Supervision / Education Articles

Factors such as the age of the children, specific care environments (residential, church-run, commercial, etc.), and facility policies and procedures are all relevant in the investigation of childcare mishaps. In this webinar, childcare operations expert, Janice Inman discusses the standard of care for protecting children from hazards within supervised care facilities.

Attendees will learn about relevant state and national childcare standards, facility hazard analyses, and the standard of care for child supervision.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics, there were approximately 1.3 million paraeducators employed nationwide in 2020. Depending on the state and school district in which they are employed, paraeducators are known by a myriad of titles, including teacher assistant, instructional aide, one to one aide, personal care assistant, bus aides and others. Many times, they are assigned to help support special education classrooms and students with significant disabilities. Some paraeducators are assigned to work one to one with a particular student; while others may help the special education teacher deliver instruction to a small group of students.

With the increasing number of students with disabilities participating in general education classrooms, and an increasing number of students with complex needs entering school, paraeducators serve an important role in our nation’s education system. In this article, special education and school administration expert, Dr. Theresa Kreider explains the aspects of hiring practices, training, and supervision that are commonly scrutinized and contested in litigation.

Schools that utilize the playground as an entry and exit location for student pick up and drop off face a number of security challenges due to the size, number of access points, pedestrian and foot traffic, and visibility obstructions in the environment. Even where fences and gates are used to provide a degree of physical security, those barriers are often easily circumvented and rely upon the watchful eye of trained supervisors and established safety protocols to ensure that unauthorized parties are not intruding, and that children are not leaving the property unattended.

In this article, School Administration Expert, Dr. Suzanne Rodriguez reviews the standard of care for school supervision when playgrounds are utilized as student pick-up and drop-off locations.

The use of restraints in an educational setting is considered a late-stage intervention, typically reserved for incidents where students have failed to respond to earlier de-escalation techniques and pose an imminent safety risk to themself or others. However, data suggests that the use of restraints has remained consistently high since 2009-2010 when school districts were first required to report restraints, and they are disproportionately used on students with disabilities.

In this article, special education and school administration expert, Dr. Theresa Kreider explains the intended use of restraints within the educational setting, where restraint use can go wrong, and some of the factors that should be considered when investigating these matters.

This webinar video focuses on the industry standards relevant to providing safe facility-based programs for pre-school and school-aged children. Panelists from our Supervision practice group examine policies and procedures within the context of two scenarios common in our casework, infant death and school discipline.

Attendees will develop a stronger understanding of the standards relevant to organizations that serve children. They will also gain valuable insight into the forensic process, including tips on preparing case information for expert analysis.

In this article, School Administration & Social Work Expert, Dr. Suzanne Rodriguez, discusses school discipline policies and procedures as they relate to the prevention of subsequent violence, abuse, or bullying. The adequacy of disciplinary actions is frequently disputed in school based assault cases where the aggressor displayed a history of violence or aggression. Our school administration experts have experience evaluating these cases on behalf of both plaintiff and defense counsel.

Services for special education students include modifications and accommodations that are individualized and appropriate for each child as per the development of their Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Failure to provide these necessary supports that are agreed upon in the IEP, can have negative consequences for the child with regard to their disability and in their functioning. This can manifest for the child behaviorally, emotionally, socially and physically and can lead to disputes between the student and the school system.

This article will address some disputes that typically occur in school systems and relate to whether or not the individualized needs of special education students have been effectively addressed.

Cases involving SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) or SUID (Sudden Unexpected Infant Death) at child care facilities often call for strict scrutiny of the facility’s programs, policies, and procedures related to providing a safe sleeping environment. In this article, Child Care Operations & Child Supervision Expert, Janice Inman describes the standard of care for preventing infant crib death incidents in child care settings.

In this article, the supervision and education experts at Robson Forensic outline steps/areas that school districts and schools can include in their Emergency Operations Plans (EOP) to ensure effective management and support of students, staff, and communities in times of health and safety crisis.

Assessing the damages in cases involving sexual abuse can be complex, especially when considering children and adolescents. These cases become even more challenging when factoring in children and adolescents with developmental disabilities or those who have difficulty expressing themselves verbally.

In this article, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Staci Weiner shares the many factors that need to be considered when assessing damages, in relation to the individual’s age, developmental stage, cognitive, psychological, as well as social and emotional functioning.

Sexual violence transcends age and organizational settings. It can occur with young children, older children, individuals with disabilities, and with elderly adults. Studies suggest that 12-40 percent of females and 4 to 16.5 percent of males in the United States have experienced at least one instance of sexual abuse in childhood or adolescence.

According to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, 18% of women raped each year are 60 or older. Within this age group 2.4% were assaulted in adult care residences and 70.7% were assaulted in nursing homes.

This article will focus upon the sexual abuse that occurs within organizational facilities that serve children, individuals with disabilities and the elderly populations. These are populations of individuals who are vulnerable, and may have limitations that prevent them from consenting to sexual acts and reliably communicating and/or reporting the assault and abuse.

In general, school administrators and their employees are expected to properly maintain the facilities, equipment, and school grounds in accordance with applicable standards of care. School districts have a duty to protect students and staff. Standards of care have been established to ensure the safety of the educational environment without compromising compliance with existing building codes, property codes, fire codes, and life safety codes.

In this article, School Facility Expert, Edward Gray, discusses the importance of keeping schools in compliance with safety standards of care to avoid injuries, the most common of which are falls.

Hospital beds are designed and constructed to provide safety, comfort, and mobility for a broad range of patients with varying conditions and treatment plans. While the adaptability and versatility of hospital beds and related safety devices allow caregivers to meet the diverse needs of their patients; care must be taken to ensure necessary user training, inspection protocols, and routine maintenance and safety checks are followed.

Falls are the most common type of incident associated with hospital beds, however pressure injuries and entrapments are also notable safety concerns. In this article, Christian Mongrain, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Durable Medical Equipment Expert, provides an overview of hospital bed injuries and proper safety.

In this article, the supervision, health care, and education experts at Robson Forensic provide an overview on the standard of care for providing food and fluid to individuals with dietary restrictions.

In this article, clinical psychologist, Justin Ramsdell, Psy.D discusses the challenge faced by law enforcement officers when confronted with individuals who struggle with severe emotional/mental health issues. His discussion includes an overview of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and best practices in law enforcement for de-escalating potentially tumultuous situations.

Dr. Ramsdell specializes in issues relating to mental health treatment in correctional/custodial environments and law enforcement interactions with individuals with severe mental illness.

In this article, the health care experts discuss the process by which adverse medical events are evaluated by medical professionals and forensic experts. The article describes the concept of an adverse event and provides two models that are used to evaluate the quality of care and preventability of a specific incident.

The experts at Robson Forensic are frequently retained to investigate adverse events within health care and other managed care settings. Our experts approach these investigations from the perspectives of nurses, physical therapists, and other direct care professionals. We also have experts who specialize in the operations and administration of nursing homes, hospitals, and managed care facilities.

In this article, education experts describe the role of teachers and administrators in preventing and managing student injuries in physical education.

Experts from Robson Forensic are frequently retained to investigate incidents of injury and abuse that occur in schools, child care, and other forms of youth programming.

In this article, supervised care expert, Dr. Lisa Thorsen broadly discusses Plans of Care as they apply across a range of supervised care environments. The experts at Robson Forensic are regularly retained to evaluate the quality of care provided to individuals within educational, health care, and group living environments.

The classification of an event as either a “conflict” or an act of bullying (HIB) is frequently contended in legal disputes as it impacts the way in which educators and administrators respond to a situation. In this article, former teacher and school principal, Marion McGrath provides an overview of how the determination is made between a conflict and a bullying incident.

In this case, Aquatics Expert, Maria Bella, was retained by defense counsel to investigate a drowning incident that occurred at a gated apartment pool.

In this article, supervised care expert, Lisa A. Thorsen, Ed.D., C.R.C., C.P.S.I., introduces the framework by which organizations establish the policies and procedures to stem sexual abuse.

In this article, supervised care expert, Lisa A. Thorsen, Ed.D., C.R.C., C.P.S.I., discusses some of the criteria used to evaluate the adequacy of child supervision, and provides several examples of state specific child supervision ratios.