What Are the Requirements to Be a Daycare Teacher in Illinois?

The Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) licenses child care centers and enforces the rules their teachers work under.

IDEC became the lead agency for child care licensing on July 1, 2026, taking over from DCFS Day Care Licensing, and the center rules moved with it into 23 IAC 2008.

When a requirement on this page and the current rulebook disagree, the rulebook governs.

Illinois calls the lead classroom role the early childhood teacher.

Under 23 IAC 2008.140, an early childhood teacher must be at least 19 years old with a high school diploma or GED, plus one of three routes: 60 semester hours of college credit with 6 in child development or early childhood education covering birth through age 6; 1 year (1,560 hours) of experience plus 30 semester hours with 6 in child development or ECE; or a CDA, a CCP, or a Gateways ECE Credential Level 3 or higher or an Infant Toddler Credential Level 3 or higher.

A MACTE-accredited Montessori credential (AMS or AMI) for ages birth through 12 may substitute for the required child development coursework.

A center may also hire an Interim Conditional Early Childhood Teacher who holds the Gateways Level 1 ECE Credential and is completing the full requirements with monthly mentoring; these teachers can be no more than 40% of a center's teachers, and parents must be notified.

Early childhood assistants need a high school diploma or GED and must work under the direct supervision of a teacher.

The assistant rule section, 23 IAC 2008.150, states no minimum age, but an assistant must be at least 18 to supervise a room alone in the limited cases the rule allows.

An assistant aged 18 or over may supervise a room where every child is 2 or older without a teacher for up to 3 consecutive hours, and the rule says that window cannot make up a majority of the hours that classroom is open in a single day.

For rooms with children under 2, an assistant aged 18 or over supervising alone needs 1 year (1,560 hours) of experience and the DHS Child Development, Health and Safety Basics training, within the same 3-hour limit.

Illinois does not set one fixed pre-service hour total for new center staff in the rule sections our research covers; the rule attaches specific requirements to your first days instead.

Newly hired staff serving children must join the Gateways to Opportunity Registry within 30 days after hire.

Staff must also complete online Mandated Reporter Training within 30 days of hire.

Before employment, every new staff member needs a physical exam completed within the previous 6 months that includes a Mantoux tuberculosis test.

The director and each child care staff member must complete 15 clock hours of in-service training per year under 23 IAC 2008.100.

In your first year, that training must cover recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect, plus the licensing rules.

Staff who work in infant programs also repeat SUID, SIDS and safe sleep training every 3 years.

Illinois does not require every staff member to hold CPR certification.

The center must have on duty at all times at least one staff member currently certified in first aid, CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, with CPR covering all age groups the center serves.

On the health side, the new-staff physical includes a Mantoux tuberculosis test, and staff are re-examined every 2 years.

Illinois center background checks run under 23 IAC 2010 and require fingerprinting.

Illinois licensing rules define an initial background check as fingerprints obtained for a criminal history check plus a cleared check of the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) and the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

The checks are part of the licensing system, so ask the center that hires you what to submit and when, and confirm the current steps with IDEC.

Staff in infant programs must complete SIDS and Shaken Baby Syndrome training within 30 days of hire.

The same staff repeat SUID, SIDS and safe sleep training every 3 years.

These infant-specific deadlines apply alongside the general requirement of 15 clock hours of in-service training a year; our research did not confirm whether this infant training counts toward those 15 hours, so check with IDEC.

Students in a vocational child care program may count in ratio if they are at least 16, are at least five years older than the oldest child in the group, and have completed one year of the program.

Outside that route, the rule's age floors stand: at least 19 for early childhood teachers and school-age workers, and at least 18 for an assistant to supervise a room alone in the limited cases allowed.

The assistant rule section, 23 IAC 2008.150, states no minimum age for assistants working under a teacher's direct supervision.

Illinois makes registry membership part of licensing: all center staff, assistants and the director must be members of the Gateways to Opportunity Registry, and newly hired staff must join within 30 days after hire.

That mandate comes from the state licensing rule, not from the federal government — the federal CCDF rules ask states to plan for workforce information but do not require individual staff to join a registry.

The Council for Professional Recognition lists Illinois Gateways to Opportunity as an NWRA-approved state registry, and the registry runs at registry.ilgateways.com.

Illinois moved child care licensing from the Department of Children and Family Services to the new Illinois Department of Early Childhood on July 1, 2026.

The rulebook was renumbered at the same time under Public Act 103-0594: day care centers moved from 89 IAC 407 to 23 IAC 2008, day care homes to 23 IAC 2007, group day care homes to 23 IAC 2009, and background checks to 23 IAC 2010.

Copies of the old DCFS rulebook still circulate online, so treat any requirement that cites 89 IAC 407 or DCFS as outdated and check the current Title 23 text.