North Chicago · Licensed center
Step By Step Day Care Inc.
A center in North Chicago, licensed for 115 children. The state cited something at 10 of 10 routine visits (Chicago-area centers: about 5 in 6). Shortlist has found no website for it yet.
Medium center. 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: 10 of 10 cited something
Across Chicago-area centers, the state cites something at about 5 in 6 routine visits (19,088 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
- August 14, 2026
- On file
- 10 visits since August 2023 — all of them cited findings
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was September 14, 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.
Aug 2026 Monitoring visit 12 findings
Monitoring visit · August 14, 2026
General Requirements for Personnel
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (f) · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(f)
Personnel Records
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) through (b) · Violation substantiated · Violation corrected on site
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(6) · 407.120(b)
Health Requirements for Children
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a) through (3) · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a) · 407.310(a)(3)
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(d) · Violation substantiated
Outdoor Play Area
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.390(m) · Violation substantiated
Cited: CCASEC4
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation substantiated
Cited: FHSEC305
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jul 2026 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · July 30, 2026
Grouping and Staffing
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.190(g) · Violation corrected on site
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Apr 2026 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · April 21, 2026
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Feb 2026 Monitoring visit 7 findings
Monitoring visit · February 25, 2026
Organization and Administration
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(j) through (n)(3) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(j) · 407.70(n)(3)
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(b) · Violation corrected
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(l) · Violation corrected
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) · Violation corrected
Nutrition and Meal Service
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(j)(3) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Nov 2025 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · November 24, 2025
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) · Violation corrected on site
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Aug 2025 Monitoring visit 8 findings
Monitoring visit · August 28, 2025
General Requirements for Personnel
4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) through (8) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) · 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(c)(7) · 407.100(c)(8)
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (6) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(6)
Application for Renewal of License
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.55(b) · Violation corrected
Cited: FHSEC305
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jan 2025 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · January 23, 2025
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(1) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Sep 2024 Monitoring visit 12 findings
Monitoring visit · September 3, 2024
General Requirements for Personnel
6 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) through (f) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(1) · 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(6) · 407.100(c)(7) · 407.100(c)(8) · 407.100(f)
Personnel Records
4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1) through (c) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(1) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(c)
Cited: CCASEC4
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 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Sep 2023 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · September 1, 2023
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(b) · Rule cited again
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) · Violation corrected on site
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Aug 2023 Monitoring visit 14 findings
Monitoring visit · August 1, 2023
Personnel Records
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) through (b) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(6) · 407.120(b)
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · Violation corrected
Students and Youth Aides
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.160(b) · 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(d) · Violation corrected
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a) · Violation corrected
Nutrition and Meal Service
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(j)(1) · Violation corrected
Napping and Sleeping
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(i)(4) · Violation corrected on site
Medications
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.360(e) · Violation corrected
Outdoor Play Area
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.390(m) · Violation corrected
Cited: FHSEC305
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
Cited: CCASEC4
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 609249 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Details
- Phone
- 8474734838
- Address
- 2525 Sherman Ave
- License
- license issued (il)
Do you run Step By Step Day Care Inc.? Shortlist has no tuition, hours or ratios for it, because the state does not publish that. Add what is missing. It is free and takes about ten minutes.
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 "STEP BY STEP DAY CARE INC." under Provider Name and 60064 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 609249).