Chicago · Licensed center

Living The Language

What these mean, and where they come from

Medium means the middle half of Chicago-area’s 1,949 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 49 to 118 children. Small is 8 to 48; large is 119 to 487.

Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, sick and biting policies.

What the state has found

Routine visits: 3 of 4 cited something

Chicago-area centers: the state cites something at about 5 in 6 routine visits.

From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked September 25, 2026.

Read every record and the state’s reports

State record — Illinois DCFS

Last visit
January 27, 2026
On file
4 visits since October 2023 — 1 cited nothing
Fixed?
The latest correction deadline was February 27, 2026. Illinois DCFS does not publish whether it was made.
Most serious
Illinois DCFS does not publish a severity level for a citation, so there is no most-serious to name.

Illinois DCFS cites each subsection of a rule separately, so one audit of a filing cabinet can produce ten citations. It publishes the rule’s title and a correction deadline, but no description of what was observed.

Jan 2026 Monitoring visit 4 findings

Monitoring visit · January 27, 2026

General Requirements for Personnel

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (8) · Violation corrected · Violation corrected on site

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(8)

Physical Plant/Indoor Space

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(d)(2) · Violation corrected on site

Cited: FHSEC305

0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 572467 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Apr 2025 Compliance monitoring visit nothing cited
Oct 2024 Monitoring visit 12 findings

Monitoring visit · October 28, 2024

General Requirements for Personnel

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) through (7) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) · 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(c)(7)

Personnel Records

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1) through (4) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4)

Provisions Pertaining to the License

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.60(g) · Violation corrected

Organization and Administration

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e) · Violation corrected

Staffing Structure

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(d) · Violation corrected on site

Health Requirements for Children

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(3) · Violation corrected

Diapering and Toileting Procedures

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.340(k) · Violation corrected

Cited: CCASEC4

0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 572467 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Oct 2023 Monitoring visit 4 findings

Monitoring visit · October 10, 2023

Organization and Administration

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(f) · Violation substantiated

Background Checks for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation substantiated

Napping and Sleeping

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(c) · Violation substantiated

Physical Plant/Indoor Space

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3) · Violation substantiated

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 572467 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

How the comparison is built

Routine visits: across Chicago-area centers, the state cites something at about 5 in 6 routine visits (19,088 visits).

Details

3122852074

Address
1255 S State St
License
pending renewal application (rn)

Do you run Living The Language? Shortlist has no tuition, hours or ratios for it, because the state does not publish that. Adding it is free and takes about ten minutes.

Add what is missing
Sources and dates

Where every fact on this page came from, and when Shortlist last checked it against that source. Anything Shortlist could not source is named here rather than left blank.

All checked August 2026.

State record

Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.

Details

  • Phone, Address, License sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "LIVING THE LANGUAGE" under Provider Name and 60605 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 572467).