Your child was hurt at daycare. You trusted that facility with the most important person in your life, and they let you down. Now you’re dealing with medical bills, a frightened child, and a daycare operator who may already be pointing fingers elsewhere. At Gustin Law Firm, based in Houston, Texas, we understand how overwhelming this moment feels, and we are ready to fight for your family. Attorney Joseph Gustin and the team at Gustin Law Firm have recovered more than $50 million for injured clients across Texas, and we take daycare injury cases seriously. If your child was hurt because a daycare failed to do its job, you may have a legal claim worth pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Texas law requires daycare facilities to meet a clear duty of care toward every child in their custody. When a facility accepts your child, it accepts responsibility for that child’s safety. A daycare breaches that duty when it acts carelessly, ignores known hazards, or fails to follow the rules set by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The Minimum Standards published by Texas HHS reduce risk for children in out-of-home care settings by outlining basic requirements to protect the health, safety, and well-being of children in care. When a facility violates those standards and a child is injured as a result, that violation can be powerful evidence of negligence in a civil lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Negligence in a daycare injury case generally requires four elements: the facility owed your child a duty of care, it breached that duty, the breach directly caused the injury, and your child suffered real damages as a result. Common examples include a staff member leaving toddlers unsupervised near a staircase, a facility ignoring broken playground equipment near Memorial Park-area schools, or a center operating with too few staff members to safely watch the children in their care. These are not minor oversights. They are failures that put children in harm’s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Texas courts also recognize premises liability claims when a child is hurt because of a dangerous condition on the property itself. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 75, a property owner may be liable for injuries caused by a highly dangerous artificial condition if the owner knew or should have known children were likely to be present and failed to address the risk. Daycares throughout Houston, from the Heights to Katy, have a legal obligation to keep their facilities safe. If they don’t, they can be held accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working with a Houston daycare injury lawyer<\/a> gives your family access to someone who knows how to build a negligence case from the ground up, gather the right evidence, and hold the right parties liable. Call Gustin Law Firm at (713) 491-4792 for a free consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Texas law allows injured children and their families to recover a range of damages after a daycare injury. These fall into two broad categories: economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages cover the financial losses your family has actually suffered. Non-economic damages address the human cost of the injury, things like pain, emotional trauma, and the long-term impact on your child’s development and quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Economic damages in a daycare injury case typically include past and future medical expenses, costs for physical or occupational therapy, expenses for any assistive devices or home modifications, and lost earning capacity if your child’s injuries are severe enough to affect their future. If your child suffered a head injury, broken bone, or burn at a Houston daycare, the medical costs alone can reach tens of thousands of dollars. Future care costs for serious injuries can go much higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Non-economic damages cover physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment of life. Texas does not cap non-economic damages in most personal injury cases outside of medical malpractice, which means your family’s full suffering is on the table. In catastrophic cases, such as a child who suffers permanent disability, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 139 also governs structured settlement offers made in suits involving incapacitated persons or those who suffer substantial disablement. Under Section 139.101, any structured settlement offer must be made in writing and presented to the claimant’s attorney, who is then required to fully advise the family on the terms and whether the settlement is appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Gustin Law Firm, we handle daycare injury cases on a contingency-fee basis. You pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover for you. If we do recover, attorney’s fees and litigation expenses are deducted from the gross recovery. We believe every family, regardless of financial resources, deserves strong legal representation. Contact us today at (713) 491-4792 to discuss what your case may be worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most important things parents need to understand is the filing deadline for a daycare injury claim. In Texas, the general statute of limitations for personal injury cases is governed by Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code \u00a7 16.003(a), which states that a person must bring suit for personal injury not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. For most adults, that means a strict two-year window from the date of the injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Children, however, receive an important protection under Texas law. If the injured person is a minor (under 18 years old) when the cause of action accrues, the statute of limitations is tolled until they reach the age of 18, as provided in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code \u00a7 16.001(a)(1). This effectively gives them until their 20th birthday to file a personal injury lawsuit. That said, waiting is almost never a good idea. Evidence disappears. Witnesses move away. Security footage from facilities near the 610 Loop or along I-10 gets overwritten. The sooner you act, the stronger your case will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parents also have their own separate claim for medical expenses they paid on behalf of their child. In Texas, medical bills for a minor are generally considered the legal responsibility of the parents until the child turns 18, and these bills form the basis of the parents’ own personal injury claim, which is subject to the standard two-year statute of limitations. That means even though your child may have extra time to file, you as a parent may not. Acting quickly protects both your child’s claim and your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the daycare injury resulted in a child’s death, the timeline is different. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 71, a wrongful death claim must generally be filed within two years of the date of death, not the date of the original injury. If you have lost a child due to daycare negligence, speak with a daycare injury attorney<\/a> at Gustin Law Firm immediately. Call (713) 491-4792.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Texas regulates daycare facilities through the Child Care Regulation division of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The Child-Care Licensing Division is responsible for protecting the health, safety, and well-being of children who attend or reside in regulated child-care facilities and homes. Every licensed daycare in Houston, from facilities in Midtown to those serving families in Sugar Land, must meet specific minimum standards covering staff-to-child ratios, physical space requirements, background checks, and safety protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Licensed centers must have at least one annual, unannounced inspection from Child Care Regulation. When those inspections reveal violations, the state documents them. Those records are public. If a daycare has a history of safety violations and your child was later injured at that same facility, that inspection history can be a critical piece of evidence in your case. It shows the facility knew about problems and failed to fix them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outside a childcare center, the state requires more than 80 square feet per child for outdoor activities. For the safety of children under five, the outdoor play area must be enclosed with a fence at least four feet tall if any children younger than five will use it. Violations of these specific physical requirements, when they contribute to an injury, are direct evidence of negligence. A child who falls through a gap in an unfenced area, or who is injured in an overcrowded room, has a strong foundation for a legal claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat Compensation Can Your Family Recover After a Daycare Injury?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Texas Law Protects the Statute of Limitations for Injured Children<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Daycare Licensing Violations Strengthen Your Injury Claim<\/h2>\n\n\n\n