As part of a series of articles investigating Georgia’s under-regulated child care industry, the Atlanta Journal Constitution recently featured an examination of several recent cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Georgia day care centers. Lack of knowledge and training by child care providers, and lax child care regulation enforcement by state authorities, are likely responsible for a number of infant deaths. Fortunately, in response to the AJC’s investigation state authorities claim to be reconsidering their regulation enforcement policies.
Since 2006, nine children have died in Georgia day care centers and five of those fit the profile of SIDS, where an infant dies unexpectedly and without any other explanation while sleeping. Of those five infants, four had been put to bed on their stomachs and all five child care providers had violated some regulation related to the infants’ sleeping, including two who were caring for more children than permitted by law. Scientists and physicians have known since the early 1990’s that infants who sleep on their stomachs are at increased risk of death from SIDS. Nationwide, SIDS deaths have since been cut by half since then, but Georgia lags behind and has not had consistent improvements in the past decade.
Part of the reason for Georgia’s relatively poor performance may be that state authorities have not vigorously enforced state regulations governing how infants are put to sleep. Fines are not issued where violations have been found but no death has occurred. This practice gives child care providers in the state less incentive to comply with best practices. As the article points out, infants have traditionally been placed to sleep on their stomachs because they will usually sleep more soundly and cry less, and it can be difficult to persuade adults to change tried-and-true practices. This is especially true for home-based child care providers—where most recent SIDS cases have occurred—who are not subject to internal regulation as in a corporate facility. In one SIDS case discussed in the article, authorities found dog excrement in the room where the baby had died unsupervised, lying on its stomach. In that extreme case, the child care provider faced criminal charges for reckless conduct. She plead guilty and was fined and sentenced to a year probation.
While injuries do occur no matter how much care is taken, all too often children are injured while at day care due to unsafe practices and lack of supervision. When child care providers fail to follow basic safety guidelines, they commit negligence and can be held accountable for the harm they cause. Our Atlanta trial lawyers have successfully represented numerous victims of negligence throughout Georgia, including those injured by schools, foster homes, and nursing homes. Recently, our firm has accepted a few clients whose children have been harmed by the negligence of day care owners and employees. We hope that by filing suit, we can punish those responsible for our clients’ injuries and help them and their families get the compensation they need and deserve.
