Curious young children are often hurt because the people responsible for keeping them safe and protecting them from harm don't pay close enough attention to them. When you trust someone else to care for your child while you are not present, you expect your child to be taken care of, monitored closely, and that reasonably foreseeable accidents will be prevented. If someone fails to protect your child from harm, you may be entitled to monetary damages related to the incident, including damages for medical care, lost earnings due to time away from work to care for your child, pain and suffering and other accident-related expenses.

Who is Responsible for Negligent Supervision?

If someone accepts the responsibility of caring for your child while you are away, they may be liable for injuries or death due to negligent supervision, or even kidnapping or abduction.  This could be anyone, including:

• Babysitters
• Camp counselors
• Churches
• Foster parents
• Nannies
• Other parents
• Schools
• Teachers

Examples of Negligent Supervision

The negligent supervision of a minor child can take many forms, and occur almost anywhere a child is in the care of an adult, including a private home, a day care, school, church, or youth center. Just a few examples of negligent supervision include:

• A child drinking toxic cleaning fluid.
• A toddler tugging at an electric cord and pulling a hot iron off of a table.
• A baby left unsupervised to crawl into a pool and drown.
• A child finding a loaded gun.
• A child left locked in a car in hot temperatures.

It is important to note that what constitutes adequate supervision for one child will not be adequate for another. Each child will require a different level of care based on their age and development level. The appropriate level of care will also vary based on the environment as well. For example, if a swimming pool is present, or the home is located near a busy road, increased supervision will be necessary to protect the child. Many times negligent supervision occurs not because the supervising adult is willfully reckless, but because the adult simply has too many children to watch and cannot reasonably supervise all of them.

Negligent Supervision at Foster Homes

If you or your child suffered injury, abuse or neglect while in the care of a foster parent, you may be entitled to damages from the foster family agency. Foster agencies have a responsibility to protect the children they place in foster family homes. If the agency does not investigate the home situation, perform a background check, or routinely check on the well being of the child,  you can bring a claim for damages against the agency. Estey & Bomberger has successfully represented a number of children in claims against foster family agencies. If you or your child is the victim of foster home abuse, sexual molestation or injury due to negligent supervision, contact us for a free and confidential attorney consultation.

Free Attorney Consultation

If your child has been hurt due to negligent supervision in California, contact Estey & Bomberger for a free consultation with one of our experienced attorneys. We can help you hold whoever is responsible for your child's injuries or death financially accountable for their negligent or reckless actions. Our lawyers are some of the most experienced in the state and can help you obtain maximum compensation for medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering. We have recovered millions for victims of negligent supervision – see our case results. To speak with an attorney, call (800) 925-0723. We do not charge any fees unless we obtain money for you.