Plainfield · Licensed center

The Children's Courtyard

Large center, licensed for 205 children.
A Children's Courtyard center. The chain is owned by American Securities, a private-equity firm.
Shortlist has found no website for it yet.

What the state has found

The state cited rules at 5 of its 7 licensing inspections since May 2019.

Of the 157 Chicago-area centers with 7 licensing inspections, 15% had rules cited at 5 of them, as this center did. 40% had rules cited at all 7.

Licensing inspections

Apr 28, 20269 citations

Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4)
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(e)(5)
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f)
Health Requirements for Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)

5 more from this inspection

Health Requirements for Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5)
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(f)(1)
Health Requirements for Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(6)
Transportation
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.280(d)
Guidance and Discipline
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.270(c)(6)

Mar 11, 2025No rules cited

Mar 26, 20245 citations

General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f)
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4)
Health Requirements for Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i)(4)(a)

1 more from this inspection

Physical Plant/Indoor Space
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3)

Jul 11, 2023No rules cited

Sep 1, 20225 citations

Program Requirements for All Ages
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.200(r)
Special Requirements for Infants and Toddlers
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(e)
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(b)(1)
Organization and Administration
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(j)

1 more from this inspection

Staffing Structure
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(b)

Jul 21, 202110 citations

General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(d)
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(f)
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4)
Qualifications for Early Childhood Teachers and School-age Workers
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.140(b)

6 more from this inspection

Organization and Administration
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)(1)
Organization and Administration
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)(2)
Organization and Administration
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)(3)
Staffing Structure
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(1)
Staffing Structure
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(2)
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2)

May 8, 20193 citations

Organization and Administration
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(m)
Medications
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.360(d)(4)
Medications
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.360(d)(2)

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: April 28, 2026
On file: 7 visits since May 2019 — 2 cited nothing
Fixed?: The latest correction deadline was May 28, 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.

Apr 2026 Monitoring visit 9 findings

Monitoring visit · April 28, 2026

Personnel Records

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

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(e)(5) · 407.120(f)(1)

Health Requirements for Children

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a) through (6) · Violation substantiated

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a) · 407.310(a)(5) · 407.310(a)(6)

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f) · Violation substantiated

Guidance and Discipline

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.270(c)(6) · Violation substantiated

Transportation

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.280(d) · Violation substantiated

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576732 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Mar 2025 Compliance monitoring visit nothing cited

Mar 2024 Monitoring visit 5 findings

Monitoring visit · March 26, 2024

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f) · Violation corrected

Personnel Records

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) · Violation corrected

Enrollment and Discharge Procedures

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i)(4)(a) · Violation corrected

Health Requirements for Children

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

Physical Plant/Indoor Space

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

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576732 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Jul 2023 Compliance monitoring visit nothing cited

Sep 2022 Monitoring visit 5 findings

Monitoring visit · September 1, 2022

Organization and Administration

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

Staffing Structure

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(b) · Violation corrected

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(b)(1) · Violation corrected

Program Requirements for All Ages

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.200(r) · Violation corrected

Special Requirements for Infants and Toddlers

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(e) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576732 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Jul 2021 Monitoring visit 10 findings

Monitoring visit · July 21, 2021

Organization and Administration

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)(1) through (3) · Violation substantiated

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)(1) · 407.70(e)(2) · 407.70(e)(3)

Staffing Structure

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(1) through (2) · Violation substantiated

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(a)(1) · 407.90(a)(2)

Personnel Records

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (4) · Violation substantiated

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(4)

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(d) · Violation substantiated

Qualifications for Early Childhood Teachers and School-age Workers

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.140(b) · Violation substantiated

Daily Arrival and Departure of Children

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(f) · Violation substantiated

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576732 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

May 2019 Monitoring visit 3 findings

Monitoring visit · May 8, 2019

Medications

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.360(d)(2) through (4) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.360(d)(2) · 407.360(d)(4)

Organization and Administration

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

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576732 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Openings, child care subsidies, cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, and sick and biting policies aren’t on this page.

Details

8154364500

Address: 24860 W 127th St
License: license issued (il)

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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.

State record

From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked October 10, 2026.

Details

Phone, Address, License — Checked August 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov/…/ProviderLookup.aspx. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "THE CHILDREN'S COURTYARD" under Provider Name and 60585 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 576732).
Who runs it — Checked October 2026 childrenscourtyard.com
Who runs it — Checked October 2026 american-securities.com

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

Large means the biggest quarter of Chicago-area’s 1,949 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 119 to 487 children. Small is 8 to 48; medium is 49 to 118.