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Home Daycare License Requirements in Texas (2026)

Opening a home daycare in Texas means getting a family child care home license from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), Child Care Regulation (CCR). Here is exactly what that takes in 2026 — your capacity limit and ratios, the training and background checks, the application steps, and the postings and enrollment forms you need — sourced to the state’s own rules and dated.

Who needs a license — home types in Texas

TEXAS SORTS HOME-BASED CHILD CARE INTO THREE PERMIT TIERS PLUS A NARROW BAND OF CARE THAT IS OUTSIDE REGULATION ALTOGETHER, AND THE WORD THAT DECIDES YOUR TIER IS NOT "CHILDREN" BUT "CHILDREN UNRELATED TO YOU". The three permits are the LISTING (a listed family home), the REGISTRATION (a registered child-care home) and the LICENSE (a licensed child-care home). All three are issued by the Health and Human Services Commission's child care regulation programme under Texas Human Resources Code, Chapter 42, and the operative rules sit in Texas Administrative Code TITLE 26, PART 1 — Chapter 742 (Minimum Standards for Listed Family Homes), Chapter 745 (Licensing) and Chapter 747 (Minimum Standards for Child-Care Homes). Note the title number before you buy anything: these chapters used to live in 40 TAC and were physically moved, the source note on 26 TAC §747.113 recording that the rule was "transferred effective March 9, 2018, as published in the Texas Register February 16, 2018, 43 TexReg 909", and the Chapter 745 rules "transferred effective July 15, 2019, as published in the June 14, 2019 issue of the Texas Register, 44 TexReg 2963". Any checklist or consultant packet citing "40 TAC Chapter 747" is citing a container the Secretary of State no longer serves for these rules.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

How many children you can care for in Texas

Texas caps every home-based permit at twelve children, and the single most expensive misunderstanding in this state is believing that a license buys you a thirteenth. It does not. 26 TAC §747.1605, which answers the question "May I ever care for more than 12 children in my registered or licensed child-care home?", reads in full: "No. The total number of children in care must never exceed 12, and may be fewer than 12 depending on the ages of the children in the child-care home. This number includes all children present in the child-care home and any children in your care away from the child-care home, such as those on a field trip or being transported." That twelve is a ceiling on the home, not on a caregiver, and it is the same twelve for a Listed Family Home, a Registered Child-Care Home, and a Licensed Child-Care Home. What changes across the three permits is not the ceiling but who may be counted toward it, how the ages must be mixed underneath it, and how many adults you must pay for to reach it. If you are moving up the permit ladder to serve more children, you are buying age flexibility and a legal right to advertise, not headcount.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Adult-to-child ratios

TEXAS DOES NOT HAVE ONE HOME RATIO. IT HAS THREE PERMITS, AND ONLY TWO OF THEM HAVE NUMBERS AT ALL. The Secretary of State's index of rules in effect on 26 August 2026 puts child day care under Title 26 of the Texas Administrative Code, Part 1, Health and Human Services Commission — not Title 40, where the old Department of Family and Protective Services rules used to sit, and not under DFPS as an agency. Listed Family Homes are governed by 26 TAC Chapter 742 (Minimum Standards for Listed Family Homes); Registered Child-Care Homes and Licensed Child-Care Homes share 26 TAC Chapter 747 (Minimum Standards for Child-Care Homes), whose Subchapter E is titled CHILD/CAREGIVER RATIOS AND GROUP SIZES. Chapter 742 has no subchapter on ratios and no ratio chart anywhere in it. That absence is the single most important fact about Texas home ratios and the first thing an applicant gets wrong. THE PERMIT CHART DECIDES WHICH REGIME YOU ARE IN, AND IT WAS REWRITTEN RECENTLY.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Training you must complete before licensure

Texas has no single number you can put on a wall for pre-service training in a home, and the first thing to unlearn is the figure most people arrive with. The "eight hours before you are given responsibility for a group of children, twenty-four hours of initial training" rule that circulates in Texas child-care forums is real statute, but it is not yours: Texas Human Resources Code §42.0421(a)(1) prescribes "24 hours of initial training that must be completed not later than the 90th day after the employee's first day of employment for an employee of a day-care center... eight hours of which must be completed before the employee is given responsibility for a group of children." The subject of that sentence is an employee of a day-care center. Neither the operator of a registered family home nor the primary caregiver of a licensed child-care home nor any caregiver in a home appears in it, and §42.0421(h) then forbids the executive commissioner from going above the statutory hour counts anyway: "In adopting the minimum training standards under Section 42.042(p), the executive commissioner may not require more training hours than the number of hours prescribed by Subsection (a) for a day-care center, group day-care home, or registered family home."

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Ongoing (annual) training

WHAT TEXAS MAKES YOU DO EVERY YEAR AFTER THE PERMIT ISSUES, AND WHY THE NUMBER DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON WHICH OF THE THREE PERMITS YOU HOLD (verified 26 August 2026 against the rules the Secretary of State's Texas Administrative Code viewer serves as in effect on that date, against Chapter 42 of the Human Resources Code as the Legislature publishes it today, and against the Texas Register issue in which the current professional-development rules were adopted; not against a pinned PDF). START WITH THE SOURCE PROBLEM, BECAUSE IT IS WHERE TEXAS APPLICANTS ARE MISLED FIRST. Consultant pages, training vendors and printed handouts still send you to texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.ViewTAC, which now answers "This Site Has Moved" and serves no rule text at all. The Texas Administrative Code moved to a portal at texas-sos.appianportalsgov.com/rules-and-meetings, and the section pages there carry a queryAsDate parameter which defaults to today's date, so the portal answers "what is in effect right now" rather than "what did a file say when somebody saved it".

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Background checks

THE TEXAS BACKGROUND-CHECK REGIME FOR A HOME CHILD-CARE OPERATION, READ OUT OF THE RULES AND STATUTES IN EFFECT ON 26 AUGUST 2026 — AND IT CHANGES UNDER YOU IN FIVE DAYS. 1. THE HEADLINE IS A DATE. Everything written about Texas background checks before July 2026 is one check short. On 2 July 2026 the Health and Human Services Commission filed an adoption package with the Secretary of State (TRD-202602708 to TRD-202602715, Karen Ray, Chief Counsel, published 17 July 2026) adopting "amendments to Sections 745.21, 745.609, 745.615, 745.631, 745.643, 745.683, 745.695, 745.751, 745.775, and 745.8483; new Section 745.675; and the repeal of Sections 745.601 and 745.607," each carrying "Effective date: August 31, 2026." The substance is a fifth mandatory check: amended Section 745.609 inserts "a SEMARC check" between the central registry check and the National Sex Offender Registry check. The code you can pull up today still shows the four-item list adopted 26 July 2022 at 47 TexReg 4337, while the Secretary of State's record page for Sections 745.601 and 745.607 already carries the field "Repealed Date: 08/31/2026." First trap: the rule takes effect 31 August 2026, but HHSC's Provider Guidance Letter PGL-26-11003, announced 30 July 2026, says the new check is "required for all people affiliated with regulated child care operations effective Sept. 1, 2026." Two official dates, one day apart, for the same obligation. 2. THE SECOND TRAP IS THAT THE CITATIONS EVERYONE PUBLISHES ARE DEAD.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

The application, step by step

Work through these in order — the prep packet turns them into a checklist you can tick off:

1. CHOOSE THE PERMIT BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, because in Texas the permit type is not a preference, it is a headcount. Texas Human Resources Code §42.052(c) provides that "A family home that provides care for compensation for three or fewer children, excluding children who are related to the caretaker, shall list with the commission if the home provides regular care in the caretaker's own residence. The home may register with the commission," and §42.052(d) provides that "A family home that provides care for four or more children, excluding children who are related to the caretaker, shall register with the commission." The fourth unrelated child converts a voluntary listing into a…
2. ATTEND THE PRE-APPLICATION INTERVIEW, AND KNOW IT EXPIRES. Texas calls the orientation a "pre-application interview," and it is the first numbered part of the process. 26 TAC §745.211 provides that "The application process includes: (1) The applicant completing the pre-application interview, except for an application for a: (A) Listed family home; or (B) Compliance Certificate." That parenthesis is the whole answer on whether orientation is mandatory: it is mandatory for a registered child-care home and for a licensed child-care home, and it is not required at all for a listed family home. 26 TAC §745.213 states the purpose plainly — "The pre-application interview teaches applicants about…
3. QUALIFY YOURSELF BEFORE YOU QUALIFY THE HOUSE, because Texas gates the permit on the person. For a registered child-care home, 26 TAC §747.1007 provides that you must "(1) Be at least 21 years old; (2) Have a: (A) High school diploma; or (B) High school equivalent; (3) Have a certificate of completion of the Licensing pre-application course within one year prior to your application date; (4) Meet the requirements in Subchapter F of Chapter 745 of this title (relating to Background Checks); (5) Have a current certificate of training in pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR...; (6) Have a current record of a tuberculosis (TB) examination showing you are free of contagious TB, if required by…
4. COMPLETE THE PRE-ISSUANCE TRAINING, WHICH IS A LIST OF TWELVE TOPICS AND NOT A COURSE. Texas does not name a vendor and does not set an hour count for the general pre-service package; it names subjects. 26 TAC §747.1007(7), for a registered home, and the identical 26 TAC §747.1107(7), for a licensed home, require proof of training in: "(A) Prevention, recognition, and reporting of child maltreatment, including: (i) Factors indicating a child is at risk for abuse or neglect; (ii) Warning signs indicating a child may be a victim of abuse or neglect; (iii) Procedures for reporting child abuse or neglect; and (iv) Community organizations that have training programs available...; (B)…
5. CREATE THE ONLINE CHILD CARE REGULATION ACCOUNT, BECAUSE THE PORTAL IS NOW THE FRONT DOOR. HHSC's Become a Child Care Home Provider page makes the account Step 4: "Create your Online Account. Once you have an online account with CCR, you will be able to submit an online application for your child care home operation. On the page where you create your account (the Create a Child Care Regulation Account page), select 'No,' for the question 'Do you have a permit number?', and complete the online account registration form. Once you have successfully submitted your registration request, you will receive an email containing a link that you must click on in order to complete account activation."…
6. ASSEMBLE THE EXACT APPLICATION PACKET FOR YOUR PERMIT, FORM NUMBER BY FORM NUMBER. 26 TAC §745.243 provides that "Application forms vary according to the type of permit. We will provide you with the required forms," and then sets the contents out in a figure captioned "Figure: 26 TAC §745.243." For a listing, item (1) requires "(A) A completed Listing Permit Request (Form 2986); (B) Completed background checks on all applicable persons; (C) A completed Controlling Person – Child Care Regulation (Form 2760); (D) ... documentation of liability insurance or an acceptable reason for not having the insurance; (E) Proof of a high school diploma or high school equivalent; (F) Proof of safe…
7. SUBMIT EVERY BACKGROUND CHECK, FOR EVERYONE, AND SUBMIT THEM WITH THE APPLICATION. 26 TAC §745.621(a)(1) fixes the timing: you must submit a request for an initial background check "When you submit your application for a permit to us." The population is wider than an applicant expects. 26 TAC §745.605(a) requires a request for the owner including "A sole proprietor," each employee or prospective employee, "Each person 14 years of age or older, including a contract employee, self-employed person, or volunteer who ... Has unsupervised access to children in care," "Each person 14 years of age or older who: (A) Resides in the operation," and "Each person 14 years of age or older, including a…
8. FILE THE CONTROLLING PERSON FORM AND, IF YOU INCORPORATED, THE FRANCHISE TAX PROOF. Every home permit type in the figure to 26 TAC §745.243 requires "A completed Controlling Person – Child Care Regulation (Form 2760) as set forth in Subchapter G of this chapter (relating to Controlling Persons)" — listing, registration and licensed child day-care operation alike. HHSC's applicant page states the same rule in plain words: "All child day care operations are required to submit information on the operation's controlling persons." The form is deceptively simple and is the piece most often filed blank by a sole proprietor who assumes it applies only to corporations; it does not, and an omitted…
9. BUY THE LIABILITY INSURANCE AT THE RULE'S NUMBER, NOT THE STATUTE'S. This is one of the places where the codified rule is stricter than the statute it implements, and the rule is what your inspector applies. 26 TAC §745.249(a) provides that "a licensed operation, registered child-care home, or listed family home must: (1) Have liability insurance coverage in the amount of $300,000 for each occurrence of negligence that covers injury to a child while the child is on your premises or in your care; and (2) Provide proof of coverage to Licensing each year by the anniversary date of the issuance of your permit." Texas Human Resources Code §42.049(a), by contrast, still reads "A license or…
10. PAY THE FEE — AND PAY IT WHEN THEY INVOICE YOU, NOT WHEN YOU FILE. The amounts are set by figures attached to the rules and they are low by national standards. For a listing, the figure to 26 TAC §745.505(a) sets an "Application/request processing fee: $20," due "Before we accept your application/request for a listing," and an "Annual listing fee: $20" on the anniversary date. For a registration, the figure to 26 TAC §745.507 sets an "Application/ request processing fee: $35" due "Before we accept your application/request for a registration" and an "Annual fee: $35" on the anniversary. For a licensed child-care home, the figure to 26 TAC §745.509 sets an "Application processing fee: $35"…
11. CLEAR ZONING, DEED RESTRICTIONS AND YOUR LANDLORD YOURSELF, BECAUSE CCR WILL NOT DO IT AND WILL NOT WAIT FOR IT. Nothing in Texas Human Resources Code Chapter 42 conditions a home child-care permit on municipal zoning; the words "zoning," "restrictive covenant" and "deed restriction" do not appear in the chapter, and neither 26 TAC Chapter 745 Subchapter D nor the figure to §745.243 lists any local land-use approval among the application materials. That is not permission — it is silence, and the silence cuts against you. HHSC states the position on its own Become a Child Care Home Provider page under the heading "Zoning, Building Codes and other Legal Requirements": "In some areas, you may…
12. DO NOT BUDGET FOR A STATE FIRE OR HEALTH INSPECTION OF A CHILD-CARE HOME, BECAUSE THE RULE DOES NOT REQUIRE ONE. This is the assertion most often published wrongly about Texas, and the rule text is unambiguous. 26 TAC §747.4901, the whole of Division 1 of Subchapter W, asks "Must I have a fire inspection of my child-care home?" and answers: "We do not regulate fire inspections and do not require that you have a fire inspection as part of these minimum standards; however your local ordinances may require one. If you want to care for children above or below the ground floor of your child-care home, you must obtain written approval from the state or local fire marshal as specified in…
13. SURVIVE THE 21-DAY COMPLETENESS REVIEW, AND UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ONLY GET THREE TRIES. Filing is not acceptance. 26 TAC §745.301(a)(1) provides that "If you are applying for: (1) A permit other than a compliance certificate, we have 21 days after receiving your application to review the paperwork." At the end of that review, under §745.301(b), CCR notifies you in writing that "(1) There is good cause to delay the timeframe ...; (2) You are ineligible to apply for a permit; (3) Your application is complete and accepted for processing; or (4) Your application is incomplete," and an incomplete notice must "(A) Identify any application materials that you submitted that do not show compliance…
14. PASS THE PRE-PERMIT INSPECTION, WHICH FOR A HOME HAPPENS BEFORE THE PERMIT AND NOT AFTER. The application process rule puts the inspection at step six: 26 TAC §745.211 lists "(6) Licensing inspecting the applicant's operation and determining whether the operation is in compliance with minimum standards, rules, and statutes, except for listed family homes; and (7) Licensing issuing or denying a permit." The figure to 26 TAC §745.8405(a) says the same thing per permit type: for a registered child-care home, "We inspect prior to the issuance of the registration"; for a licensed or certified operation, "We inspect prior to the issuance of the license or certification"; for a listed family…
15. HAVE THE WRITTEN POLICIES, THE ENROLLMENT AGREEMENT AND THE POSTINGS IN PLACE ON DAY ONE, BECAUSE THEY ARE CHECKED AT THE FIRST VISIT. 26 TAC §747.501 requires written operational policies and procedures that "at a minimum address each of the following: (1) Procedure for the release of children; (2) Illness and exclusion criteria; (3) Procedures for dispensing medication, or a statement that medication is not dispensed; (4) Procedures for handling medical emergencies; (5) Discipline and guidance policy that is consistent with Subchapter L ...; (6) Safe sleep policy for infants from birth through 12 months old ...; (7) Animals, if applicable; (8) Promotion of indoor and outdoor physical…
16. KNOW WHICH PERMIT YOU ACTUALLY GET AT THE END, BECAUSE A LICENSED HOME DOES NOT GET A LICENCE FIRST. 26 TAC §745.341(a) provides that "We issue a full permit to an applicant seeking to operate a listed family home, registered child-care home, shelter care operation, or employer-based child care operation if we accept the application and the operation meets all of the requirements in this chapter." A listing and a registration therefore arrive whole. A licensed child-care home does not: §745.341(b) routes you through an initial licence, and 26 TAC §745.345 provides that "We issue you an initial license instead of a full license when we accept your application, determine that your operation…
17. BUILD THE CALENDAR FROM THE RULE CLOCKS, AND KNOW YOUR ONE REMEDY WHEN THEY SLIP. Only two intervals in the Texas process are legally fixed, and both bind HHSC rather than you. 26 TAC §745.301(a)(1) gives CCR "21 days after receiving your application to review the paperwork," and 26 TAC §745.321(a) provides that "If you are applying for a permit other than a compliance certificate, we will issue or deny you a permit no later than two months after we accept your application, unless there is good cause to exceed this timeframe." Texas Human Resources Code §42.046(d) says the same in statute: "The department shall complete the investigation and decide on an application within two months after…

What you must post on your walls

• ONE RULE CARRIES ALMOST THE WHOLE POSTING BURDEN, AND IT IS 26 TAC §747.401. Texas keeps its home posting law in a single division of six sections' worth of duty: Title 26, Part 1, Chapter 747 (Minimum Standards for Child-Care Homes), Subchapter B (Administration and Communication), Division 3, headed REQUIRED POSTINGS, which contains exactly two rules — §747.401 and §747.403. The operative text of §747.401(a), as the Secretary of State's rules-in-effect index served it on 26 August 2026, reads: "You must post the following in a prominent and publicly accessible place where parents and others may easily view them during all hours of operation: (1) The child-care home's license or…
• THE PERMIT ITSELF, AND THE FACT THAT REGISTERED AND LICENSED HOMES POST DIFFERENT PAPER FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. §747.401(a)(1) requires you to post "the child-care home's license or registration certificate," and the disjunction is doing real work, because Texas issues two different permits to two different kinds of home. 26 TAC §747.113(a): "In a registered child-care home, the registered primary caregiver provides care in the caregiver's own residence for not more than six children from birth through 13 years, and may provide care after-school hours for not more than six additional elementary school children. The total number of children in care at any given time, including the children…
• THE MOST RECENT INSPECTION OR INVESTIGATION LETTER, WHICH IS THE POSTING TEXAS ENFORCES HARDEST. §747.401(a)(2) requires you to post "the letter or form from the most recent Licensing inspection or investigation." Note what the rule does not say. It does not say "your compliance history," it does not say "the last three years of reports," and it does not require a sign telling parents where to look online. It requires the single most recent document Child Care Regulation handed or sent you after its last visit — and "most recent" means the one on your wall becomes a violation the day a newer one arrives. 26 TAC §745.8445(a) tells you exactly what that document contains: "The notification…
• KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE IS THE ABUSE-HOTLINE SIGN, IT IS FREE, AND FAILING TO HANG IT IS A CRIME. §747.401(a)(3) requires you to post "the Licensing notice Keeping Children Safe." The minimum standard names the artefact but does not describe it; the description is in statute. Texas Human Resources Code §42.055(a) provides: "Each child-care facility shall post in a location that is conspicuous to all employees and customers a sign that includes: (1) a description of the provisions of the Family Code relating to the duty to report child abuse or neglect; (2) a description of the penalties for violating the reporting provisions of the Family Code; and (3) a brief description of sudden infant…
• THE TELEPHONE NUMBERS, WHICH ARE THEIR OWN RULE AND WERE REWRITTEN IN AUGUST 2024. §747.401(a)(4) requires you to post "telephone numbers specified in this division," and the division's second rule spells them out. 26 TAC §747.403, as amended effective 19 August 2024 (49 TexReg 6233), reads in full: "(a) You must post in a prominent place the following telephone numbers: (1) 911 or, if 911 is not available in your area, you must post the telephone numbers for: (A) Emergency medical services; (B) Law enforcement; and (C) Fire department; (2) Poison control (1-800-222-1222); and (3) The Texas Abuse and Neglect Hotline (1-800-252-5400). (b) You must post in a prominent place the name,…
• THE EMPLOYEE LIST, WHICH IS THE ONLY POSTING TEXAS SPECIFIES BY PAPER SIZE. §747.401(a)(5) requires you to post "a list of your employees, which must be printed on paper at least 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches in size and must include each employee's first and last name." Nothing else in the Texas home standards prescribes a physical dimension, and the reason is that this posting exists to be read across a room by a parent who has just met a stranger in the hallway. Two consequences follow immediately. A list handwritten on an index card fails even if every name on it is correct, and a list typed at eight points on a half sheet fails for the same reason. The statutory authority is Texas Human…
• FOOD ALLERGIES: A POSTING YOU MAY LAWFULLY DECLINE, IF YOU TAKE THE OTHER BRANCH. §747.401(b) is the only conditional posting in the Texas home standards, and it is drafted as a genuine either/or: "For food allergies that require an emergency plan, you must either: (1) Post the list of each child's food allergies in a prominent place during all hours of operation, and if a parent requests it, you must maintain privacy for the child (for example, a clipboard hung on the wall with a cover sheet over the list); or (2) Ensure that all caregivers, employees, and household members who prepare and serve food are aware of each child's food allergies." Branch (2) is not a lesser standard; it is a…
• THE SEVENTH POSTING HIDES OUTSIDE THE REQUIRED POSTINGS DIVISION, IN THE PRODUCT SAFETY RULES. Anyone who reads only Subchapter B, Division 3 will miss a display duty that sits nine subchapters away. 26 TAC §747.3935 (Subchapter S, Safety Practices, Division 6, Product Safety) provides at subsection (c): "You must post a notice for parents and employees in a prominent and publicly accessible place that includes information on how to access a listing of unsafe children's products through the CPSC Internet website or through the DFPS Internet website." That is a standalone posting, worded in the same "prominent and publicly accessible place" formula as §747.401(a), and it is not listed among…
• THE PERMIT-RENEWAL NOTICE, A POSTING THAT LIVES IN CHAPTER 745 AND IS INVISIBLE TO ANYONE READING THE MINIMUM STANDARDS. There is an eighth posting duty, and it is not in Chapter 747 at all. 26 TAC §745.479, in Chapter 745 (Licensing), Subchapter D, Division 12 (Permit Renewal), is headed "Will I need to post the written notice of my permit's renewal?" and answers in one sentence: "Yes. Upon receiving the written notice of your permit's renewal, you must post the notice at your operation." That is the whole rule, adopted effective 1 December 2017 (41 TexReg 6082) and transferred into Title 26 effective 15 July 2019 as published in the 14 June 2019 Texas Register, 44 TexReg 2963. It applies…
• THE OPEN-ENDED SIXTH ITEM: ANY OTHER LICENSING NOTICES REQUIRING POSTING. §747.401(a)(6) closes the list with "Any other Licensing notices requiring posting," and it is the clause that makes a Texas posting checklist a live document rather than a laminated card. The rule delegates to the agency: whatever Child Care Regulation issues with instructions to post becomes a minimum standard on your wall the day you receive it, with no rulemaking, no Texas Register notice and no comment period. The centre analogue is drafted slightly more tightly — 26 TAC §746.401(11) says "any other Licensing notices with SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS to post the notice," while the home rule says only "requiring…
• WHAT YOU DO NOT POST BUT MUST PRODUCE ON DEMAND, AND THE RULE THAT PUNISHES HESITATION. Texas draws a hard line between display and availability, and the availability list is far longer than the wall. 26 TAC §747.801 opens: "You must maintain and make the following records available for our review upon request during hours of operation," and then enumerates fifteen categories, including children's records, infant feeding instructions, personnel and training records, "Menus, as required in §747.3113," medication records, pet vaccination records, "Safety documentation for emergency drills, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and emergency evacuation and relocation diagram," the most recent…
• TEXAS DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO POST AN EVACUATION DIAGRAM, AND THE RULE SAYS SO IN SO MANY WORDS. This is the posting Texas home providers most often budget for, buy a frame for, and never needed. 26 TAC §747.5009 is headed "Must I post an emergency evacuation and relocation diagram?" and reads in its entirety: "No. You are not required to post an emergency evacuation and relocation diagram, however, if you leave a substitute in charge of your child-care home, a copy of the diagram must be readily accessible to the substitute caregiver." A rule that answers its own question with the word "No" is as clean a negative as an administrative code produces, and it has stood unamended since it took…
• NO MENU POSTING, NO DAILY SCHEDULE POSTING, NO PARENT NOTIFICATION POSTER: THREE MORE CENTRE DUTIES THAT DO NOT REACH A HOME. 26 TAC §747.3113 is headed "Must I post and maintain daily menus?" and its answer begins with the same word as §747.5009: "No, however you must: (1) Maintain menus showing all meals and snacks prepared and served at your child-care home for the previous three months. (2) Keep a record of any substitutions made. Substitutions must be of comparable food value. (3) Date the menus. If you rotate menus, there must be a record of which menu was used for each date. (4) Make menus available to Licensing and parents for review upon request." Maintain, date, and make…
• THE GANG-FREE ZONE NOTICE IS NOT A HOME POSTING, AND IN TEXAS IT IS NOT A POSTING AT ALL. Texas Human Resources Code §42.064 is headed INFORMATION REGARDING GANG-FREE ZONES and reads: "Each day-care center shall, in accordance with rules adopted by the executive commissioner, distribute to parents and guardians of children who attend the center information on gang-free zones and the consequences of engaging in organized criminal activity within those zones." Two limits are on the face of it. The duty falls on a DAY-CARE CENTER, which §42.002(7) defines as "a child-care facility that provides care at a location other than the residence of the director, owner, or operator" — by definition…
• THE GROUND IS MOVING UNDER THIS CHAPTER RIGHT NOW, AND ALSO UNDER THE WEBSITE THAT PUBLISHES IT. Two things changed in 2026 that will invalidate any Texas posting research done from a bookmark. First, the Secretary of State's Texas Administrative Code viewer at texreg.sos.state.tx.us has been retired. Every legacy address — the ViewTAC and TacPage endpoints that every Texas compliance guide on the internet still links to — now returns a page reading "This Site Has Moved," and the rules in effect are served from the Rules & Meetings portal at texas-sos.appianportalsgov.com, which resolves rule text against an explicit as-of date (it queried 08/26/2026 for this research). If your source…

Enrollment forms for each child

• FORM 2910, "CCR APPLICATION FOR A LICENSE OR CERTIFICATION TO OPERATE A CHILD DAY CARE FACILITY," EFFECTIVE 6/2026, is the application you file if you want the licensed child-care home permit — the top home tier, seven to twelve children, at least one unannounced inspection a year. HHSC Child Care Regulation lists it first on its own Child Care Home Provider Application Forms page, under the heading "Licensed Child Care Home Application," alongside Form 2948, Form 2911, Form 2760, Form 2971 and Form 2974; the applicant signs it, and it is filed with CCR either through the online eApplication inside your Child Care Regulation Account or, if you refuse the online route, on paper to your…
• FORM 2919, "REQUEST FOR A REGISTRATION PERMIT," EFFECTIVE 7/2026, is the middle tier's application, and it is not Form 2910. HHSC's Child Care Home Provider Application Forms page sets out three separate packets, and under "Registered Child Care Home Application" it lists exactly four documents: Form 2919, Form 2760, Form 2971 and Form 2974. Filing Form 2910 for a registered home, or Form 2919 for a licensed one, is an easy mis-file: both permits are "homes" and both are described on the same HHSC webpage. Which one you must file is decided by headcount, not preference: HRC §42.052(d) provides that "A family home that provides care for four or more children, excluding children who are…
• FORM 2986, "LISTING PERMIT REQUEST," EFFECTIVE 11/2021, WITH ITS ATTACHMENT "GUIDELINES FOR LISTED FAMILY HOMES" DATED OCTOBER 2021, is the bottom tier's application, and the form itself carries the completion checklist you will be graded against. Its own header says "Use this form to apply for a listing permit," and its transmittal line says "After completing all of this form, mail it and any other materials requested to the nearest Child Care Regulation (CCR) office" — the listing packet is the one home packet HHSC still routes on paper by default. Section 6, "Certification and Signature," is signed by the applicant personally and prints the checklist verbatim: "Form 2962, Verification…
• FORM 2760, "CONTROLLING PERSON – CHILD CARE REGULATION," EFFECTIVE 12/2023, is the one form all three home tiers must file, and it is the one with a two-day deadline attached to it forever. HHSC lists it in the licensed, registered and listed packets alike. Its published instructions say who signs and when: "The applicant, designee or head of the governing body must complete and sign Form 2760, and enter the names of the controlling persons," and, under "When to Prepare," "Complete, sign and submit this form when submitting an application to Child Care Licensing for a permit and within two days after a person becomes a controlling person at the operation." Two days. Not two weeks, not at…
• FORM 2971, "CHILD CARE REGULATION – REQUEST FOR BACKGROUND CHECK," EFFECTIVE 6/2026, WITH INSTRUCTIONS UPDATED 6/2026, is the background-check submission form, and for most Texas home operators it is a form you are NOT allowed to use. 26 TAC §745.617(a) splits the route by permit type in a figure printed in the rule itself: all operation types except listed family homes "Must submit a request for a background check online through your Licensing account," while listed family homes may submit "either: (A) Online through your Licensing account; or (B) By sending in a signed form provided by your local Licensing office or the CBCU." The form's own current instructions repeat it: "All…
• FORM 2974, "REQUEST FOR RISK EVALUATION BASED ON PAST CRIMINAL HISTORY OR CENTRAL REGISTRY FINDINGS," EFFECTIVE 3/2026, is the fourth document in all three home application packets, and it is the only one on HHSC's list that most applicants will never need to file. HHSC prints it under "Licensed Child Care Home Application," "Registered Child Care Home Application" and "Listed Family Home Application" alike, which reads as though it were mandatory; it is not. Its published instructions define the trigger: "A person interested in being associated with operations regulated by Child Care Licensing (CCL) must use this form to submit a risk evaluation for himself or herself if that person: has…
• FORM 2948, "PLAN OF OPERATION FOR LICENSED CENTER AND HOME OPERATIONS," EFFECTIVE 6/2020, AND FORM 2911, "CCR GOVERNING BODY OR DIRECTOR DESIGNATION," EFFECTIVE 4/2025, are the two documents that appear in the licensed child-care home packet and in NEITHER the registered nor the listed packet. That asymmetry is the whole point of them and it is easy to miss, because HHSC's applicant page describes the plan of operation in general terms — "a Plan of Operation, including policies and procedures, is a document that is a key part of the application for some licensed operations. It requires your time and attention. It is your written plan showing how you plan to comply with minimum standards.…
• FORM 2985, "AFFIDAVIT FOR APPLICANTS FOR EMPLOYMENT WITH A LICENSED OPERATION OR REGISTERED CHILD-CARE HOME," EFFECTIVE 4/2018, AND FORM 2912, "PRE-EMPLOYMENT AFFIDAVIT FOR APPLICANTS FOR EMPLOYMENT AT CERTAIN CHILD CARE OPERATIONS," EFFECTIVE 9/2023, are two separate sworn statements, both signed by the job applicant before you let that person near a child, and both kept in your home's personnel file rather than sent to CCR. 26 TAC §747.901 lists them as items (4) and (5) of what "You must keep at least the following at the child-care home for each assistant caregiver and substitute caregiver": "(4) A Licensing Affidavit for Applicants for Employment with a Licensed Operation or…
• FORM 2551, "LICENSED AND REGISTERED HOME: CAREGIVERS, ASSISTANTS, SUBSTITUTES AND HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS INFORMATION RECORD," EFFECTIVE 7/2026, is the personnel-file cover sheet built specifically for homes, and it is optional in form but not in content. Its own header states the arrangement exactly: "This form simplifies maintenance of personnel records for caregivers, assistants, substitutes and household members by centralizing information required by Child Care Regulation (CCR) for child care homes. Providers may use their own form. This form should be completed for each caregiver, assistant caregiver and substitute caregiver in the home. Items with an asterisk are required for all…
• FORM 2935, "ADMISSION INFORMATION," EFFECTIVE 6/2026, is the child enrolment record, and the June 2026 revision quietly folded the operational-policies acknowledgement into it. The rule it serves is 26 TAC §747.605, which lists sixteen items you "must obtain … before admitting a child to the child-care home," including the child's name and birth date, address and telephone number, date of admission, parents' names, addresses and reachable telephone numbers, "Name, address, and telephone number of another responsible individual (friend or relative) who should be contacted in an emergency when the parent cannot be reached," "Names and telephone numbers of persons other than a parent to whom…
• THE HEALTH STATEMENT, THE IMMUNIZATION RECORD, THE TUBERCULOSIS DOCUMENTATION AND THE VISION AND HEARING SCREENING have NO HHSC form number, and expecting one is how Texas home providers end up with an empty file at an inspection. 26 TAC §747.603(a) lists what must be in each child's record — "(3) Statement of the child's health from a health-care professional [Medium]; (4) Immunization records [Medium]; (5) Tuberculosis screening and testing information, if required by your regional Texas Department of State Health Services or local health authority [Low]; (6) Vision and hearing screening results, if applicable [Medium]" — and not one of those four is an HHSC-numbered form; they are…
• FORM 7255, "MEDICATION AUTHORIZATION," EFFECTIVE 4/2018, is the parental authorisation you must hold before a single dose crosses your threshold, and the rule behind it puts an expiry date on the parent's signature that almost nobody diaries. 26 TAC §747.3603(a) requires that "Authorization to administer medication to a child in your care must be obtained from the child's parent: (1) In writing, signed and dated [Medium-High]; (2) In an electronic format that is capable of being viewed and saved [Medium-High]; or (3) By telephone to administer a single dose of a medication [Medium-High]." Then §747.3603(b): "Authorization to administer medication expires on the first anniversary of the…
• FORM 7239, "INCIDENT OR ILLNESS REPORT," EFFECTIVE 10/2023, is the accident-and-incident record, named inside the rule, whose rule has an amendment pending. 26 TAC §747.701 provides: "You must record the following information on the Licensing Incident/Illness Report Form 7239 or another form that contains at least the same information: (1) An injury to a child in care that required medical treatment by a health-care professional or hospitalization [Medium]; (2) An illness that required the hospitalization of a child in care [Medium]; (3) An incident where a child in care had an emergency anaphylaxis reaction that required administration of an unassigned epinephrine auto-injector [Medium];…
• FORM 2962, "VERIFICATION OF LIABILITY INSURANCE," EFFECTIVE 2/2026, AND ITS SEPARATELY DOWNLOADABLE "FORM 2962, ATTACHMENT A, PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF LACK OF REQUIRED LIABILITY INSURANCE," carry the one financial condition CCR imposes on every home permit. HHSC's applicant page: "CCR requires applicants for a licensed child care home, registered child care home, and listed family home to obtain proof of coverage before CCR issues a permit." For listed family homes the standard is quantified at 26 TAC §742.403: unless you have an acceptable reason not to, you must "Have liability insurance coverage: (A) Of at least $300,000 for each occurrence of negligence [Medium]; and (B) That covers…
• FORM 2970, "NOTIFICATION OF SAFE SLEEPING DEFICIENCY," EFFECTIVE 3/2026, AND FORM 7266, "NOTIFICATION OF ABUSE, NEGLECT OR EXPLOITATION DEFICIENCY," EFFECTIVE 8/2020, are the two forms Texas makes you hand to your own customers when CCR cites you, and the rule names them individually so you cannot substitute one for the other. 26 TAC §747.309(a): "Within five days after you receive notification of a deficiency described in §747.307 of this division …, you must notify the parents of each child attending your child-care home at the time of the notification, including a child who may not have been in care on the day of the actual incident [Medium-High]." Five days, and the notice reaches…
• FORM 2885, "CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS CERTIFICATION," EFFECTIVE 6/2018, is an annual signed certification that most home providers have never heard of, and it is required by rule, kept at the home, and open to inspection by parents. 26 TAC §747.3935(b) provides: "You must certify annually in writing using a form provided by HHSC that you have reviewed each of the recall notices issued by the CPSC and that there are no unsafe products in the home except products specified in subsection (a) of this section. The form must be kept on file and available for review upon request by Licensing staff, parents, and employees during hours of operation [Medium]." Subsection (a) makes you responsible for…
• THERE IS NO SANITATION INSPECTION REQUEST FORM AND NO FIRE INSPECTION REQUEST FORM FOR A TEXAS CHILD-CARE HOME, because HHSC does not require either inspection — and if you have been told otherwise you have been handed a centre checklist or an out-of-state one. The rules say so in one sentence each. 26 TAC §747.3201, "Must my child-care home have an annual sanitation inspection?": "No. We do not require you to have an annual sanitation inspection, although your local ordinances may require this." 26 TAC §747.4901, "Must I have a fire inspection of my child-care home?": "We do not regulate fire inspections and do not require that you have a fire inspection as part of these minimum…
• THE LISTED FAMILY HOME KEEPS ALMOST NONE OF THIS, and that is the single most valuable fact in the Texas forms picture. Chapter 742, "Minimum Standards for Listed Family Homes," in the publication dated June 2022 and footered "Revised: December 2025," contains the word "record" ZERO times and the word "immunization" ZERO times across its entire text. There is no record-keeping subchapter, no admission-information rule, no health-statement rule, no immunisation rule, no attendance rule and no personnel-file rule for a listed family home. A listed provider who buys a Texas child-care forms bundle and is handed Form 2935, Form 7255, Form 7239, Form 2551 and an immunisation tracker has bought…

What's specific about getting licensed in Texas

Unlike most states that issue a single 'family child care' license, Texas splits home-based care into three distinct permit tiers — Listed Family Home, Registered Child-Care Home, and Licensed Child-Care Home — each with its own age minimum, capacity, inspection frequency, and (for the Licensed tier) a director-level credential requirement. The other Texas-specific twist that trips people up: your own related children count toward the 12-child maximum, and the exemption line is drawn at 3 or fewer unrelated children with no subsidy money. This tier-selection decision, made correctly up front, is what makes or breaks a smooth Texas application.

How long it takes and what it costs in Texas

Timeline: HHSC does not publish a guaranteed processing time, so plan for roughly 2 to 4 months for a home permit from orientation to permit-in-hand. The stretch points are scheduling your Child Care Home Orientation class, clearing background checks for you and every household member (commonly 2-6 weeks, and the top reason applications stall), and scheduling the required pre-permit inspection. Organized applicants who hit no fingerprint snags land at the short end.

Cost: Texas state permit fees for a home are modest — in the low tens of dollars for the application plus a small annual fee due on your permit anniversary (set in the HHSC fee schedule, 26 TAC §745.507); confirm the current figure with HHSC because the exact amounts are set in an attached schedule that changes and secondary sources disagree. Budget separately for the real costs: background checks (a small per-person fee plus roughly $40 for FBI fingerprinting, for you and each household member), pediatric CPR/first-aid certification (about $70-$100), liability insurance (required before the permit issues — a home policy will not cover child care, so expect a few hundred dollars a year for a daycare policy), and home safety items (smoke/CO detectors, fire extinguisher, safe-sleep cribs, fencing). Note: much of the required training is free — Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's Childcare Online Training is a no-cost HHSC-recognized option.

Source: Sources officielles consultées pour Texas :

https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/api/

https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources

https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/HR/htm/HR.42.htm

https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/HR/htm/HR.40.htm

https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/GV/htm/GV.521.htm

https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/GV/htm/GV.523.htm

https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/GV/htm/GV.526.htm

https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/GV/htm/GV.531.htm

Verified 2026-08-26. General information, not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure — confirm with your state’s licensing agency before applying.