Last updated 2026-07-09
TL;DR
Illinois requires a DCFS license once you care for 4 or more children unrelated to you. Care for 3 or fewer and you are exempt, no license needed. Licensed family day care homes (DCFS Part 406) serve up to 8 kids with one caregiver, cap infants under 2 at two per adult, pass a home inspection, clear background checks, and finish 15 hours of training a year.
What are the basic Illinois in-home daycare requirements?
Illinois regulates home-based child care through the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). The rules live in the Illinois Administrative Code, Title 89, Part 406, titled "Family Day Care Homes." [1]
The core rule is short. Care for 3 or fewer children unrelated to you and you need no license. Add a fourth unrelated child and you need a DCFS license. Go past 8 children at one time and your home gets reclassified as a group day care home under a separate rule set, Part 407. [1]
Licensure is not optional once you cross those lines. Running a home daycare above the exemption limit without a license is a Class A misdemeanor under the Illinois Child Care Act, 225 ILCS 10. [2]
Here is where your home falls:
| Children served (unrelated) | Classification | License required? |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Exempt from licensing | No |
| 4-8 | Family Day Care Home | Yes (DCFS Part 406) |
| 9-16 | Group Day Care Home | Yes (DCFS Part 407) |
Your own kids do not count toward the total. So you could have two of your own children at home and still serve 8 unrelated children under a Part 406 license.
How do I apply for an Illinois family home daycare license?
The application runs through DCFS and takes most providers 60 to 90 days from first contact to license in hand. Background check clearance is the usual holdup, and it can push the timeline to 120 days. [1]
The steps, in order:
1. Contact your local DCFS Child Care Licensing office or the Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agency for your region. Illinois has 18 CCR&R agencies, funded partly through the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). [3] 2. Attend a pre-application orientation. DCFS requires this before your application is formally submitted. 3. Submit the DCFS application packet: your personal history, household member disclosures, and the ages of children you plan to serve. 4. Clear a DCFS indicated-finding check and an FBI fingerprint-based criminal background check for every adult in the home. [1] 5. Pass a home inspection by a DCFS licensing representative. 6. Show proof of the training hours you completed before or during the application period. 7. Show proof of liability insurance (covered further down).
The application has no state filing fee as of 2026, one thing Illinois gets right. Your real money goes to training, background checks (roughly $60 to $80 per adult fingerprint submission), and any home fixes needed to pass inspection.
What child-to-caregiver ratios apply to Illinois home daycares?
One caregiver covers up to 8 children in a Part 406 family day care home. The capacity limit is the ratio. There is no sliding age scale like center care uses. But one sub-limit bites hard: no more than 2 children under age 2 may be present at once unless a second caregiver is on-site. [1]
Want three infants at the same time? You need a second adult, or you reclassify as a Group Home under Part 407, which allows up to 16 children with set staffing ratios.
Group home (Part 407) ratios:
| Age group | Max children per caregiver |
|---|---|
| Infants (under 18 months) | 4:1 |
| Toddlers (18-30 months) | 5:1 |
| 2.5-6 years | 8:1 |
| School-age (6+) | 10:1 |
Mixed-age groups use the ratio for the youngest child present. This matters if you plan to grow. A home with one 9-month-old and seven 4-year-olds counts as an infant group for ratio math. [1]
What training and education do Illinois home daycare providers need?
Licensed family home daycare providers in Illinois complete 15 hours of approved training a year, at least 3 of those hours on child development. That is the headline number. [1]
The rest of the list:
- A current pediatric first aid and CPR certification, renewed on the certifying body's schedule (usually every 2 years for CPR).
- SIDS/safe sleep training before you care for any infant under 12 months.
- Mandated reporter training (roughly 2 to 3 hours, free through the DCFS website) before licensure, renewed every 5 years. [4]
Fifteen hours a year is lower than some states ask for, but it is real work. Illinois does not require a college degree or a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential to run a licensed family home daycare, which keeps the door open for new providers.
Here is the catch. If you want to accept children funded through the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), extra quality standards under ExceleRate Illinois may apply. ExceleRate is the state's tiered quality rating system, and higher ratings pay higher subsidy rates. [3]
You can finish training through CCR&Rs, community colleges, or DCFS-approved online platforms. The Gateways to Opportunity registry tracks your hours, and it is where DCFS checks compliance. [5]
What does a home inspection check for in Illinois?
DCFS sends a licensing representative to inspect your home before the first license issues and again at each renewal. Licenses run 2 years. They can also drop in unannounced. [1]
Here is what they look at.
Space. Illinois requires at least 35 square feet of usable indoor floor space per child. Bathrooms, kitchens, and storage do not count. Outdoor play space is required unless you document an alternative, and any outdoor area must be fenced. [1]
Safety. Working smoke detectors on every level, carbon monoxide detectors, a fire extinguisher within reach in the kitchen, covered electrical outlets, and stair gates for homes with infants or toddlers.
Sanitation. Safe drinking water (well water gets tested), a working toilet and handwashing setup, and a diaper-changing area kept away from food prep surfaces.
Firearms and medication storage. All firearms stored unloaded in a locked container, ammunition stored separately. All medications locked.
Pools and water hazards. An in-ground or above-ground pool needs a locked 4-side barrier, and the inspector checks it against Illinois pool fence requirements.
Good daycare cleaning practice, including a documented schedule for sanitizing toys and surfaces, gets reviewed too. Inspectors want to see a real routine, not a house that got tidy the morning of the visit.
What insurance do Illinois home daycares need?
DCFS requires licensed family home daycare operators to carry liability insurance, but Part 406 names no minimum dollar figure. In practice, most DCFS licensing reps want to see at least $100,000 per occurrence, and plenty of providers carry $300,000 or more. [1]
A standard homeowner's or renter's policy almost never covers commercial child care. You need a home daycare rider on your existing policy or a standalone commercial liability policy. Expect $400 to $900 a year for basic coverage in Illinois, with rates moving on your coverage limit and how many kids you serve.
Home daycare insurance is one place where cutting corners can end your business. One incident without adequate coverage can wipe out years of income. Daycare liability insurance policies built for home providers often cover allegations of abuse or neglect, something a general liability policy may leave out.
Some providers add a business property endorsement for daycare equipment, plus vehicle coverage if they transport children.
How much does it cost to start and run a licensed Illinois home daycare?
Startup cost swings on your home's current shape, but here is a realistic range:
| Cost item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Background checks (per adult in home) | $60-$80 each |
| CPR/first aid certification | $50-$100 |
| Mandated reporter training | Free (DCFS online) |
| Annual training (15 hours) | $0-$200 depending on provider |
| Liability insurance (annual) | $400-$900 |
| Home modifications (varies hugely) | $0-$3,000+ |
| Smoke/CO detectors, safety supplies | $50-$300 |
The state charges no application fee. A home already in decent shape usually lands total startup costs in the $600 to $1,500 range.
On the revenue side, know your local daycare cost market before you set rates. Illinois home rates swing wide by region. In the Chicago metro, full-time infant care in a licensed home ran roughly $1,400 to $1,800 a month as of 2024, while downstate providers often charged $600 to $900. Child Care Aware of America's 2024 report found center-based infant care in Illinois averaged $17,506 a year, which puts licensed home care well below that ceiling. [6]
Serving CCAP families? Your reimbursement rate is set by DCFS and tied to your ExceleRate quality level. Higher ratings pay more per child-day. [3]
What are the background check requirements for Illinois home daycare?
Everyone aged 13 and older living in the home gets checked through the DCFS indicated-finding database. Every adult, 18 and up, who lives in the home or provides care in it also completes a fingerprint-based FBI criminal history check. [1]
DCFS will deny a license if any household member has:
- A conviction for a crime involving violence, sexual misconduct, or child abuse
- An indicated finding of child abuse or neglect
- A felony drug conviction within the past 5 years (older convictions may also bar licensure depending on the offense)
The Illinois State Police handle the fingerprinting appointments. Results usually come back in 2 to 6 weeks, though FBI checks can run longer.
Background checks renew every 5 years for providers, and again any time a new adult moves in. Failing to report a new household member to DCFS is a licensing violation, full stop.
Wondering how Illinois stacks up? The federal CCDF regulations at 45 CFR Part 98 require every state taking CCDF funds to run criminal background checks on all providers serving subsidized children, home-based providers included. [7] Illinois meets and slightly exceeds that federal floor.
What health and nutrition rules apply to Illinois licensed home daycares?
You do not need to be a licensed food service establishment to run a family home daycare in Illinois unless you operate at scale. You do have to follow DCFS health and nutrition standards. [1]
The key rules:
- Meals and snacks must meet USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) meal pattern guidelines if you enroll in CACFP. [8] Enrollment is voluntary, pays per meal served, and is worth doing.
- Food allergies get documented for each enrolled child, with a written plan on file.
- Formula and breast milk follow safe storage and labeling rules.
- Children get excluded from care when they show symptoms of certain communicable diseases (fever above 101 degrees F, vomiting, diarrhea). DCFS spells out the exclusion list.
- Health records, including immunizations, go on file within 30 days of enrollment. Illinois follows the Department of Public Health immunization schedule. [9]
Write your sick-child policy into your parent handbook and give it to families at enrollment. Inspectors ask to see it.
Providers enrolled in CACFP get reimbursed for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks per child per day at rates the USDA sets each year. For 2024-2025, a Tier I home in Illinois received $1.40 for breakfast, $2.63 for lunch, and $0.78 per snack. [8]
How does Illinois regulate mixed-age care and school-age children?
School-age children (5 and older, or kids enrolled in kindergarten) count toward your total under Part 406. Serve 5 school-age children and 3 toddlers and that is 8 total, right at your Part 406 capacity.
Illinois does carve out before- and after-school care. If you serve only school-age children who attend school during the main part of the day, DCFS uses a shorter inspection checklist and slightly adjusted standards. Most core rules still apply.
Thinking about part time daycare slots, school-age kids in the morning and younger ones in the afternoon? Legally fine. Your peak simultaneous count is what the license limits. If you have 8 children at any single moment during the day, you are at capacity no matter how you stagger the hours.
For children with disabilities or special health care needs, Illinois family home daycares must make reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act. [10]
How is Illinois different from other states like Georgia?
Providers sometimes look up Illinois and Georgia together, usually because they are relocating or working near a border. The two states go about it differently.
Georgia calls its version a "Family Child Care Learning Home." The licensing trigger matches Illinois: you need a license at 4 children. But Georgia asks for a high school diploma or GED, 10 hours of pre-service training before you open, and yearly continuing education. Georgia's agency is the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL). [11]
One real difference: Georgia writes a $100,000 per occurrence liability insurance minimum straight into its rules. Illinois requires insurance but leaves the amount to the licensing rep's judgment.
Illinois has one edge. Its Gateways to Opportunity credential system is more built out than Georgia's quality rating infrastructure as of 2026, which shapes subsidy rates. Neither state is a breeze. Both sit near the middle of the national licensing burden.
ChildCareComp's compliance toolkit maps state-by-state requirement tables if you need to compare more than two at once.
One thing both states share: the federal CCDF requirement that subsidy-funded providers pass background checks and meet health and safety standards, licensed or not. [7]
What ongoing compliance requirements keep an Illinois home daycare license active?
Keeping a license is an active job, not a one-time win. Here is what DCFS expects on a rolling basis.
Annual training. Log 15 hours of approved professional development each year in the Gateways registry. [5]
License renewal. Illinois family home daycare licenses run 2 years. DCFS sends a renewal notice, but a missed notice is still your problem. The renewal inspection is as thorough as the first.
Enrollment records. Every time a child enrolls or leaves, your file reflects the current count. You may not serve more children than your license allows.
Incident reporting. Any injury needing medical treatment beyond first aid, any allegation of abuse or neglect, or any emergency evacuation gets reported to DCFS inside the required window (24 hours for serious incidents). [1]
Household changes. A new adult moving in triggers a background check. Notify DCFS before the person moves in if you can, or within 10 days if it happens fast.
Policy updates. Review your parent handbook and operating policies each year. New DCFS guidance means you update to match.
The ChildCareComp compliance toolkit includes renewal checklists and reminder templates home providers use to hit these deadlines without missing a step.
Once your operation runs smoothly, look at how the full daycare landscape works to see where home-based care fits against centers and the other options families weigh.
Frequently asked questions
Can I watch 3 kids in my Illinois home without a license?
Yes. Illinois exempts anyone caring for 3 or fewer children unrelated to them from DCFS licensure. Your own children do not count toward that total. Add a fourth unrelated child and you must apply for a family home daycare license under DCFS Part 406. Operating unlicensed above that threshold is a Class A misdemeanor under 225 ILCS 10.
How long does it take to get an Illinois home daycare license?
Plan for 60 to 90 days from your first contact with DCFS or your regional CCR&R to license issuance. Background check processing, especially the FBI fingerprint step, is usually the longest piece and can stretch the timeline to 120 days or more. Starting the application before you drop other income is the smart move.
What are the square footage requirements for an Illinois home daycare?
DCFS requires at least 35 square feet of usable indoor floor space per child. Kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, and storage do not count toward that total. Outdoor play space is required and must be fenced, though DCFS can approve a documented alternative if your specific property makes fencing impractical.
Do I need to be licensed to watch one or two kids in Illinois?
No. Caring for 1 to 3 unrelated children in your home is exempt from Illinois DCFS licensing. Still, check whether your homeowner's or renter's insurance covers child care at even that small scale. Most standard policies exclude commercial activity, so call your insurance agent before you start taking kids.
How many infants can a licensed Illinois home daycare watch at once?
Under Part 406, a single caregiver may not have more than 2 children under age 2 at any one time. To serve 3 or more infants at once, you need a second adult on-site or a reclassification to a Group Day Care Home (Part 407), which carries its own staffing ratios. This is one of the most misunderstood rules in the Illinois regulations.
What background checks does Illinois require for home daycare providers?
DCFS requires a check through the indicated-finding database for all household members 13 and older, plus an FBI fingerprint-based criminal history check for all adults (18+) in the home or providing care. Fingerprint submissions run $60 to $80 per adult. Results take 2 to 6 weeks on average. Checks renew every 5 years.
Does Illinois require home daycare providers to have a college degree?
No. A college degree or Child Development Associate credential is not required for a Part 406 family home daycare license in Illinois. You do need 15 hours of annual approved training, current CPR and first aid certification, and mandated reporter training. Illinois sets a more accessible educational floor than states like Georgia.
How often does DCFS inspect licensed Illinois home daycares?
DCFS inspects at initial licensure and at each 2-year renewal. They can also conduct unannounced visits at any time, and they will investigate any complaint filed about your program. Handling your home's safety and recordkeeping year-round, instead of scrambling before renewals, is the only approach that holds up.
Can Illinois home daycares participate in CCAP (the child care subsidy)?
Yes, licensed family home daycares can serve CCAP families. Reimbursement rates are set by DCFS and vary by your ExceleRate Illinois quality rating level. Higher ratings pay more per child-day. Contact your regional CCR&R to begin the ExceleRate process if subsidy families are part of your planned enrollment.
Does Illinois require home daycare liability insurance, and how much?
Yes, Illinois DCFS requires liability insurance for all licensed family home daycares, but Part 406 sets no minimum dollar amount. In practice, most DCFS reps want to see at least $100,000 per occurrence, and $300,000 is common. Standard homeowner's policies usually exclude commercial child care, so a separate home daycare policy or endorsement is needed.
What happens if I operate an Illinois home daycare without a license?
Operating a home daycare above the 3-child unrelated exemption without a DCFS license is a Class A misdemeanor under 225 ILCS 10. Beyond the criminal exposure, you cannot accept CCAP subsidies, and your homeowner's insurance will almost certainly deny any claim tied to child care. The risk is not worth it.
How is ExceleRate Illinois connected to my home daycare license?
ExceleRate Illinois is the state's voluntary quality rating and improvement system. Your license is the baseline (ExceleRate's Licensed level). Higher steps require additional credentials, environment rating scale scores, and program quality standards. Higher ExceleRate ratings pay better CCAP reimbursement rates and can strengthen your pitch to private-pay families.
What food program benefits are available for Illinois home daycare providers?
The USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) reimburses licensed home daycare providers for meals and snacks served to enrolled children. Enrollment is voluntary but pays off: a Tier I home received $1.40 per breakfast, $2.63 per lunch, and $0.78 per snack in 2024-2025. Contact your regional CCR&R or the Illinois State Board of Education to enroll.
Sources
- Illinois Administrative Code, Title 89, Part 406 (Family Day Care Homes) - Illinois General Assembly: Part 406 governs Illinois licensed family home daycares; capacity limit 4-8 unrelated children; 35 sq ft per child; max 2 infants under age 2 per caregiver; 2-year license term; unannounced inspection authority
- 225 ILCS 10, Illinois Child Care Act - Illinois General Assembly: Operating a child care facility without a license is a Class A misdemeanor under Illinois law
- Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) - ExceleRate Illinois: Illinois has 18 regional CCR&R agencies; ExceleRate quality rating levels affect CCAP reimbursement rates for licensed home providers
- Illinois DCFS - Mandated Reporter Training: Mandated reporter training required before licensure and renewed every 5 years; free online module available through DCFS
- Gateways to Opportunity - Illinois Professional Development System: Illinois Gateways to Opportunity registry tracks provider training hours; 15 hours of annual approved training required for Part 406 licensees
- Child Care Aware of America, 'Price of Child Care' 2024 Annual Report: Center-based infant care in Illinois averaged $17,506 annually in 2024; licensed home care rates are generally lower
- 45 CFR Part 98 - Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Federal Regulations, Office of Child Care: Federal CCDF regulations require all states receiving CCDF funds to conduct criminal background checks on all providers serving subsidized children, including home-based providers
- USDA Food and Nutrition Service - Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Reimbursement Rates: 2024-2025 CACFP Tier I reimbursement rates for home providers: $1.40 breakfast, $2.63 lunch, $0.78 per snack
- Illinois Department of Public Health - Child Care Immunization Requirements: Illinois licensed home daycares must keep immunization records on file for each enrolled child within 30 days of enrollment, per IDPH schedule
- U.S. Department of Justice - Americans with Disabilities Act information: Home daycares operating as public accommodations must make reasonable accommodations for children with disabilities under the ADA
- Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) - Family Child Care Learning Home Rules: Georgia requires licensure for family child care learning homes; minimum high school diploma/GED; 10 hours pre-service training; $100,000 liability insurance minimum per occurrence