities in North Carolina are generally required to maintain liability insurance, but they must notify parents in writing if they do not. The insurance may provide the facility with financial coverage for certain accident scenarios, but it may not cover all responsible parties or the full value of a family’s losses, depending on the facts of the case.

In a daycare injury case, multiple parties may be liable, including the facility, specific caregivers or staff members, the daycare’s owner or managing partner, or certain third parties who provide services to the daycare. Families looking to pursue compensation related to a child’s daycare injury must first identify the party or parties responsible so they can tailor their recovery efforts accordingly. If a facility’s insurance coverage applies based on the facts of a case, the family may be able to pursue compensation via traditional insurance negotiations.

If, however, losses exceed available policy limits or the responsible party is not covered by the facility’s liability insurance and the claim is disputed, a personal injury claim may be the most viable option for recovering compensation. A personal injury lawyer can help affected families tailor their recovery efforts based on the specific facts of their case to help them maximize their ability to pursue compensation under North Carolina law.

Special consideration for religious facilities

Religious facilities can be structured in several different ways. For example, commercial daycare centers are subject to different requirements than childcare programs operated by religious entities like churches. Facilities with religious affiliations are generally expected to comply with standard daycare licensing and other regulatory guidelines, but the law does afford them specific exemptions from a handful of requirements.

One exemption that can be a source of confusion in injury cases is related to the use of corporal punishment. While most licensed daycare facilities are legally barred from administering physical punishment, some religious-sponsored childcare programs operate under separate statutory exemptions that create different regulatory standards. Facilities that employ corporal punishment are still required to comply with the state’s rules pertaining to this conduct, and violations of those statutes could constitute a breach of care under state law.

Ultimately, religious affiliation doesn’t protect a daycare provider from civil liability when a child is injured due to negligent or abusive conduct. In fact, if a religious organization operates or oversees the daycare, it could also be held accountable if it knew or should have known about unsafe practices that contributed to a child’s injury.

What damages are available in daycare injury cases?

A daycare accident resulting in serious injuries can have long-lasting emotional, physical, and financial implications for the injured child and their family. A successful daycare negligence claim can help offset some of the costs associated with these cases by providing families with the funds they need to cover their reasonable economic and non-economic losses.

A family may choose to pursue compensation for tangible losses like medical bills, medication costs, or expenses related to physical therapy or mental health treatment. They may also seek compensation for the emotional trauma and/or physical pain their child experienced at the hands of the facility. Every case is unique, and the value of a claim depends on the nature and severity of the injury. Generally, however, the state does not impose caps on economic and non-economic damages in negligence cases like daycare injury claims, so families and their legal counsel can fight for the full value of their reasonable losses.

In order to preserve evidence that supports your case and valuation, you’ll want to move quickly. The statute of limitations for most personal injury cases in North Carolina is generally three years from the date of injury, though in cases involving minors, the statute may be tolled until the child turns 18, although certain claims may still be subject to statutes of repose or other exceptions. Nevertheless, it’s always best to gather evidence and begin building a claim as soon as possible so no valuable documentation can be lost, destroyed, or tampered with in the meantime.

Final thoughts

Children are some of the most vulnerable members of our community, and they deserve only the best care. When a daycare facility breaches its duty and causes harm, parents have legal options to hold the facility accountable.

If your child was injured at daycare and you suspect negligence or abuse may have played a role, contact Price, Petho & Associates today to speak with a member of our team. We’re here to help you.