Daycares across Georgia receive millions of dollars in taxpayer money to look after the state’s most vulnerable children. However, many daycares have been cited for safety violations.
Last year, a Georgia daycare closed down after a child’s skull ended up fractured.
An 11Alive investigation found the Atlanta daycare shut down following the incident.
The news station spoke to Camella Jackson who chose the Sunshine House in Villa Rica in Atlanta for her son.
Three months after enrolling her son Hunter, Jackson found him at the daycare with a knot the size of a golf ball on his head when she picked him up after work one day. Daycare workers said they did not notice the knot.
Jackson said she was mortified not to have been informed about the accident and no incident report was filled out.
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Fearing the worst, she took her son to the hospital. She was told the child’s skull was fractured. A year later, Hunter was still wearing a foam helmet to protect his head.
The Georgia Department of Early Learning promised to look into the incident. The TV station report stated the Sunshine House declined interviews but said children in its care were its highest priority. However, the Sunshine House later closed its doors.
The 11Alive investigation found the daycare was cited at least 17 times since 2013. The violations it highlighted ranged from “no fingerprint record checks” to employees highlighting fencing that was hazardous to children.
The investigation also found the daycare received $221,000 from a federally-funded state program called CAPS, or Child Care and Parent Services. This is a far from isolated case. The TV station also spoke to Sharae Bey whose infant son, Khai, suffered an injured finger at a Georgia daycare with a history of violations. Bey said the daycare called to tell her the child’s finger was injured.
She said daycare staff did not treat the injury urgently but she arrived to find her son’s finger had almost been severed off.
Khai’s daycare was cited 25 times in the last five years. However, it remained open and collected more than $136,141 in CAP subsidies.
These accounts of neglect and abuse at daycares are particularly alarming. Daycares have a duty of care to keep vulnerable children safe but some of them appear to be failing in this regard.
The 11Alive Investigation found 40 Georgia daycares were cited for a staggering 100 or more violations in three years.
The State of Georgia has a database where parents can download the inspection reports for daycares.
If your child has been hurt at a Georgia daycare, please call our personal injury attorneys at (404) 913-1529.