Texas T3C Foster Care Service Packages: Structure, Matching, and Rates

Texas Child-Centered Care, known as T3C, replaces the state’s legacy Service Level System with 24 defined foster care service packages across three placement settings, plus three add-on services for foster family homes. Each Texas T3C foster care service package spells out the care expectations, staffing requirements, and a consolidated daily rate tied to what the placement actually delivers. The changeover is phased from January 2025 through August 2027, and during that window children may be served under four different funding structures at the same time.1Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Texas Child-Centered Care (T3C): Transitioning

How the 24 Packages Are Organized

Instead of sorting children into five escalating levels, T3C sorts placements by setting and then by the specific service the placement is contracted to deliver. A child is assessed, matched, and placed with a child placing agency and foster family home, or with a general residential operation that specializes in a particular service package.2Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. T3C System Blueprint, January 2025

  • Foster family homes through child placing agencies: nine service packages designed for family-based care, with eligibility for up to three add-on services based on the child’s individual needs.
  • General residential operations, Tier I: nine service packages focused on treatment and transition services in a residential facility.
  • General residential operations, Tier II: six service packages focused on stabilization support in a more structured residential setting.

DFPS developed the packages with stakeholder input so that each one clearly defines what the placement must provide.3Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. T3C: Service Package Descriptions The point of moving from five broad levels to 24 packages is that both the agency and the caregiver know precisely which services they owe, and get paid for delivering those services rather than for housing a child at a level.

What Every Package Must Include

Every T3C service package requires a treatment model. This is a significant change from the legacy system, where only the higher service levels had to operate within a defined therapeutic framework. Under T3C, even the least intensive placements have to work from one.2Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. T3C System Blueprint, January 2025

The rate methodology consolidates compensation into the child’s daily rate. Items that previously needed separate billing, such as awake-night supervision in general residential operations, are folded into one payment tied to the package. The stated goal is to align payment directly with the services the package requires and to give providers more predictability.2Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. T3C System Blueprint, January 2025

Staffing expectations are distributed across categories including program directors, case management staff, and direct-delivery caregivers, with each package specifying its own requirements. Providers must maintain policies for workload reviews, training plans, and staff benefits including paid vacation and sick leave. General residential operations must also have policies showing how a one-to-one caregiver-to-child supervision ratio for child safety will be met when circumstances require it.4Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. T3C System Blueprint, April 2026

How a Child Is Matched to a Package

The primary tool for matching a child with a service package is the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment. For children served under T3C, the CANS helps identify which packages the caregiver should provide.5Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. CANS Assessment – A Guide to Medical Services at CPS

A CANS-certified assessor administers the assessment. CPS requires it to be completed by the child’s 30th day in care so results can be built into the plan of service. The tool uses a 30-day rating window to keep the picture current. During the initial assessment, the assessor can rate presenting needs that fall outside that window, and behaviors that occurred earlier but remain a treatment focus can still be rated.5Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. CANS Assessment – A Guide to Medical Services at CPS

The assessment gathers information on psychological health, physical needs, behavioral patterns, and environmental risk factors. DFPS uses the results to match the child with a package that provides enough support without being unnecessarily restrictive, and reassessments occur periodically so the package can shift when a child’s condition changes.

What T3C Replaces

Since 1988, the Service Level System has been the foundation of Texas foster care. Care expectations, contractual requirements, and reimbursement all flowed from the child’s assigned level.2Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. T3C System Blueprint, January 2025 The legacy system uses five levels, and they remain in effect for placements that haven’t yet moved to T3C:6Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Service Levels for Foster Care

  • Basic: a supportive setting, preferably family-based, with routine guidance and supervision and access to therapeutic and medical services as needed.
  • Moderate: a structured setting requiring more than routine guidance, with intermittent interventions from skilled caregivers for children with behavioral or medical needs.
  • Specialized: a treatment setting where caregivers have specialized training to provide 24-hour supervision, including close monitoring and therapeutic activities.
  • Intense: a highly structured treatment setting with continuous line-of-sight supervision and frequent therapeutic interventions for children with severe behavioral or emotional challenges.
  • Intense-Plus: the most restrictive residential treatment level, reserved for children whose safety needs exceed what Intense can provide.

The core problem T3C is meant to solve is that the five-level system tied payment and care expectations to broad categories rather than to the specific services a child actually needed.

The Transition and Four Coexisting Systems

The move to T3C is not a single switch. DFPS is running a phased implementation from January 2025 through August 2027, and during that window children in Texas foster care may be served under four different funding structures at the same time:1Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Texas Child-Centered Care (T3C): Transitioning

  • CBC Blended Foster Care System: the existing Community-Based Care blended rate model.
  • CBC T3C System: Community-Based Care catchment areas that have adopted T3C service packages.
  • Legacy Service Level System: the traditional five-tier model still operating in areas that haven’t transitioned.
  • Legacy T3C System: earlier T3C implementations predating the current rollout structure.

The overlap is real work for providers operating across regions. A child placing agency in several catchment areas may be managing legacy five-level placements in one region and T3C service packages in another at the same time. DFPS has published the T3C System Blueprint as the primary reference document for navigating those requirements.4Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. T3C System Blueprint, April 2026

Rates During the Transition

Because the transition runs through August 2027, legacy reimbursement rates remain in effect for placements that haven’t moved to the new system. As of September 1, 2025, the daily rates paid to child placing agencies (CPA) and general residential operations (GRO) under the legacy Service Level System are:7Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. 24-Hour Residential Child Care Reimbursement Rates

  • Basic: $57.71 per day (CPA) or $52.65 per day (GRO)
  • Moderate: $101.77 per day (CPA) or $126.03 per day (GRO)
  • Specialized: $126.62 per day (CPA) or $227.34 per day (GRO)
  • Intense: $218.11 per day (CPA) or $324.52 per day (GRO)
  • Intense-Plus: $480.86 per day (GRO/RTC)

Under the legacy structure, the minimum daily reimbursement that must be passed through to the foster family is $27.07 at Basic, $47.37 at Moderate, $57.86 at Specialized, and $92.43 at Intense. The Treatment Foster Family Care agency rate is $318.98 per day under the legacy structure, with a minimum daily reimbursement of $137.52 to the foster family.7Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. 24-Hour Residential Child Care Reimbursement Rates The T3C rate methodology replaces this patchwork with a single consolidated daily rate for each service package.

If You Think the Package Assignment Is Wrong

Because T3C ties payment and services to the assessment, the CANS reassessment process is the primary way to change a package when a child’s needs change. Reassessments occur periodically to track progress and adjust the package as the child’s condition changes.5Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. CANS Assessment – A Guide to Medical Services at CPS

One boundary worth knowing: federal law requires Texas to provide a fair hearing to any individual whose Title IV-E benefits claim is denied or not acted on promptly,8Social Security Administration. Compilation of the Social Security Laws – State Plan for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance but federal law does not grant foster parents or relative caregivers a right to a fair hearing over adverse placement decisions. The fair hearing right covers denial of benefits and services, not disagreements about where a child should be placed.9Child Welfare Policy Manual. Title IV-E General Title IV-E Requirements If you disagree with a service package assignment, the CANS process is the mechanism, not a formal appeal.