How to Start a Daycare in Illinois: Licensing Steps, Costs and Staffing

As of July 1, 2026, the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) is the lead agency for child care licensing, replacing DCFS Day Care Licensing.

The rules moved with it: the former DCFS Title 89 chapters are now IDEC chapters in Title 23 of the Illinois Administrative Code — day care centers under 23 IAC 2008, day care homes under 23 IAC 2007, group day care homes under 23 IAC 2009, and background checks under 23 IAC 2010, recodified under Public Act 103-0594.

Applications, permits and renewals all run through IDEC, so its pages and the Title 23 chapters are the references to work from when you plan an opening.

Illinois splits home and center licensing by size.

A day care home is a family home receiving more than 3 and up to 12 children for less than 24 hours a day, and the family's own children under 12 count toward that total; a home serving only children from a single household is not a day care home under the Child Care Act.

A group day care home is a family home receiving more than 3 and up to 16 children, licensed under its own chapter.

Day care centers are licensed under a separate chapter, 23 IAC 2008 — the license whose application, staffing and ratio rules this page summarizes.

On the center path, a license application must include a staffing plan with job descriptions and the qualifications of the staff, an operating budget, background-check authorizations for all covered persons, radon test results from the last 3 years, lead testing or mitigation plans with lead safety training, and proof that all staff and the director are Gateways Registry members.

On the center path, a new application is also required for a change of address, name, ownership or corporate status.

On the home path, the application adds three non-relative character references, a written hazard protection plan, a diploma copy and a radon test within the last 3 years, and applicants, employees and household members aged 13 and over authorize fingerprint background checks; an initial background check pairs fingerprints with clearance of the state child welfare system and the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

Our research captured what the application must contain but not IDEC's inspection sequence or processing timeline — ask IDEC which pre-licensing inspections your site and building need before you set an opening date.

Directors must be at least 21 with a high school diploma or GED; those hired on or after July 1, 2017 add an associate degree in child development or ECE (or 64 semester hours, 21 in those fields) plus a Gateways Level I Illinois Director Credential, 3 semester hours in child care administration, or 3 points of approved administration training.

Centers licensed for more than 50 must employ a full-time, non-teaching director on site, with narrow exceptions, and a director-qualified staff member assumes decision-making responsibility whenever the director is off site.

Teachers must be 19 or older with a diploma or GED plus one of: 60 semester hours with 6 in child development or ECE; 1 year of experience plus 30 semester hours with 6 in those fields; or a CDA, CCP, or Gateways ECE or Infant Toddler Credential at Level 3 or higher.

Assistants need a high school diploma or GED and work under a teacher's direct supervision.

New staff serving children join the Gateways Registry within 30 days, directors and child care staff log 15 in-service hours a year, and someone first aid, CPR and Heimlich certified for the ages served is always on duty.

Illinois sets center ratios and maximum group sizes by age (23 IAC 2008.190): infants 6 weeks through 14 months are staffed 1:4 in groups of 12, easing step by step to 1:20 with a group of 30 for school-age children.

When groups combine, the ratio and group size follow the youngest child present, and — except for infants and toddlers — half the required staff may directly supervise nap time as long as the full ratio is maintained on the premises.

On the home path, a caregiver alone may care for up to 8 children under 12 including the family's own, for example up to 5 children under 5 of whom up to 3 are under 24 months; with an assistant 18 or older, a home may add 4 full-time school-age children for a total of 12, or care for 8 children under 5 with up to 5 under 24 months.

Confirm the band for every age group you plan to serve with IDEC before you set enrollment.

Illinois charges no fee for a day care center license or permit, and a center license is valid for three years unless the Department revokes it; the day care home license is free as well.

The license is therefore not the cost driver in an Illinois opening: facility, build-out, equipment, insurance, food and payroll are figures you plan from your own budget, and our research found no Illinois startup-cost totals to benchmark against.

Our research also did not capture an IDEC processing timeline for a first application, so ask the agency what to expect between filing and decision before you sign a lease or set an opening date.

Illinois's staff-side programs double as an operator's recruiting and retention tools.

Great START is the state's wage supplement for child care practitioners with college coursework who stay with the same employer: eligibility includes working 15 or more hours a week while earning $24.00 an hour or less and $49,920 a year or less, and checks are paid every six months.

The Gateways Scholarship pays a portion of tuition for staff of Illinois licensed programs or Preschool for All who work 15 or more hours a week and have a year with their employer (90 days at an ExceleRate Bronze, Silver or Gold program); recipients pay the remaining tuition and commit to continued work in early care and education.

ExceleRate Illinois, the state's quality rating system, places every licensed center and licensed family or group home automatically at the Licensed Circle of Quality, with Bronze, Silver and Gold applications open after at least one full year licensed.

Our research found no Illinois startup-grant amounts to cite.

For training, Gateways i-learning is the hub of free online licensing and ExceleRate training, and Gateways also runs a job board and Professional Development Advisors.

The home path sets its own caregiver requirements and training floor.

Caregivers must be at least 18, with a high school diploma, equivalency or college or vocational degree for licenses issued after January 1, 2011, and the licensee must be present whenever children are in care unless a qualified substitute covers — caregivers may not work outside the home during licensed hours.

Applicants complete at least 15 hours of pre-service training in the year before applying, then 15 clock hours of in-service training each licensing year; the licensee completes a Department-approved course of at least 6 clock hours on caring for children with disabilities within 36 months of initial licensure, and the primary caregiver holds first aid, Heimlich and infant/child CPR certification.