Childcare in Ohio is unaffordable for many families. Due to staffing shortages, hazardous conditions, inadequate background checks, and other risks, childcare could also be unsafe for many children.
All accidents and injuries that occur at a licensed childcare program in Ohio must be reported to the state and a child’s parents. But many incidents go unreported, and the number of reported violations is equally concerning.
Parents who have reason to believe their child was harmed at daycare may want to discuss the situation with an Ohio personal injury attorney.
Ohio Childcare in Crisis
The average cost for childcare in Ohio is approximately $8,000 – $11,500 per year, according to a March 2024 report (Ohio’s child care crisis). That’s almost as much as tuition and fees at a 4-year Ohio college.
Childcare is considered “affordable” if it costs 7 percent or less of a family’s annual income. By that standard, the average Ohio household can only afford to spend $4,700 on childcare annually.
18,788 serious incidents/injuries were reported at Ohio childcare centers in a recent year.
To afford childcare for two children, Ohio parents working full-time would have to earn an annual income of more than $250,000. Ohio also has the lowest eligibility for Publicly Funded Childcare in the country for kids 0 to 5 years old, the report found.
Nearly 59% of Ohio parents who are not working full time said they would do so if child care was more affordable, according to a poll done in 2023 by the First 5 Years Fund.
A report from the National Association for the Education of Children found that 76 percent of Ohio childcare centers are suffering staff shortages. Almost half of the programs affected by staffing problems are providing care for fewer children and nearly 20 percent have reduced their operating hours.
The most common reasons why educators leave the field are low wages (68 percent), followed by exhaustion and burnout (17 percent).
18,788 Serious Childcare Incidents or Injuries in Ohio in 2022
Ohio has an estimated 21,457 childcare providers that support approximately 53,000 jobs. But childcare workers are often overworked and underpaid. This could help to explain the 18,788 serious injuries or incidents reported at Ohio childcare centers in 2022.
The federal government in 2014 started requiring states to report the number of kids getting hurt or dying in childcare programs every year. The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) requires all licensed daycare centers to file an incident/injury report and give a copy of the report to the child’s parent or guardian when one of the following occurs:
- A child receives a bump or blow to the head;
- A child suffers an illness, accident, or injury that needs first aid treatment;
- A child undergoes emergency transporting;
- A child dies at the center; or
- An unusual or unexpected event jeopardizes the safety of children or staff (e.g., a child leaves the center unattended).
Based on these standards, in the most recent year of reporting to ODJFS (2022), there were 18,788 serious incidents/injuries recorded at Ohio childcare centers. While many of these were COVID-19 cases, which programs were required to report through 2022, there were still 4,762 serious incidents/injuries, in addition to 27 substantiated child abuse/neglect reports.
That works out to just under 400 incidents or injuries at Ohio daycares per month. And the actual number may be higher.
An investigation by News 5 Cleveland found that daycare centers failed to report hundreds of serious incidents, including the death of a baby. Over a 5-month period, News 5 documented 244 emergency calls from licensed daycare centers that went unreported. During the same period, daycare centers only reported 377 incidents to the state.
The numbers suggest that, for every reported incident, there are 1.5 unreported incidents. These weren’t just bumps on the head that daycare centers were failing to report, either.
News 5 discovered unreported 911 calls alleging child abuse, child endangerment, and even kidnapping. There were numerous emergency calls for ambulances at daycares for incidents such as a baby falling out of a highchair, a three-year old who swallowed a rubber band, and a toddler who struggled to breathe.
The ODJFS-mandated report from 2022 summarizes over 16,000 inspections of Ohio childcare centers and documents a range of violations. Some of the most common serious violations were:
- Lack of supervision
- Child abuse, endangerment, and neglect
- Lack of abuse/neglect reporting
- Children not protected, leading to serious injury
- Ineligible employees
- Children left unattended (offsite/alone/outside)
There were even several documented incidents of staff drinking on the job with children present.
ODJFS also counts “moderate risk non-compliance” violations such as lack of indoor supervision, access to toxic chemicals, children not sleeping in cribs, and employees not subject to background checks. More than 4,300 such incidents were reported in 2022.
A third category of “low-risk non-compliances” counts 14,423 events that may seem minor but could undermine child safety. For example, ODJFS inspections uncovered 1,683 cases of missing information on medical records and 1,348 cases of medical records missing altogether.
Not having complete, up-to-date medical information could mean that a child does not receive the care that they need in an emergency, or receives care that is detrimental to them, such as a medication they are allergic to.
A Parent’s Rights
Understaffing, missing or incomplete background checks and medical records, unsafe conditions, age-inappropriate toys and supplies, a lack of supervision, inadequate training, and improper procedures are some of the circumstances that could give rise to a negligence claim against an Ohio daycare provider if a child is injured under their supervision.
Your child might be too young to give a full account of what goes on at their daycare. But parents know their children better than anyone, and you have the right to ask questions if there are signs—or recorded evidence, such as an incident/injury report—that your child was mistreated at a daycare center.
You also have the right to speak with an attorney and pursue legal action for a preventable injury. You may be able to recover compensation for your child’s medical expenses and emotional trauma, your lost work time spent caring for your child, and other damages.
It could just be a hunch that something isn’t right when you pick your kid up and talk to them about their day. Trust your instincts—and trust Graham Law to handle the situation with tact and empathy. Call or contact us to schedule a free consultation with an Ohio child injury lawyer.
