Two years ago, the State of Illinois began the process of
consolidating the operation and management of programs previously administered
by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Illinois
Department of Human Services (IDHS), Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE),
and the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development (GOECD). As of July 1, 2026, the Illinois Department
of Early Childhood (IDEC) began operations to complete the transition.
Just before IDEC began operating, the Governor signed into
law Public Act 104-0480 adopting comprehensive reforms in license
regulations for day care centers. The
new act creates three tiers of licensing and registration: Day Care Center Providers, Recognized
Alternative Providers and Exempt Providers. Most importantly for local governments, the amendments re-affirm the
State’s double exemption for programs operated by local governments so long as
those programs meet defined statutory parameters. Eligible programs will be
exempt from regulation as a Day Care Center Provider and from registration as a
Recognized Alternative Provider.
To qualify for the double exemption, a local government (or
combination of local governments pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement) may
demonstrate it is operating a special activities program, such as athletics,
recreation, crafts instruction, music, dance, drama, sports, or similar
activities offered by a unit of local government, including special activities
programs offered by 2 or more units of local government pursuant to the
Intergovernmental Cooperation Act. (There are other exemptions for school-based
extracurricular activities conducted outside of the school day.)
These types of special activities programs will qualify for
the double exemption if they demonstrate all the following requirements:
(A) State law authorizes the unit
of local government to offer the program and an elected or appointed board of
the unit of local government has adopted policies governing the operation of
the program, pursuant to Section 8-10 of the Park District Code or other
applicable law.
(B) The program is offered to the
following categories of children and the parent or legal guardian of each child
has received written acknowledgement that the program is not licensed by the
Department under this Act:
(i) children at least 5 years of
age for no more than 100 continuous days in any 12-month period when school is
not in session;
(ii) children at least 3 years of
age for no more than 3.5 continuous hours at a time; or
(iii) children
under 3 years of age for no more than one hour at a time.
(C) The program does not advertise
to the public as a pre-school program, licensed early care and education
provider, licensed child care, or licensed day care.
(D) The program conducts the
following investigations on all employees of the program no less than
once every 5 years:
(i) background investigations
pursuant to Section 8-23 of the Park District Code, Section 16a-5 of the
Chicago Park District Act, or other applicable law;
(ii) a (free) name
check against State and national sex offender registries; and
(iii) a (free) Child Abuse and
Neglect Tracking System (CANTS) name check through the Department at no cost to
the unit of local government.
(E) The program conducts the
following investigations on all volunteers of the program no less than
once every 5 years:
(i) background investigations
pursuant to Section 8-23 of the Park District Code, Section 16a-5 of the
Chicago Park District Act, or other applicable law;
(ii) a (free) name
check against State and national sex offender registries; and
(iii) a (free) Child Abuse and
Neglect Tracking System (CANTS) name check through the Department at no cost to
the unit of local government.
(F) The unit of local government
has an emergency preparedness and response plan for the location of the special
activities program.
(G) The program does not
participate in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) or receive funding
pursuant to the Early Childhood Block Grant.
If a program fails to satisfy all the requirements, it will
be required to either obtain a license as a day care center or register as a
recognized alternative provider.
Some local governments have recently been asked by DCFS to
“apply” for exempt status. Public Act
104-0480 clarifies whether this is
necessary. Section 3.01 of the Child
Care Act, as amended, provides
The Department of Early Childhood shall
provide written verification of exemption and description of compliance
with standards for the health, safety, and development of the children who
receive the services upon submission by the provider of, in addition to
any other documentation required by the Department of Early Childhood, a
notarized statement that the provider facility complies with: (1) the standards
of the Department of Public Health or local health department, (2) the fire
safety standards of the State Fire Marshal, and (3) if operated in a public
school building, the health and safety standards of the State Board of
Education.
The amendments related to licensing and registration
requirements will become effective for all providers other than park districts
on July 1, 2027, but not until July 1, 2028 for park districts. Programs operating under a current 2-year
licensing exemption shall be allowed to continue to operate under that
exemption until it expires or until July 1, 2028, whichever is later.
Keep an eye open for IDEC adopting new administrative
regulations implementing the revised statutory scheme.
Post Authored by Adam Simon, Ancel Glink
