Chicago · Licensed center
Smart From The Start LLC
- Medium center, licensed for 100 children.
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: 6 of 13 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
- July 23, 2026
- On file
- 13 visits since September 2018 — 7 cited nothing
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was August 24, 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.
Jul 2026 Monitoring visit 3 findings
Monitoring visit · July 23, 2026
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) · Violation substantiated
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(4) · Violation substantiated
Cited: CCASEC4
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 505978 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Oct 2025 Monitoring visit 16 findings
Monitoring visit · October 27, 2025
General Requirements for Personnel
4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(8) through (i) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(8) · 407.100(d) · 407.100(f) · 407.100(i)
Organization and Administration
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(i) through (l) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(i) · 407.70(l)
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) through (4) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4)
Health Requirements for Children
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(3) through (4) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(3) · 407.310(a)(4)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(f)(1) through (2) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(f)(1) · 407.370(f)(2)
Special Requirements for School-Age Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.220(c)(2) · Violation corrected
Cited: CCASEC4
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
Cited: CCASEC7
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
Cited: FHSEC305
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 505978 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Apr 2024 Monitoring visit 6 findings
Monitoring visit · April 10, 2024
Personnel Records
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (e)(5) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(e)(5)
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) · Violation corrected
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(d) · Violation corrected
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(f)(1)(a) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 505978 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Mar 2022 Monitoring visit 25 findings
Monitoring visit · March 24, 2022
Personnel Records
10 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (f)(2) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(a)(6) · 407.120(b) · 407.120(c) · 407.120(d) · 407.120(e)(1) · 407.120(e)(4) · 407.120(f)(2)
General Requirements for Personnel
6 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) through (d) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) · 407.100(c)(2) · 407.100(c)(3) · 407.100(c)(7) · 407.100(c)(8) · 407.100(d)
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(d) through (i)(4)(a) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(d) · 407.250(i)(4)(a)
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(2) · Violation corrected
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
Qualifications for Child Care Director
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.130(a) · Violation corrected
Qualifications for Early Childhood Assistants and School-age Assistants
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.150(c) · Violation corrected
Grouping and Staffing
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.190(a) · Violation corrected
Guidance and Discipline
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.270(a) · Violation corrected
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(f) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 505978 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jun 2021 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · June 14, 2021
Grouping and Staffing
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.190(a) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 505978 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Oct 2020 Monitoring visit 4 findings
Monitoring visit · October 15, 2020
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e) through (q)(2) · Violation corrected on site · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e) · 407.370(e)(3) · 407.370(e)(6) · 407.370(q)(2)
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 505978 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
- Website
- smartfromthestart.net
- Address
- 1939 W 79th St
- License
- pending renewal application (rn)
- Ages they serve
- six weeks to age 12 (79th Street location); six weeks to age 5 (Armitage Ave location)
Do you run Smart From The Start LLC? 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 missingSources 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.
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 — Checked July 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "SMART FROM THE START LLC" under Provider Name and 60620 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 505978).
- Website — Checked August 2026 smartfromthestart.net
- Ages they serve — Checked August 2026 smartfromthestart.net