Anthony DeJuan

On September 9, 2001, Then 14 month old Anthony DeJuan Boatwright fell into an unattended bucket at his state licensed family day care center.  He is affectionately called Juan(Wan).  At age eight years old, Juan is presently semi-comatose and ventilator dependent.  His mother, Jackie Boatwright, embarked on a crusade to change the law in Georgia regarding state licensed child daycare centers and liability insurance.  The center where Juan was kept was not insured and there was no present law in Georgia that required any form of liability insurance prior to being issued a state license to care for children. Nor was there a law that would require child day care providers to inform parents of their insurance status.  "The state issued licensed gave me a sense of security.  I assumed that if the state endorsed an individual to keep children, they would require liability insurance as a prerequisite to cover any negligent harm they may cause a child." said Jackie.  NOW THERE IS JUAN''S LAW!

JUAN'S LAW DOES NOT REQUIRE INSURANCE BUT IT REQUIRES DISCLOSURE. THIS MAKES IT A VERY IMPORTANT LAW.  UNLESS THERE IS A WAY TO REGULATE INSURANCE, THEN PROVIDERS WILL OBTAIN IT TO GET A LICENSE AND THEN DROP IT AFTER THE FACT. DISCLOSURE AS WITH JUAN'S LAW, GIVES THE PARENT THE INFORMATION THEY NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION CONCERNING CHILD DAY CARE. PROVIDERS ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO POST IF THEY ARE UNISURED AND OBTAIN A SIGNED AFFIDAVIT FROM THE PARENTS ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THEY ARE UNINSURED.

According to the National Child Care Information Center the following states that do NOT require liability insurance, disclosure or both, for state licensed child care facilities.  States issue licenses for two types of facilities;  child care centers and family child care homes.  Some of these states do not require insurance in one or the other type of the facility or do not require it for either type of the facility.  You can email Jackie directly for more information on your state. Jackie urges all parents who utilize child day care centers to ask if there is any liability insurance to cover injuries of children at the facility. If there is no insurance, there is no recourse for families when children are seriously injured or killed while they are in the hands of child day care providers. 

IT IS MY DESIRE TO ENFORCE INSURANCE OR DISCLOSURE FOR THE FOLLOWING STATES

ALABAMA, ALASKA, ARKANSAS, CALIFORNIA, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, FLORIDA,GEORGIA, HAWAII, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, KANSAS, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, NEW MEXICO, NEW YORK, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, OREGON, PENNYSYLVANIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, UTAH, WYOMING, WEST VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA,