You drop your child off at daycare every morning. You trust these people. You trust them with the most important person in your world. And then one day, something goes terribly wrong.
Maybe you get the call that your child fell from playground equipment because nobody was watching. Maybe you find bruises you can’t explain. Maybe it’s worse than that. Whatever happened, you’re here because your child was hurt at daycare, and you need to know what to do next.
My name is Scott DeSalvo, and I’ve been representing injured people in Chicago and throughout Illinois for over 27 years. I need to tell you something important: if your child suffered a serious injury at a daycare facility because of negligence or abuse, you may have a strong legal case. But there are things you need to know right now, before you talk to the daycare, before you talk to their insurance company, and before you sign anything.
Let me walk you through how these cases work, what the law says, and what I look for when families call me about daycare injuries.
I’ve handled thousands of personal injury cases. Car accidents. Work injuries. Medical malpractice. But I’ll tell you honestly, daycare injury cases hit different. They just do.
When a child is hurt because an adult failed to protect them, there’s an emotional weight to it that goes beyond a typical negligence claim. These are children who cannot speak for themselves, cannot document what happened, and cannot protect themselves from danger. They were placed in the care of people who had a legal and moral obligation to keep them safe. When that trust is violated, families deserve answers and accountability.
These cases are also different from a legal standpoint. You’re often dealing with corporate daycare chains that have armies of lawyers. You’re dealing with insurance companies that will try to minimize what happened. And you’re dealing with evidence that can disappear fast. Incident reports get altered. Surveillance footage gets “lost.” Staff members suddenly can’t remember what happened.
That’s why having an experienced trial lawyer on your side early matters. Not a paralegal taking down your information. Not a call center. An actual lawyer who has been inside a courtroom and knows how to preserve evidence and hold these facilities accountable.
Under Illinois law, daycare facilities owe a duty of care to every child placed in their supervision. This is not a suggestion. It is a legal obligation. When a daycare center accepts your child, they are required to provide a safe environment, adequate supervision, properly trained staff, and appropriate child-to-staff ratios as mandated by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
If they fail in that duty, and your child is injured as a result, you can hold them accountable through a personal injury lawsuit. To establish a negligence claim against a daycare in Illinois, we need to prove four things: the daycare owed a duty of care to your child, they breached that duty, the breach caused your child’s injury, and your child suffered actual damages.
Now here’s something many families don’t know. In Illinois, a child under the age of seven is legally incapable of contributory negligence. That means the daycare cannot blame your child for their own injuries. A three-year-old who climbed up playground equipment and fell was not “being reckless.” That child was being a three-year-old. It was the daycare’s job to prevent that from happening.
This distinction matters and most lawyers don’t explain it well enough. If your child was injured at a private daycare center, you only need to prove simple negligence. The daycare had a duty, they didn’t live up to it, and your child was hurt as a result.
If your child was injured at a publicly-run daycare or a program operated by a public school district, the standard is higher. You’d need to show that the facility’s conduct was “willful and wanton,” meaning they acted with a reckless disregard for your child’s safety or deliberately intended to cause harm. That’s a tougher standard, but not an impossible one, especially when there’s a pattern of ignoring known dangers.
Also important: if your child was injured at a daycare that receives federal funding or has federal employees on staff, different rules may apply. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, there could be a much shorter deadline to file, sometimes as little as two years from the date of injury, regardless of your child’s age. This is a trap that catches families off guard, and it’s something I always check for immediately.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services sets very specific licensing standards for daycare centers. These aren’t guidelines. These are legal requirements. When a daycare violates these standards and a child is hurt, those violations become powerful evidence in your case.
Here are some of the most important DCFS requirements that I look at in every daycare injury case:
Illinois law mandates specific ratios depending on the age of the children. For infants aged six weeks to 15 months, the ratio is one staff member for every four infants. For toddlers 15 months to two years, it’s one to five. For two-year-olds, it’s one to eight. For preschool-age children two to five years old, the ratio is one to ten. For school-age children, it’s one to twenty.
When a daycare is understaffed and a child is injured because nobody was watching, that ratio violation is devastating evidence. It shows the facility was cutting corners and prioritizing profit over safety.
Every daycare employee in Illinois must pass FBI fingerprinting, a state criminal background check, and child abuse and neglect clearance through DCFS. The director must be at least 21 years old with two years of college or equivalent experience. All staff must complete 15 hours of in-service training annually, including CPR and first aid certification.
When a child is hurt by a daycare worker with a criminal history or a history of abuse complaints, and that worker was never properly vetted, the facility has serious liability. This is negligent hiring, and in some cases, it can open the door to punitive damages.
Licensed daycare centers must maintain hazard-free environments, conduct fire and tornado drills, keep hazardous materials locked and inaccessible to children, maintain first aid kits, ensure all outdoor play areas are visible to staff at all times, and childproof all areas. Infants and toddlers must be in separate space from older children. The use of trampolines is prohibited.
I have seen cases where children were injured because cleaning chemicals were left within reach, because playground equipment was broken and never repaired, and because exit doors were left propped open allowing children to wander into traffic. Every one of these is a DCFS violation, and every one of them is evidence of negligence.
Not every scrape or bruise at daycare is a legal case. Children fall. Children bump into things. That’s a normal part of childhood. But when a child suffers a serious injury because a daycare failed in its duty to provide adequate supervision and a safe environment, that is absolutely a legal case.
Here are the types of daycare injuries I see most often and the ones where families should absolutely be talking to a lawyer:
This is the most common type of daycare negligence I see. A child wanders into an unsafe area because no adult was watching. A child falls from playground equipment because the staff member was on their phone. A child chokes on food or a small object because nobody was paying attention during mealtime. A child is injured by another child because no one intervened.
In one case I reviewed, a three-year-old was found hanging from a jump rope on a slide while the only teacher present was sitting on a bench, not watching. The child suffered a hypoxic brain injury. That family recovered a million-dollar settlement. These cases are about accountability for choices that never should have been made.
Broken bones, head injuries, and concussions from falls on playground equipment are common in daycare injury cases. The question is always: was the equipment safe, was the surface underneath appropriate, and was a staff member supervising the children? Playground equipment must be age-appropriate, properly maintained, and cushioned with resilient surfacing materials. When daycare centers ignore maintenance issues or let young children use equipment designed for older kids, they are liable for injuries that result.
This is the hardest category to discuss, but it is important. Daycare staff who physically abuse children, whether through hitting, shaking, grabbing, or force-feeding, are committing crimes. Daycare facilities where sexual abuse occurs bear enormous liability, especially when proper background checks were not conducted or when warning signs were ignored.
Illinois requires all daycare workers to complete mandated reporter training. If staff members witnessed abuse and failed to report it, or if management received complaints and did nothing, those failures compound the facility’s liability significantly.
Young children put everything in their mouths. That is not new information to anyone who has ever been around a toddler. Licensed daycares are required to keep small objects, choking hazards, and toxic substances completely out of children’s reach. When they don’t, and a child chokes on a small toy or ingests a cleaning product, the daycare is responsible.
Any daycare with access to a pool, splash pad, or even a large bucket of water has a heightened duty to supervise children around water. Drowning is silent and fast. It takes seconds. Illinois daycare regulations require barriers around any water features and constant direct supervision during any water activity.
Slip and fall injuries on wet floors, burns from unprotected heat sources, cuts from broken toys or furniture, and injuries from unsecured shelving or equipment. All of these result from DCFS violations and are actionable claims when a child is seriously hurt.
This is critical information, so please pay attention. In Illinois, the standard statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years from the date of injury. But when the injured person is a child, the rules are different.
Because a child under 18 cannot file a lawsuit on their own, the statute of limitations is tolled, meaning it is paused, until the child reaches the age of majority, which is 18. That means a child injured at daycare generally has until their 20th birthday to file a personal injury lawsuit.
However, there are important exceptions. If the daycare injury involves medical malpractice, for example if a daycare had an on-site nurse who failed to provide proper medical care, the time limit is eight years from the date of the injury or until the child’s 22nd birthday, whichever comes first.
Here is the trap I mentioned earlier: if the daycare receives federal funding or has federally employed staff, the Federal Tort Claims Act may apply, and the deadline could be as short as two years from the date of injury, period, regardless of the child’s age. This is a deadline that has caught many families off guard and destroyed otherwise strong cases.
My advice? Do not wait. Even though you may technically have years to file, evidence disappears. Witnesses forget. Staff members quit and move away. Surveillance footage is overwritten. The sooner you contact a lawyer, the stronger your case will be.
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Almost every daycare makes parents sign a liability waiver or release form before enrolling their child. Many parents assume that means they can’t sue if something happens. That is almost never true.
In Illinois, liability waivers cannot shield a daycare from claims of negligence involving a child’s safety. And they absolutely cannot protect a daycare from claims of gross negligence, willful and wanton conduct, or intentional harm like abuse. Courts have consistently held that you cannot contract away a child’s right to safety.
So if the daycare is pointing to a waiver you signed and telling you that you have no legal options, that is not accurate. Talk to a lawyer.
One of the things I do in every daycare injury case is identify every potentially liable party. It’s not just about suing the daycare itself. Here’s who may bear responsibility:
The daycare facility itself is liable for creating and maintaining unsafe conditions, for failing to follow DCFS licensing requirements, and for the negligent acts of its employees. Under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer is responsible for the negligent actions of its employees when those employees are acting within the scope of their employment.
Individual staff members who directly caused or contributed to the injury can be held personally liable. This is especially true in cases involving intentional harm or abuse.
If the daycare is part of a corporate chain, the parent company may also be liable for systemic failures in training, staffing, safety protocols, and oversight. These are the deep-pocket defendants that can make a real difference in your child’s recovery.
Property owners may also be liable if the injury was caused by a dangerous condition on the property that the owner knew about or should have known about. This is common in cases involving defective playground equipment or structural hazards.
In some cases, third-party manufacturers of defective toys, equipment, or products used at the daycare can also be held liable under product liability theories.
I am always honest with families about case value. I don’t inflate numbers to get you to sign. And I don’t make promises I can’t keep. But I can tell you that serious daycare injury cases in Illinois can result in significant compensation.
The value of your child’s case depends on several factors: the severity of the injury, the long-term impact on your child’s health and development, the medical expenses involved, whether your child will need ongoing care or therapy, and the strength of the evidence showing the daycare’s negligence.
Compensation in daycare injury cases can include current and future medical expenses, rehabilitation and therapy costs, pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent disability or disfigurement, and loss of future earning capacity if the injury affects your child’s ability to work as an adult. In cases involving particularly egregious conduct, such as abuse or a pattern of ignoring known dangers, punitive damages may also be available.
To give you an idea of the range, reported daycare negligence settlements and verdicts nationally have ranged from a few hundred thousand dollars for fractures and recoverable injuries, to $4 million for a traumatic brain injury at daycare, to $16 million for an infant death caused by failure to follow safe sleep guidelines. Every case is different, and I evaluate each one on its own facts.
I am selective about the cases I take. I don’t say that to turn you away. I say it because being selective means that when I take your case, I am all in. I believe in it. I will fight for it. And the insurance company on the other side knows that about me.
Here is what I look for when evaluating a daycare injury case:
First, I look at the severity of the injury. Serious injuries like traumatic brain injuries, broken bones requiring surgery, burns, drowning or near-drowning, and any injury with long-term consequences are cases I want to handle. Bruises and minor scrapes, while upsetting, typically do not support a legal case with the kind of resources these cases require.
Second, I look at whether the daycare clearly breached its duty of care. Was the child unsupervised? Were staff-to-child ratios violated? Were DCFS licensing standards ignored? Was there a history of complaints or violations? The clearer the negligence, the stronger the case.
Third, I look at the defendants. Are we dealing with a corporate chain or a well-funded facility with insurance coverage? Cases against defendants who have the resources to pay a fair settlement or judgment are the cases where I can make the biggest difference for your family.
Fourth, I look at the evidence. Is there surveillance footage? Are there incident reports? Are there witnesses? Has the family sought medical treatment and documented the injuries? The more evidence we can preserve and gather early, the better.
If your child has been hurt at a daycare facility, here is exactly what I recommend you do, in this order:
Get medical attention immediately. Your child’s health comes first, always. Go to the emergency room or your pediatrician and make sure every injury is thoroughly documented. Ask for copies of all medical records. If the doctor notes are vague, ask them to be more specific about the nature and cause of the injuries.
Document everything. Take photographs of your child’s injuries as soon as possible and continue to photograph them as they heal or worsen. Write down exactly what the daycare told you happened, who told you, and when. Save any text messages, emails, or communications with the daycare.
Report the injury to DCFS. You can contact the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services at 1-800-252-2873 to file a licensing complaint. DCFS will investigate, and their findings can become important evidence in your case. You can also check the daycare’s licensing history and any prior violations on the DCFS website.
Do not give a recorded statement to the daycare’s insurance company. They will contact you, and they will sound sympathetic. But their job is to minimize what they pay. Anything you say can be used to reduce the value of your claim. Politely decline and refer them to your attorney.
Call a lawyer. I offer free consultations, and I work on a contingency fee basis, which means you don’t pay me anything unless I recover money for your child. Call me at 312-500-4500. I’m available 24/7, 365 days a year.
I became a personal injury lawyer because of something that happened in my own family. When I was nine years old, my father was seriously injured on the job. I watched that injury consume 17 years of my family’s life. Endless doctor visits. Lost income. The stress of dealing with insurance companies and lawyers who didn’t care.
That experience taught me two things. First, that a serious injury doesn’t just affect the person who was hurt. It affects the entire family. And second, that having the right lawyer fighting for you makes all the difference in the world.
When a child is hurt at daycare, the family feels that same sense of violation that my family felt. The anger. The guilt. The fear about what this means for their child’s future. I understand those feelings, and I channel them into aggressive, focused legal representation.
I’ve tried over 30 cases to a jury. I trained at Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College in Wyoming, one of the most selective trial advocacy programs in the country. I’ve participated in “The Edge,” an advanced program for experienced trial lawyers. When the insurance company on the other side sees my name on the case, they know I’m not bluffing. I will take this to trial if that’s what it takes to get your child the compensation they deserve.
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Yes, in almost all cases. Illinois courts have consistently held that liability waivers cannot protect daycare facilities from claims of negligence, gross negligence, or intentional harm involving children. These waivers do not override your child’s right to safety.
The daycare can still be held liable under a theory of negligent supervision. Daycare providers have a duty to monitor children and intervene when one child poses a foreseeable risk of harm to another. If the facility knew a child had a history of aggressive behavior and did nothing to prevent harm, their liability is even stronger.
For most daycare injury cases involving children, the statute of limitations is tolled until the child turns 18, giving them until their 20th birthday to file. However, if the Federal Tort Claims Act applies because the daycare has federal funding or employees, the deadline may be as short as two years from the date of injury, regardless of the child’s age. Do not rely on these longer deadlines. Contact a lawyer as soon as possible.
Depending on the facts, you may be able to recover medical expenses, future medical costs, rehabilitation and therapy, pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent disability, loss of future earning capacity, and in some cases punitive damages. The value depends on the severity of the injury and the strength of the evidence.
While you are not legally required to, I strongly recommend it. You can call the DCFS licensing complaint line at 1-800-252-2873 or file online. DCFS will investigate the facility, and their findings can provide valuable evidence for your case. You can also check any daycare’s licensing history and prior violations through the DCFS public database.
Every daycare will say that. It’s the first line of defense. But many “accidents” are actually the result of negligence, whether it’s understaffing, lack of supervision, failure to maintain equipment, or ignoring known hazards. An experienced lawyer can investigate what really happened and determine whether the daycare’s version of events holds up.
I work on a contingency fee basis. That means you pay nothing upfront and nothing out of pocket. I only get paid if I recover money for your child. There’s no risk to you in calling me for a free consultation.
When you call my office, you talk to me. Not a paralegal. Not a case manager. Not a call center. Me. I personally evaluate every case, and if I take yours, I am your lawyer from start to finish. I’ve been doing this for over 27 years, I’ve tried over 30 cases to a jury, and I trained at the nation’s top trial advocacy programs. I also speak Spanish, and my office can assist bilingual families throughout the process. Your fight is my fight.
If your child was seriously injured at a daycare facility in Chicago or anywhere in Illinois, I want to hear from you. Call me at 312-500-4500 for a free, no-obligation consultation. I’m available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can also text me or reach out through our website at desalvolaw.com.
There is no fee unless we win your case. And I will be honest with you from the very first phone call about whether I think you have a case and what I think it could be worth.
Your child deserves someone who will fight for them. That’s what I do.
Scott DeSalvo founded DeSalvo Law to help injured people throughout Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1998, IARDC #6244452, Scott has represented over 3,000 clients in personal injury, workers compensation, and accident cases.
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