225 ILCS 10/3.8

(225 ILCS 10/3.8)

Sec. 3.8. Licensed day care centers; immigration enforcement.

(a) As used in this Section:

"Immigration enforcement action" includes any arrests or detentions conducted by agents or officers of the United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or United States Customs and Border Protection or any other individual or entity with the power to arrest or detain individuals or manage custody of detained individuals for the purposes of civil immigration enforcement.

"Law enforcement agent" means an agent of federal, State, or local law enforcement authorized with the power to arrest or detain individuals, or manage the custody of detained individuals, for civil immigration enforcement.

(b) A licensed day care center shall not disclose or threaten to disclose to any other person, entity, or agency information regarding or relating to the actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status of a child or an associated person, unless disclosure is required by State or federal law.

Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit or restrict an entity from sending to or receiving from the United States Department of Homeland Security or any other federal, State, or local governmental entity information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of an individual under 8 U.S.C. 1373 and 8 U.S.C. 1644.

(c) This Section does not affect a licensed day care center's obligation as a mandated reporter or to otherwise respond to instances of suspected crime on the premises. This Section does not prohibit licensed day care centers from interacting with law enforcement agents for the purposes of hotline emergency calls or incidents arising out of mandated reporting.

(d) The Department of Children and Family Services or the Department of Early Childhood, whichever is applicable, shall make available on its website resources for families, including, but not limited to, resources regarding the constitutional rights of families, family preparedness plans, and a copy of the Department of Children and Family Services' appointment of short-term guardian form (Form CFS 444-2 or its predecessor or successor form).

(e) If a child's parent or guardian directly faces immigration enforcement action, a licensed day care center shall use the child's emergency contact information and release the child to the persons designated as the child's emergency contacts or into the custody of an individual who presents a properly executed appointment of short-term guardian form on behalf of the child.

(f) A licensed day care center shall adopt policies by January 1, 2026 to comply with this Section and shall ensure that all staff members are trained on the adopted policies. The policies shall not have the effect of excluding or discouraging a child from any program at the licensed day care center because of the child's or the child's parent or guardian's actual or perceived immigration status shall require the following:

(1) a written plan of action for interacting with law enforcement agents that shall be shared with a child's parent or guardian and includes the following:

(A) designation of spaces deemed to be private within the facility;

(B) designation of the licensed day care center director or the center director's designee to serve as the primary point of contact for interacting with law enforcement agents; and

(C) procedures that a licensed day care center's primary point of contact shall follow to respond and review any request for entry by law enforcement, including judicial warrants, orders, and subpoenas.

(2) procedures for notifying and seeking written consent from a child's parents or guardian if a law enforcement agent requests access to personally identifiable information from the child's records, unless such access is in compliance with a judicial warrant or order or a subpoena that restricts the disclosure of the information to the child's parents or guardian;

(3) families enrolled at the licensed day care center to update their emergency contact list biannually; and

(4) notification to be given, within a reasonable time period, to parents or guardians and the Department if immigration enforcement action occurs at the licensed day care center or its environs.

A licensed day care center's late pick-up policy shall be updated to include the degree of diligence the licensed day care center will use to reach a child's emergency contacts, including the number of attempted phone calls to parents and emergency contacts and any requests for police assistance in finding a child's emergency contact.

(g) Failure to comply with subsection (b) of this Section shall result in a formal licensing violation. Failure to comply with any other provision of this Section may result in a licensing violation.

(Source: P.A. 104-440, eff. 12-9-25.)