Schools, colleges, churches, daycares, and other child or youth-oriented organizations have a standard of care they must meet to protect children in their custody from physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. Attorneys seeking a sexual abuse or child abuse expert witness often engage our highly competent team at School Liability Expert Group for consultations, thorough case analysis and reviews, comprehensive reports, and expert testimony at trial and deposition.
Youth-focused organizations, public schools, and school districts often call our expert witness team for help complying with laws, regulations, and industry standards to avoid lawsuits. As experts in anti-abuse laws, we assist them with program reviews, staff training and presentations, and consultations. Our expert team boasts a wealth of diversified experience in education administration and supervision. Our firm has provided sexual abuse and child abuse expert witness services in matters ranging from on-campus and after-school programs to summer camps and other youth programs.
Defining Types of Child Abuse
It is essential to understand the legal definition of child abuse clearly. Child abuse laws differ depending on the state in which the abuse occurred. However, our nationwide services in the United States and Canada mean that our expert witness services for private schools, youth agencies, public schools, and school districts can assist you regardless of which state your issue is in. As experts in anti-abuse matters, we are well-versed in state-specific laws and regulations.
Generally, the following are examples of actions that would be considered child abuse across the country.
Physical Harm
Physical harm can include striking a child with an object or part of your body to hurt the child. Excessive physical restraint, preventing a child from meeting basic needs for food and clean water, and withholding necessary medical treatment can all be considered child abuse.
Emotional Harm
Emotional harm can be more complicated to quantify. Still, having provided extensive sexual abuse and child abuse expert witness services in cases involving private schools, youth-oriented organizations, public schools, & school districts, our experts can provide reliable insight during litigation as to whether the matter in question qualifies as emotional abuse or not. Believable threats to kill or severely harm a child or knowingly allowing a child to be emotionally harmed are two examples of emotional abuse. This can include allowing a child to witness violence or severe, continued harassment.
Child Sexual Abuse
Sexual harm covers a wide range of issues, from statutory rape, which covers any sexual activity involving a child below the age of consent, to exposing a child to pornographic material.
In providing expert witness services to private schools, youth agencies, public schools, and school districts, we have come to appreciate that every case is unique. Do not hesitate to book a call today to discuss how our sexual abuse and child abuse expert witness services can help you. We will offer you a unique experience with the tools of a large law firm but with the personalized attention of a smaller practice.
Negligence and the Professional Standard of Care
The professional standard of care refers to the level and type of care a reasonably competent professional with a similar background and setting would have provided under the same circumstances to anticipate, prevent, or respond to child abuse.
Our expert services for public schools, & school districts, and other youth-oriented organizations can help ensure compliance with field-specific professional standards of care to avoid lawsuits. These entities must provide reasonably safe premises that foster the safety and well-being of children. As experts in anti-abuse laws and standards, our sexual abuse and child abuse expert witness services can be sought in litigation to determine whether an institution breached its professional standard of care.
Title IX of the Education Act Amendment of 1972 is a meaningful set of essentials directly addressed by the professional standards of care in education administration and supervision. While navigating private schools, youth agencies, public schools, & school districts expert witness services, we have experienced situations where institutions that fail to meet the professional standard of care are held liable for negligence in scenarios in which they are not directly responsible for child abuse, such as summer camp sexual abuse by older campers. Of course, the abuser can be someone directly in charge of a youth program, as we often see while delivering sexual abuse and child abuse expert witness services. This also is a breach of the professional standard of care.
Child Abuse Prevention and Reporting Policies
As youth agencies, public schools, & school districts expert witnesses will note, these entities must have in place a viable set of regulations to prevent, report, and respond to sexual abuse and child abuse. All staff members should clearly understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate physical interactions. For example, handshakes, high-fives, holding hands in escorting situations, and touching hands, shoulders, and arms are generally appropriate. However, full-frontal hugs, kisses, lap sitting, tickling, any type of massage, and touching the bottom, chest, or genital areas are inappropriate physical interactions and could be considered child abuse or sexual abuse.
A youth organization, public schools, & school districts expert witness will also emphasize the need to define appropriate and inappropriate verbal interactions, one-on-one interactions, outside contact, and electronic communication. Many cases of child abuse in schools, summer camps, daycares, churches, and other youth entities are preventable with the right policies in place. As experts in anti-abuse laws and industry standards, we at the School Liability Expert Group can conduct a review of your institution’s program policies and make recommendations to ensure they meet the requisite standard of care.
Do You Need Expert Help with a Child Abuse Matter?
School Liability Expert Group provides consultations and expert witness services to plaintiff and defendant attorneys, public schools & school districts, other child and youth organizations, and parents. For attorneys, our expert witness team can step in in any sexual abuse and child abuse case to provide in-depth case analysis, expert reports, and expert testimony. Our outputs speak to how thorough we are. Hundreds of law firms have trusted our team with these services, and our client’s feedback is a testament to our unmatched quality.
If your school or youth organization needs to review its existing programs and policies to ensure that they comply with the standard of care and anti-abuse laws, our expert witness team can help.
Through our extensive experience, our firm has developed robust processes to promptly and reliably determine the viability of a child abuse case. Combining research and specialized knowledge, our expert witness team can review a public school’s & school district’s or youth organization’s program and policies to determine whether they reasonably protected a child from abuse or sexual abuse. This includes verifying if the institution knew or should have known whether the abuse was occurring.
Our experience is wide-ranging, including sexual abuse and child abuse expert witness services activities on school campuses, after-school programs, summer camps, and other youth activities. We also cater to various non-educational institutions with a duty of care to children and youth in their custody. Beyond sexual abuse and child abuse matters, there is a wide variety of areas we can help with.
Our court-qualified experts undergo continued training, building further expertise that enables our firm to deliver prompt, reliable, and individualized expert witness services in public schools & school districts and other youth agencies matters. Book a call today to discuss how we can help with your child abuse, sexual abuse, or other case.