Virginia Adult Day Care Negligence Attorneys
You trust an adult day care center with your parent for hours at a time. When something goes wrong, the center’s own records can show whether that trust was violated. Gray Broughton reviews attendance logs, medication records and the state licensing file to determine what happened, what should have happened and who may be responsible.
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An adult day center is held to a rule no nursing home faces: an actual staffing ratio. This page covers what the rules require and which records show whether they were met. Start with a free case review.
What Virginia calls an adult daycare center
Start with the name, because it matters when you go looking for records. Virginia says “adult day center,” not “adult day care center,” and the older regulation people still cite, 22VAC40-60, is repealed. Current standards are at 22VAC40-61.
Centers are licensed by the Department of Social Services under the same statute as assisted living, but under their own chapter. A center isn’t residential, so nursing home and assisted living rules don’t reach it, and despite the shared word it has nothing to do with child day care.
Staffing, supervision and the daily attendance log
A center must keep at least one staff person providing direct care and supervision for every six participants, and the count is taken for the center as a whole, not room by room or activity by activity. It must also have at least two staff on duty whenever even one participant is present, including on field trips.
The same rule requires a daily attendance log. That log is often the most useful document in a wandering case, because it shows who was present, when, and how long it took anyone to notice someone wasn’t.
Medication mistakes at an adult daycare center
Virginia’s medication rules for these centers are detailed, which helps a family find out what happened, because each requirement leaves a record.
Only certain staff may give medication at all: licensed personnel, registered medication aides, or someone who has completed a Board of Nursing approved training program. Staff who aren’t licensed need four hours of refresher training every year. The person who takes a dose out of its container has to be the one who gives it, within an hour of the scheduled time.
The center must also run a written medication plan, get a physician’s authorization first, have verbal orders signed off within 10 working days, and keep a list of everything the participant takes, checking it with the prescriber twice a year. As-needed medication is barred unless one of four conditions is met. When something goes wrong, the center must act on medical direction, tell the physician and the family, and record what it did.
Who has to report abuse, and how fast
Virginia names the people who have to report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of an adult, and anyone working at a center in an administrative, supportive or direct care role is on that list. The duty starts the moment the person decides there’s reason to suspect, and not reporting carries a fine.
Reports go to a local department of social services or to the adult protective services hotline, 888-832-3858, which runs 24 hours a day. Separately, when a center reports, it also has to notify the participant’s contact person. Whether that notice went out, and when, is often the first firm date in the file.
Records that show what happened
The daily attendance log
Who was there, when they arrived and when they left.
Incident reports
Required within 24 hours, written up within seven days and kept two years.
Medication administration records
Signed at the time of the dose. Gaps and late entries show up here first.
Staffing sheets for that day
The only way to test the ratio and the two-staff minimum against who was actually present.
The participant's assessment and plan
What the center itself concluded your parent needed.
The state licensing file
Inspections and complaints, held by the regional licensing office rather than the center.
Who is responsible, and what the center will argue
A center answers for its own choices, in who it hired and kept on and in how it ran the floor, separately from anything one employee did. That claim is negligent hiring and retention, and the immunities and filing deadlines are covered there.
Expect two arguments. That the ratio was met, which the staffing sheets and the attendance log can be checked against. And that your parent was partly at fault, which runs into trouble where they couldn’t manage their own affairs, because the center’s own assessment usually shows exactly what they could and couldn’t do.
Contact an Adult Daycare Lawyer in Virginia Today
If you believe an adult day care center failed someone you love, you do not need every answer before speaking with a lawyer. Gray Broughton can review the records, identify what should be preserved and explain whether the facts support a claim. The consultation is confidential, and there is no fee unless the firm recovers money. Call 804-669-9899 today.
Recent Case Results
These case results come from other Virginia injury matters, none of them an adult day center case. No result predicts another.
$10,000,000
Gray Broughton represented a seven-year-old boy who suffered a traumatic brain injury and lost his right leg above the knee after his family’s car was rear-ended by a pick-up truck hauling a utility trailer. Gray Broughton was able to settle his case for $10,000,000 shortly after filing suit. The client’s net proceeds were structured to ensure that he can be compensated for life. He is a tremendous young man who has overcome daunting odds. We wish him all the best for his future.
$1,250,000
Gray Broughton represented an attorney who suffered a traumatic brain injury after his car was struck by a commercial vehicle. After missing a year of work and undergoing intensive therapy, he was able to make a full recovery and return to work. Gray Broughton was able to settle his case for $1,250,000 shortly before depositions.
$750,000.
Gray Broughton represented an 83-year-old woman who slipped and fell on a restaurant floor. The fall broke her right shoulder in three places; it also broke her right hip. Through his investigation, Gray Broughton was able to prove that the restaurant had not been mopping its floors properly and knew that its floors were abnormally slick. Gray Broughton settled her case two months before trial for $750,000.
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Important: This page provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. Outcomes vary based on the specific facts of each case.
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Frequently asked questions
One staff member providing direct care for every six participants, counted for the center as a whole. It also needs at least two staff on duty whenever anyone is present, including on outings.
No. It isn’t residential, it’s licensed under its own chapter by the Department of Social Services, and the nursing home rules don’t apply to it. It does have a staffing ratio, which nursing homes don’t.
The daily attendance log first, because the center must keep one. Then door and alarm records, and the assessment that already flagged the risk, which shows what the center knew beforehand.
Only through licensed staff, a registered medication aide, or someone who completed an approved training program. The person who takes the dose from the container has to give it, within an hour of the scheduled time.
No. An APS investigation is separate from a civil claim, and neither waits for the other. The investigation may also generate records that matter later.