Robbie landed head first on the ground, suffering a life-threatening head injury that required a $30,000 hospital stay. On a warm day, Needham and her Navy-enlisted husband had cracked open a window in the home that they, as do thousands of American military families, rent from a privatized U.S. military housing operator. With one light press on the screen, she said, the toddler fell through.
Since 2017, at least 18 children have been injured from window falls in Navy and Marine Corps privatized housing, including at least seven last year, according to Navy data obtained by Reuters through the Freedom of Information Act. The measure aimed to ensure window safety in military housing met or exceeded civilian housing standards, say members of Congress who helped pass it, by requiring safety devices on all upstairs windows that posed risks.
CEO Philip Rizzo told Reuters “window safety has and will always be a top priority.” He said Lincoln is retrofitting more than 50,000 windows across its portfolio and has installed at least 31,700 window opening control devices. The Department of Defense has assured Lincoln it is in “full compliance” with window safety regulations, Rizzo said.
Childproofing windows can be relatively inexpensive. The Navy letter mentioned two window-guard devices that cost between $20 and $100 per window at retail.