Texas child care regulations are set and enforced by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) through its Child Care Regulation (CCR) division, which oversees every paid child care arrangement in the state under minimum standards built to protect children’s health, safety, and well-being.1Texas Health and Human Services. Child Care Regulation2Texas Health and Human Services. Minimum Standards The rules reach from the number of adults who must be in a room to the kind of crib an infant sleeps in, and they carry real consequences when a provider falls short.
The Four Permit Types
Texas sorts child care into four categories based on where care happens and how many children are involved. The permit you need, and the oversight that comes with it, scales with capacity.3Texas Health and Human Services. 2100, Types of Child Care Permits
- A licensed child care center cares for seven or more children under age 14 for fewer than 24 hours per day at a location that is not the permit holder’s home. These operations face the most detailed standards.
- A licensed child care home runs in the caregiver’s own residence and may care for up to 12 children total, including the caregiver’s own. The primary caregiver must be at least 21.
- A registered child care home is also home-based, limited to six unrelated children during the school day, plus up to six more school-age children after school, with a combined cap of 12. The caregiver must be at least 21.
- A listed family home is the lightest tier. A caregiver at least 18 years old may care for up to three unrelated children in their own home, with a total of 12 counting related children. Listed homes are not routinely inspected and are only visited after a complaint, and they must post a notice stating they are neither licensed nor registered.
Opening a Licensed Center
Before HHSC issues a permit for a licensed center, applicants complete several steps. The process starts with an orientation class, where applicants learn what the state expects and receive supplemental forms and local CCR contacts.4Texas Health and Human Services. Become a Child Care Center-Based Provider
After orientation, you submit a formal application with a plan of operation, a governing body designation form, and a controlling person disclosure. Background checks on all staff and anyone with direct access to children must be completed before those individuals can begin working. Proof of liability insurance is required before HHSC will issue the permit.
Once CCR accepts your application, it assigns an operation number and conducts an on-site inspection to confirm the facility meets all applicable minimum standards. Only after you demonstrate compliance does HHSC issue the initial license. CCR charges fees for processing the application, issuing the permit, and running background checks, plus an annual fee due each year on the anniversary of your permit date.
Staffing Ratios and Group Sizes
Texas sets precise caregiver-to-child ratios that vary by age, and these must be maintained at all times, including during naps and outdoor play. For licensed centers serving 13 or more children, the limits are:5Texas Health and Human Services. Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers – Section 746.1601
- Birth to 11 months: 1 caregiver per 4 children, group size up to 10
- 12 to 17 months: 1 per 5, group size up to 13
- 18 to 23 months: 1 per 9, group size up to 18
- 2 years: 1 per 11, group size up to 22
- 3 years: 1 per 15, group size up to 30
- 4 years: 1 per 18, group size up to 35
- 5 years: 1 per 22, group size up to 35
- 6 to 13 years: 1 per 26, group size up to 35
Smaller centers licensed for 12 or fewer children use a blended system that adjusts the mix of infants and older children two caregivers may supervise, with the total never exceeding 12.6Texas Health and Human Services. Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers – Section 746.1705 Checking whether actual staffing matches these numbers on a typical day is one of the most telling quality indicators for parents evaluating a center.
Caregiver Training
Caregivers at licensed centers must complete pre-service training before taking responsibility for a group. That training is separate from the ongoing annual requirement.7Texas Health and Human Services. Center-based Child Care FAQs
After that, every caregiver completes 24 clock hours of annual training covering topics relevant to the ages of children they serve. At least six of those hours focus on core competencies like child growth and development, guidance and discipline, age-appropriate curriculum, or teacher-child interaction. At least one hour each year must cover recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect.8Texas Health and Human Services. Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers – Section 746.1309
Caregivers who work with children under 24 months spend an additional annual hour on safe sleep practices, preventing shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, and early brain development. Remaining hours cover emergency preparedness, communicable disease prevention, medication administration, food allergy response, building safety, and hazardous materials.
Background Checks
Every person with direct access to children at a Texas child care operation must clear a multi-layered background check before they begin work. Screening includes either a fingerprint-based criminal history check or a name-based Texas criminal history check, a Central Registry check for prior findings of child abuse or neglect, and a National Sex Offender Registry check. Individuals who have lived out of state also undergo out-of-state criminal history, child abuse registry, and sex offender registry checks.9Justia. Texas Administrative Code 745.609 – What Types of Background Checks Are Required
Fingerprints are processed through the Texas Department of Public Safety’s vendor, IdentoGO.10Texas Health and Human Services. Fingerprinting The fingerprinting fee for a paid employee is $39.75.11Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. DFPS Background Checks Fees
Renewals and Permanent Bars
Checks are not one-and-done. Operations must submit renewal requests every five years for individuals with a fingerprint-based check, or every two years for those with only a name-based Texas criminal history check. A new check is required whenever a person’s state of residence changes or their role at the operation changes in a way that triggers the fingerprint requirement.12Texas Health and Human Services. Background Check Rules – Section 745.621
Certain offenses permanently bar a person from being present at a child care operation while children are in care. The absolute-bar list includes murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, injury to a child, indecency with a child, trafficking of persons, and aggravated assault, among others. There is no risk evaluation or appeals pathway for these offenses.13Texas Health and Human Services. Licensed or Certified Child Care Operations Criminal History Chart
Facility, Health, and Safety Standards
Indoor and Outdoor Space
Licensed centers must provide at least 30 square feet of indoor activity space per child. Outdoor activity space requires 80 square feet per child using the area at a given time, and the total outdoor space must accommodate at least 25 percent of the center’s licensed indoor capacity. A fence or wall at least four feet high must enclose the outdoor area, though centers serving only children age five and older are exempt from the fencing requirement.14Texas Health and Human Services. Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers – Sections 746.4201, 746.4301, 746.4305
Safe Sleep
Cribs must have a firm, flat mattress that fits snugly, with no additional foam pads. Sheets must fit tightly to avoid entanglement. Crib slats can be no more than 2⅜ inches apart, and each crib must meet federal safety standards under 16 CFR Parts 1219 or 1220. Providers must sanitize each crib before a different infant uses it.15Legal Information Institute. Texas Administrative Code 746.2409 – What Specific Safety Requirements Apply to Cribs
Water Safety
Pool ratios are tighter than classroom ratios. For children under two, the ratio is one adult per child. A certified lifeguard must be on duty whenever children are swimming in more than 18 inches of water, and the lifeguard generally cannot count toward the caregiver ratio if non-center swimmers are also in the pool. Additional precautions include life-saving devices at poolside, locked machinery rooms, visible pool bottoms, and drain grates that cannot be removed without tools.16Texas Health and Human Services. Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers – Sections 746.2105, 746.2109, 746.5001
Immunizations
Children enrolled in child care facilities must meet immunization requirements set by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Three types of exemptions exist: medical reasons, active military status, or personal beliefs including religious objections. Parents seeking a personal-belief exemption must submit an official affidavit form to the facility.17Texas Department of State Health Services. School and Childcare Vaccine Requirements
Substance-Free Environment
No one may consume alcohol or non-prescribed controlled substances at a child care center, during transportation, or on field trips. Smoking and vaping are prohibited on the premises, on playgrounds, in vehicles, and during any field trip. Anyone whose behavior or health poses an immediate threat to children must not be present during operating hours.18Justia. Texas Administrative Code 746.3703 – How Can I Ensure the Safety of the Children from Other Persons
Liability Insurance
Licensed operations, registered child care homes, and listed family homes must carry liability insurance of at least $300,000 per occurrence of negligence resulting in injury to a child on the premises or in the provider’s care. Proof must be submitted to CCR each year by the anniversary of the permit’s issuance date.19Legal Information Institute. Texas Administrative Code 745.249 – What Are the Liability Insurance Requirements The only exception is a listed family home that cares exclusively for related children. For center applicants, proof of insurance is a prerequisite to receiving a permit.
Inspections and Enforcement
CCR staff conduct unannounced inspections during operating hours to observe daily routines, check for safety hazards, and verify staffing ratios, training records, and background checks.20Texas Health and Human Services. 4100, Inspecting Child-Care Operations Licensed centers and licensed homes are inspected at least once a year. Registered child care homes get an unannounced visit at least every two years. Listed family homes are only inspected after a complaint.21Texas Health and Human Services. What Are CCR Reports, Inspections and Enforcement Actions
When an inspection reveals a violation, CCR issues a deficiency and posts it to the operation’s public online record. Parents can look up any provider on the Search Texas Child Care portal to see inspection reports and deficiency histories before enrolling.22Texas Health and Human Services. Child Care
How Enforcement Escalates
HHSC matches its response to the seriousness and pattern of violations:23Texas Health and Human Services. CCR Enforcement Actions
- A plan of action is available for providers who accept responsibility and can correct the problem, so long as the operation has not had one for similar deficiencies in the previous 12 months.
- Probation applies when a provider has repeatedly failed to identify risk or make lasting corrections but is still willing to comply with HHSC-imposed conditions, under heightened oversight.
- Administrative penalties are financial and can be imposed when an operation violates background check requirements or certain high-risk rules.
- Adverse actions apply when children would be at risk if the operation continued. HHSC can deny an application, refuse to renew a permit, revoke a permit, or impose an emergency suspension.
Providers who lose their permits through adverse action appear in the involuntarily closed operations database, which is publicly searchable. Revocation does not require a long escalation history; HHSC can go straight to denial or revocation when the risk to children warrants it.
Filing a Complaint
Anyone can report concerns about a provider through the Search Texas Child Care portal’s online reporting form.24Texas Health and Human Services. Make a Report – Search Texas Child Care If you prefer to file anonymously or speak directly with a CCR employee, you can contact your local CCR office. Reports trigger an investigation, and any resulting deficiencies become part of the operation’s public record. Do not assume someone else has already reported a safety issue you have seen.
ADA Obligations
Texas minimum standards are not the whole picture. The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to privately run child care centers, home-based programs, government-run centers, and before-and-after school programs. Religious organizations are exempt. Providers must perform an individualized assessment for each child with a disability rather than applying blanket exclusion policies.25ADA.gov. Equal Access to Child Care
That can mean adjusting a toilet training timeline, training staff in de-escalation techniques, or allowing a caregiver to help with medical needs like administering insulin. Physical barriers must be removed when doing so is readily achievable, defined as easy to accomplish without significant difficulty or expense. A provider can exclude a child only if that child poses a direct threat of serious harm that no reasonable modification can address, and the determination must rest on current medical evidence rather than assumptions about a diagnosis.