Child Dies at Oregon Day Care Despite ‘Red Flag’ Warnings

 

When a child is placed into care at any kind of child or day care facility, high standards of care are obviously expected. The health and care of a child under the watchful eye of an expert should, for any parent, be something that provides comfort and certainty in equal measure. However, this certainty will be tested for parents with the recent news that a child died at an Oregon baby day care center, despite ‘red flag’ warnings that child welfare officials should have spotted, according to a lawsuit.

 

The lawsuit states that Oregon child welfare staff had overlooked allegations about one child suffering from traumatic injury at his day care center. It also states that a second baby boy died in the months following this incident. The parents of Allan Swearengin were never informed about the previous reports of abuse at Lane County Day Care, according to the lawsuit.

 

Indeed, ‘A.J.’ was supposed to have been found with repeated injuries at day care, before being found unconscious on September 12^th, 2016. He was pronounced dead an hour and a half later, aged 10 months and six days.

 

The lawsuit, valued at around $18.75m, contends that the Department of Human Services, as well as his pediatrician, failed to protect A.J. and thus prevented him from death. The lawsuit also says that, had welfare workers investigated the role of the day care workers in the first traumatic incident, as the parents had urged, then this could have been prevented.

Worrying precedent

It was concluded that he died of non-accidental injuries, and that they were “highly similar” to the injuries suffered by the first baby. C.J. Greaves, one of four attorney’s involved in representing the boy’s estate, said: “Whatever else in terms of obligations, if DHS had done an investigation and spoken with the babysitter and actually looked at these files, A.J. would be alive today,

 

“It’s basic — just a warning that parents should be concerned, because how else is a parent going to know this?”

 

This comes in the face of multiple lawsuits coming up in Oregon against the child protection agency. It’s suggested that ‘grave failures’ have led to numerous deaths, or severe abuse, or children. Indeed, two young sisters were recently found to have been abused in foster care by a 13-year-old who had known issues.

 

The Department of Human Services spokeswoman, Christine Stone, said that the department does not comment on any pending cases. More on this story as it develops.