SPRINGFIELD, IL – A central Illinois daycare business with a Springfield location has had multiple violations from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services since the start of the year, prompting parents in Jacksonville and Pittsfield to raise concerns.
Janene Purdon-Menke, who is facing a federal lawsuit, is a Springfield native operating the Lil’ Wagon daycare series, starting with Lil’ Red Wagon in 1994, according to original licensing details on the DCFS licensing page.
The collective includes Lil’ Red Wagon in Jacksonville, Lil’ Blue Wagon in Rochester, Red Wagon preschool in Moline and Lil’ Yellow Wagon in Springfield.
The yellow wagon was the latest to open in July of last year at 2160 S. Sixth St.
The business has no violations from DCFS, but this cannot be said about the other three locations, with Jacksonville’s Lil’ Red Wagon, which has had several previous citations.
How do daycares receive violations?
In the state of Illinois, DCFS investigates licensed daycares when there is evidence of non-compliance with state licensing standards to operate.
Violations can come from child abuse or neglect reports to DCFS, criminal background checks, or routine monitoring.
Child abuse or neglect reports are listed as CAN or COR in the system, while criminal activity reports – like a background check failure of a staff member being a sex offender – are filed as CRP.
If an inspector finds or rules a violation during a visit, the business is placed in a substantiated status on the DCFS Sunshine website.
Substantiated violations can be corrected or repeated on the next visit from an inspector. Enforcement actions can include provisional license changes, revoking of a license or closure of a location.
The sunshine accountability project
Established in 1969 as part of the Illinois Childcare Act, the DCFS Sunshine Project is the public-facing compliance and licensing information for the state law, providing transparency on daycare centers in the state for parents and providers.
The website can be accessed at any time at sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov.
Controversy surrounding the Wagon daycare and Purdon-Menke
For the Lil’ Red Wagon, while the Sunshine Project page may be confusing to read through the over 42 rows listed in the past 12 months; in total three violations occurred during the timeframe.
The two latest violations come from an April visit from DCFS resulting in over two staff violations, with a corrective plan taking place until May 2. According to DCFS, the two citations that were issued related to missing health documentation for children in care: an immunization record and a current physical.
Both were corrected on June 6, 2026.
Standard weighting for issues range from seven to eight according to DCFS for weighting the severity of an infraction – with both violations receiving a seven-point-five.
The Springfield Lil’ Yellow Wagon location has no listed violations on the Sunshine Project website.
Federal case update
In 2024, a class action lawsuit was filed against Little Red Wagon for allegations of wage and time theft, including not properly paying overtime, and retaliation by a former employee, Taylor Day.
In 2025, Purdon-Menke refuted the claims in an interview with The State Journal-Register, saying two disgruntled employees made claims and that there was no impact to childcare at the center from the legal battle.
Employees have been vocal in Sangamon and Morgan County groups, like Amanda Quinlin-Hayes, who shared her frustrations on March 17 about a check by her ex-employer which bounced. Quinlin-Hayes pointed out Purdon-Menke as her employer at the Jacksonville location, saying employees have been going through months of not getting paid on time, checks bouncing or not being able to cash their checks at the bank.
“We have filed police reports, called the state’s attorney and labor board but aren’t getting anywhere,” Quinline-Hayes said. “This needs to be stopped.”
The latest in the legal case was filed May 27 directing Purdon-Menke by U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless to submit contact information for anyone employed as potential plaintiffs after Aug. 16, 2021, at her businesses.
The motion for a collective notice came from Day, who filed on Jan. 7 and provided alongside former employee Lindsay Brown paycheck stubs as evidence for the motion to be approved.
Pittsfield pushback
The City of Pittsfield in January of this year shared news of a certain Lil’ Purple Wagon rolling into town, but the outcry was severe and fast.
On Jan. 9, the city of Pittsfield, Illinois posted to the official government page an ad Lil’ Purple Wagon would open at 1308 W. Washington St., operated by Purdon-Menke to address the city’s need for more daycare options.
In the comments, parents shared images of their children with visible marks on their face, alleging the marks came from the Jacksonville location. Other parents and previous employees voiced upset over the active investigation into Purdon-Menke.
One Jacksonville woman shared an image of her daughter with rough red patching around her temple; the parent said her daughter had come home with a bite mark alleging the staff had never stopped to explain to her.
“I cannot emphasize this enough,” commenter Maria Wallbaum said in her post. “I have heard so many troubling stories that it’s hard to believe this is simply personal bias. The volume and consistency of these personal accounts suggest there are serious issues.”
No further information about the location has been published online since the January announcement. Purdon-Menke was contacted by The State Journal-Register for an interview but did not respond to comment.
In a call to the City of Pittsfield, when asked about the advertisement posted by the official Facebook and if the city has released any further movement on the business, the answer was simply, “no.”
When does DCFS close a daycare establishment?
According to DCFS public information officer Julia Gray, a there is no set violation number necessary to closure a facility.
Violations are managed with a citation, notice to the provider of the violation, a corrective plan, and 30 days to make corrections.
In cases where providers are unable to correct violations and the provider remains out of compliance after being provided ample opportunity to correct, enforcement action can begin in cases where rule violations jeopardize the health, safety, morals or welfare of children served by the facility.
The process is called Rule 383 and involves receiving from first-level supervisors to the Regional Licensing Administrator before an administrative review and order of closure can be made. Under the law, providers may appeal the Administrative Order of Closure.
In this case, Lil’ Red Wagon has corrected violations.
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@usatodayco.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Federal lawsuit with Springfield daycare owner moves forward in court
Reporting by Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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By Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register | USA TODAY Network
