Cicero, IL Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Under Town of Cicero Code of Ordinances Article XII (Sec. ), operating a home day care without a license is unlawful. The code defines a home day care as a family home receiving no more than eight children during the day for regular ongoing care, a cap that includes the operator's own natural, adopted and foster children under 16 living in the home. Licenses must be renewed every year. 00 fee at the time of application (Sec. 26-651). Sec. 26-652 disqualifies anyone previously convicted of, or who pleaded guilty or no contest to, a felony or misdemeanor involving improper conduct with a child or minor, and bars anyone whose day care license was ever suspended or revoked elsewhere.

Every applicant must be fingerprinted and undergo a police department background check before a license issues, and the home must comply with the town's fire, building and health codes. Zoning is limited: Sec. 26-654 confines home day cares to family homes in the R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4 residential districts under the town's separately published zoning code. Code enforcement, fire department and health department inspectors may inspect the facility during operating hours to check on the children's safety and well-being (Sec. 26-655), and failing to meet minimum state or town standards can lead to license revocation.