To assess child care providers’ cost of care today through a narrow cost analysis, IDHS-DEC worked to develop a dynamic cost model engine that estimates the cost to provide care that meets today’s child care licensing standards and the cost to meet requirements for the State’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), ExceleRate Illinois. Methodology and input assumptions were informed by federal requirements, review of other states’ submissions, existing Illinois practice, the State’s past cost modeling efforts, and the Illinois Salary & Staffing Survey of Licensed Child Care Facilities FY2021 report data. (author abstract)