Rules and Regulations

To help safeguard children from potential exposure to lead in drinking water, the State of Illinois requires most child care facilities and schools to test their water for lead. At a glance, here’s what you need to know:

• The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) requires all licensed day care homes, group day care homes, and centers serving children under six years of age and housed in a building constructed on or before January 1, 2000, to test all cooking and drinking water sources used for child care operations for lead.
• You must submit all test results to your local DCFS licensing office within 120 days of receiving them.
• You are also required to post all test results in a visible location in your facility and make your mitigation plan available to parents and caregivers.
• If any test results reveal lead levels at or above 2.01 parts per billion (ppb), you are required to take immediate and long-term action to reduce the level of lead.
• DCFS requires that providers develop, implement, and submit a mitigation plan for all drinking and cooking water sources that contain lead at or above 2.01 ppb. A mitigation plan must be shared with parents and submitted to the local DCFS licensing office within 120 days of receiving test results.
• A mitigation plan is required until permanent actions are implemented and two consecutive tests show lead levels below 2.01 ppb. Providers are required to collect the first retesting samples no later than six months following the completion of a mitigation plan and the second set of samples no later than one year following mitigation.
• You are also required to retest the water if you move your child care services to a new address, alter the plumbing in your facility, replace your water service line, or if there is a change to the water source.
• All licensed child care facilities must complete a lead safety training and submit a certificate of completion to their DCFS licensing representative.