When choosing an assisted living community, it is important to understand Illinois state regulations for assisted living facilities and know how to look up assisted living license information. But public access to assisted living records varies greatly by state.
We developed a system to rate each state on how easy – or difficult – it is to find important assisted living records and reports, and compiled tips to help you in your search.
States with the most transparent records allow you to look up important information about each assisted living facility online, including inspections, complaints, survey results, violations, capacity, and whether the facility accepts Medicaid.
Access to Illinois assisted living records: Moderate
Public access to assisted living records and reports for the state of Illinois is moderate. Key findings that informed this rating include:
Illinois was marked down somewhat in our rankings because it does not provide inspection reports online.
Illinois has below average openness and accessibility of assisted living information.
State provides moderate access to assisted living records and licensing
How to look up Illinois assisted living licenses and records
Visit Illinois’ Information Reports on Long-Term Care Facilities to find information about the backgrounds of communities. This information is self-reported by the communities and is not a database of survey reports or inspections.
You can also visit the US Administration on Aging’s Eldercare Locator to located the appropriate long-term-care ombudsman. The long-term care ombudsman can often provide specific information about communities and their backgrounds.
If you need to make a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to get records, consider browsing the state-by-state resources from the National Freedom of Information Coalition, which includes sample state-specific FOIA letters.
How we arrived at our Illinois rating
We developed a standard methodology for state data collection and evaluation, and based our rating primarily on the objective, state-specific accessibility criteria outlined in these questions:
Are licensed assisted living communities listed online in any form? Yes
If Yes to #1, is the information updated frequently? No
If Yes to #1, is the list of licensed communities searchable? Yes
Does the state post inspections, complaints, survey results, or violations online? No
If Yes to #4, is the information updated frequently? [within 90 days] No or N/A
If Yes to #2 and #4, is the enforcement information included in the same place as licensed communities? No or N/A
If Yes to #4 and No to #6, are violations / inspections searchable at all? No
Is information about special licensing for care shown? Yes
Capacity shown? Yes
Payment types shown, [e.g. Medicaid, private pay]? No
Administrator / Contact name shown? No
State may fine facility? Yes
Frequency of inspections? Every 12 months
Website includes pricing of facility? No
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