Aurora · Licensed center
The Children's Courtyard
- Medium center, licensed for 118 children.
- Shortlist has found no website for it yet.
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: 4 of 7 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
Across The Children's Courtyard's 5 locations in the Chicago area, it cited something at 66% of 32 visits.
State record — Illinois DCFS
- Last visit
- February 9, 2026
- On file
- 7 visits since May 2023 — 3 cited nothing
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was April 20, 2025. 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.
Mar 2025 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · March 21, 2025
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · Violation corrected
Outdoor Play Area
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.390(g) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 616214 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Aug 2023 Monitoring visit 7 findings
Monitoring visit · August 10, 2023
General Requirements for Personnel
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (d) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(d)
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (3) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3)
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a) · Violation corrected
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i)(4) · Violation corrected on site
Equipment and Materials
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.380(b) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 616214 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jul 2023 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · July 17, 2023
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 616214 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
May 2023 Monitoring visit 6 findings
Monitoring visit · May 26, 2023
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(f)(1) through (4) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(f)(1) · 407.260(f)(3) · 407.260(f)(4)
Diapering and Toileting Procedures
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.340(a)(5) through (f) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.340(a)(5) · 407.340(a)(5)(f)
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(k)(1) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 616214 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
- Address
- 1995 W Downer Pl
- License
- license issued (il)
- Chain
- The Children's CourtyardSource: childrenscourtyard.com
- Owner
- American Securities (via Learning Care Group)The Children’s Courtyard is one of Learning Care Group's brands. The private-equity firm American Securities lists Learning Care Group among its current companies, an investment it made in 2014. american-securities.com
Do you run The Children's Courtyard? 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 August 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "THE CHILDREN'S COURTYARD" under Provider Name and 60506 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 616214).
- Chain — Checked September 2026 childrenscourtyard.com
- Owner — Checked September 2026 american-securities.com