Texas child care home permits: listed, registered or licensed

Count the unrelated children first

Texas sorts home child care by a single number: how many children you care for who are not related to you. Under the Human Resources Code, a family home caring for three or fewer unrelated children for compensation must list with HHSC. A home caring for four or more must register.⁠² A home that cares only for related children, however many, needs neither.⁠² The statute defines “related” as your children, grandchildren, siblings, great-grandchildren, first cousins, nieces or nephews, whether by blood, marriage or court decree.⁠² Neighbors’ children, friends’ children and second cousins all count as unrelated.

The third tier comes from a separate definition. The statute calls a licensed home a “group day-care home”: a facility at the operator’s residence caring for seven or more children under 14.⁠² HHSC calls it a licensed child care home and describes it as care for 7 to 12 children aged 13 or younger in the primary caregiver’s home.⁠¹

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Sources: HHSC;⁠¹ HRC 42.044;⁠² 26 TAC 742.103;⁠³ 26 TAC 747.1007, 747.1013 and 747.1107;⁠⁴ CCR Handbook 3211.⁠⁶

Two consequences of the counting rule are easy to miss. First, your own children do not count toward the listing and registration thresholds, but they still count toward the cap of 12. In a registered or licensed home, every child present counts in the child/caregiver ratio by age: yours, your assistant’s, drop-ins and visiting neighborhood children.⁠⁴ Second, a listed home may register voluntarily,⁠² which brings inspections and the chapter 747 standards.

Relatives only. If you care only for related children and receive no Texas Workforce Commission subsidy, HHSC says you are not regulated as a listed family home and do not need a listing.⁠³ A relative caregiver who is paid through a TWC subsidy is listed but exempt from the chapter 742 minimum standards.⁠³ If that relative care happens only in the child’s own home, with no care in the caregiver’s home, HHSC waives all listing fees once it has TWC’s fee waiver authorization.⁠⁵

When you outgrow a home permit. No home tier allows more than 12 children.⁠⁴ If you want 13 or more children, or want to provide care somewhere other than your own residence, you need a day-care center license. The statute defines a day-care center as care for seven or more children at a location other than the operator’s residence.⁠² Centers follow a separate set of minimum standards, 26 TAC chapter 746.⁠¹² See the Texas child care center license guide for how centers compare.

Who can be the primary caregiver

Every tier is built around one person, the primary caregiver, who must live in the home where care is provided.⁠³⁠⁴ In a registered or licensed home there can be only one primary caregiver. That person must be the permit holder, unless they form a business entity to hold the permit.⁠⁴ The primary caregiver must be present routinely during operating hours. Absences are allowed for limited periods, such as vacations, illness, jury duty or training, with a designated substitute in charge.⁠⁴

Listed family home. The primary caregiver and any substitute must be at least 18 and must clear background checks. That is the whole qualification list in chapter 742.⁠³ First aid, CPR, abuse reporting and medication training appear in the rule only as recommended topics.⁠³

Registered child care home. Before HHSC will register the home, the primary caregiver must:⁠⁴

• be at least 21 and hold a high school diploma or equivalent;
• hold a certificate of completion of the Licensing pre-application course, dated within one year before the application;
• clear background checks;
• hold a current pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR certificate;
• show training in the topics listed in the rule, including recognizing and reporting child maltreatment, shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, safe sleep and SIDS prevention, early childhood brain development, emergency preparedness, communicable disease and immunizations, food allergy emergencies, and premises safety. Medication administration is required if you will give medication, and transportation safety if the home will transport children under nine.

An applicant aged 18 to 20 can still register by adding one of these: a CDA or Certified Child-Care Professional credential, an associate of applied science in child care, a community college child care certificate, a Licensing-approved administrator’s credential, or 6 college credit hours in child development plus 9 months’ experience in a licensed center or a licensed or registered home.⁠⁴

Licensed child care home. The licensed tier requires everything the registered tier does, at age 21. On top of that, the caregiver needs one of seven combinations of education and experience in 26 TAC 747.1107(8). HHSC describes this as meeting the requirements for a child day care director.⁠¹⁠⁴

Source: 26 TAC 747.1107.⁠⁴

Experience must be full-time, meaning at least 30 hours a week, or the part-time equivalent. It can be paid or unpaid. It must be direct work with children in a center or as a caregiver in a licensed or registered home.⁠⁴ One year of full-time classroom teaching in pre-kindergarten through third grade at an accredited school can replace one year of that experience. So can a year of postgraduate study in child development or early childhood education.⁠⁴ Once HHSC confirms you qualify, it issues a Child-Care Director’s Certificate at no charge. If you qualified through a credential (options D or F), the certificate expires, and you must keep the credential current to keep the home in compliance.⁠⁴

This is the practical gateway between tiers. Someone with a high school diploma and no child care work history can open a registered home. They cannot open a licensed home until they have the coursework and at least one to three years of qualifying experience.

Helpers, household members and background checks

Assistant and substitute caregivers in registered and licensed homes must be 18 or older and hold a high school diploma, equivalent or certificate of coursework completion. They must complete your home’s orientation and clear background checks.⁠⁴ Before they start, they also sign two affidavits: Form 2985, notarized, and Form 2912, the pre-employment affidavit.⁠⁴ Every assistant and substitute caregiver must also hold a current pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR certificate.⁠⁴ In a registered home, a second caregiver does not raise your capacity. The ratio chart is the same whether you work alone or with help.⁠⁴ In a licensed home, a second or third caregiver changes the age mix you can accept (see the next section).⁠⁴

Household members. The statute requires background checks on the owner and operator, on employees, and on everyone 14 or older who lives in the home, is counted in ratio or has unsupervised access to children. It requires fingerprints in the cases HHSC rules specify.⁠² In registered and licensed homes, household members 14 and older must also complete an orientation covering your policies, abuse reporting, emergencies and the location of extinguishers and first aid kits.⁠⁴ A household member counted in ratio on more than ten occasions in a training year must meet the full assistant caregiver qualifications.⁠⁴

HHSC says checks may include the Texas Central Registry of abuse and neglect, the FBI and the sex offender registry. They must be complete before a person provides direct care or has direct access to children.⁠¹ Since September 1, 2026, every check also runs through SEMARC, the multi-agency reportable conduct search. SEMARC covers TEA’s Do Not Hire Registry, the HHS Employee Misconduct Registry and TJJD records.⁠¹¹ HHSC says to expect determinations no earlier than two days after submission, and its rule standard for processing is 45 days. Checks that need out-of-state records can take longer.⁠¹¹

Ratios, capacity and space

Registered homes follow one chart regardless of how many adults are present. The number of infants (birth through 17 months) sets the ceiling:⁠⁴

A registered home can count a 4-year-old who attends a school district pre-K program during the day the same way as an after-school child.⁠⁴

Licensed homes use a different chart for one caregiver, which splits the non-infants into ages 18 months to 3 years and 4 years and older. With no infants, one caregiver may have 12 children, of whom no more than 8 are 18 months through 3 years. With one infant the cap is 11, with two it is 10, with three it is 7, and with four it is 6.⁠⁴ With two caregivers present, a licensed home may care for 12 children including up to 9 infants, or 10 children if all 10 are infants. With three or more caregivers, it may care for 12 children of any age from birth through 13.⁠⁴ Field trips and transportation still count against your cap.⁠⁴

Indoor and outdoor space applies to registered and licensed homes. You need 30 square feet of indoor usable activity space per child. Bathrooms, hallways, storage rooms, the cooking area of the kitchen and floor space taken up by permanent fixtures such as shelving are excluded, and HHSC will reduce your capacity if the space falls short.⁠⁴ Outdoors, you need 80 square feet per child using the area at one time. The area must be enclosed by a fence at least 4 feet high unless only children 5 and older use it, and it needs two exits, one of them away from the house.⁠⁴ Care on any floor above or below ground level needs written approval from the state or local fire authority.⁠⁴

In a listed home there is no ratio chart. The rule is simply that unrelated children never exceed 3 and total children never exceed 12, at home or away.⁠³

Making the house safe enough to pass

Chapter 747 does not require a fire inspection or an annual sanitation inspection for registered or licensed homes, although local ordinances may.⁠⁴ If a local fire or sanitation report exists and you give it to HHSC, any restrictions in it become conditions on your permit.⁠⁷ The house itself must have:⁠⁴

• at least two exits to the outside, in distant parts of the home. A kitchen exit does not count, and a window counts only if every child and caregiver can get through it safely;
• at least one 3A-40BC dry chemical fire extinguisher, or one approved by the fire marshal;
• a working smoke-detection system, either an alarm system or smoke detectors in each room children use;
• a UL-listed carbon monoxide detection system;
• firearms and other weapons in a locked cabinet during operating hours, with ammunition locked separately;
• for a pool, a barrier at least 4 feet high, gates that self-close and self-latch, and doors to the pool area lockable out of children’s reach.

A listed home’s fire rules are shorter. It needs a serviced extinguisher and a smoke detector with batteries replaced every year. If the home uses gas or propane, or has an attached garage, it also needs a carbon monoxide detector.⁠³

Zoning and HOAs. HHSC states that zoning, building code and homeowner association rules are not CCR requirements, but you may need to meet them before local officials will inspect.⁠¹ The 2025 Legislature narrowed what cities can demand. Under HB 2464, a city cannot require a home-based business in a single-family detached house, or a building with no more than two units, to rezone for non-residential use or install fire sprinklers. The city can still enforce its fire, building, health and traffic codes.⁠¹⁰ SB 599 bars local governments from requiring a listed, registered or licensed home to meet health and safety standards stricter than HHSC’s.⁠¹⁰ Neither law mentions deed restrictions or HOA covenants, so read yours.

Insurance: the statute and the rulebook disagree

HB 2789 (2025) cut the required liability coverage for registered and licensed homes and for listed family homes from $300,000 to $100,000 per occurrence, effective January 1, 2026.⁠²⁠¹⁰ HHSC told providers it “will regulate according to statute until rules are updated.” It also said there is no compliance concern for a home carrying $100,000 or more.⁠¹⁰ The minimum standards booklets revised in December 2025 still print $300,000 and require yearly proof of coverage.⁠³⁠⁴ HHSC proposed amending those rules to $100,000 in August 2026.⁠¹²⁠¹⁵

Whatever the amount, you need proof of coverage before HHSC issues any of the three permits.⁠¹ The statute still requires licensed and registered homes to file insurance evidence every year.⁠² If you cannot get coverage, the law lets you operate without it in three cases: you cannot afford it, no insurer will write it, or a policy’s limits are exhausted. You must then notify HHSC and give each parent written notice before admitting the child.⁠²⁠⁴ Form 2962 can be used for the parent notice.⁠⁴

Applying through the CCR provider account

1. Pick the tier and check exemptions

   Settle your number of unrelated children and the hours you will operate. HHSC’s first step points to its licensing exemptions page. As of September 2025, homes certified by the U.S. Department of Defense as military family child care providers are among the exempt.⁠¹⁠¹⁰

2. Attend the child care home orientation

   Schedule the pre-application class through HHSC. You receive an information packet during the class and a certificate of completion afterward.⁠¹⁠⁶ The certificate must be dated within one year before you apply for a registration or license. A listing applicant may attend but does not have to.⁠⁴⁠⁶

3. Gather the packet

   Listed homes file Form 2986. Registered homes file Form 2919. Licensed homes file Form 2910, plus Form 2948 (Plan of Operation) and Form 2911. Every tier also files Form 2760 (controlling persons), Form 2971 (background check request) and, if needed, Form 2974 (risk evaluation for a past record).⁠⁹ The Plan of Operation is a written plan for meeting the standards: ratios, the physical site, activities, safety and sanitation.⁠¹

4. Create the online account and submit the eApplication

   At the CCR provider account page, answer “No” to “Do you have a permit number?” and activate the account from the confirmation email. Then submit the eApplication. A paper packet sent to your local CCR office is also accepted.⁠¹

5. Wait for the call, then pay

   Within a few business days a CCR representative should call with your operation number. Do not send any fee until CCR sends that number and an invoice.⁠¹ The application fee must be paid before the application is accepted. It is not refunded, but you can reapply within 30 days of withdrawing without paying again.⁠⁵

6. Inspection and decision

   CCR has 21 days to review the application for completeness.⁠⁶ For registered and licensed homes, it must inspect within 21 days of accepting the application. The inspection is announced if you are not yet caring for children.⁠⁷ Listed homes get no application inspection.⁠¹ CCR must decide whether to issue the permit within two months of accepting the application.⁠⁸

A registered or listed home receives its permit once it meets the standards.⁠⁸ A licensed home first receives an initial license, so HHSC can evaluate it in operation before issuing a full license.⁠⁶ The CCR Handbook still says an initial license lasts six months. HB 2789 extended it to 12 months, renewable for six more, and HHSC says it follows the statute until the rules catch up.⁠⁸⁠¹⁰ The registration must be displayed prominently. A listing does not have to be displayed but must be available for examination. Its text states that the home is not licensed or registered and is not inspected unless someone files a complaint.⁠²

Fees as published on 2026-10-12

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Source: CCR Handbook 5210, revision 25-3, effective August 15, 2025.⁠⁵ Fingerprinting vendor charges are separate and not set in this chart.

The annual fee is due on the anniversary of your permit, and HHSC generates the invoice 35 days ahead.⁠⁵ If you don’t pay, the permit is suspended automatically. It is revoked if the fee is still unpaid six months after the suspension began.⁠² A licensed home that wants a larger capacity pays $1 for each added child.⁠⁵

Running the home after the permit

• Training. The primary caregiver of a registered or licensed home needs 30 clock hours of training a year. At least 6 must cover child growth and development, guidance and discipline, curriculum, or teacher-child interaction. If you care for children under 24 months, 1 hour must cover shaken baby syndrome, safe sleep and brain development.⁠⁴⁠² Hours do not carry over from one year to the next.⁠⁴ Pediatric CPR must include hands-on skills practice and testing on a manikin. A blended online course is acceptable only if it includes that part.⁠⁴
• Inspections and public record. Expect an unannounced inspection at least yearly in a licensed home and every one to two years in a registered home.⁠¹ The statute lets HHSC move a licensed home with a history of substantial compliance to an unannounced inspection every two years. It must investigate any complaint about a licensed, registered or listed home, and it may visit any of them during operating hours.⁠² HHSC says it inspects a listed home when a report alleges abuse or neglect, an immediate risk to a child, or too many children in care.⁠¹ Your compliance history is posted on HHSC’s public Search Texas Child Care site.⁠¹
• Abuse reporting. SB 571 (2025) requires day care employees to report suspected abuse or neglect within 24 hours.⁠¹⁰ Primary caregivers in chapter 747 homes must call the Texas Abuse and Neglect Hotline themselves. They cannot delegate the report or require staff to get permission before reporting.⁠⁴
• Listed home notices. A listed home must tell HHSC in writing within 15 days of moving or closing.⁠³

Subsidy and quality programs

HHSC lists Texas Rising Star, the Texas Workforce Commission’s quality rating program, among its resources for new home providers.⁠¹ Child Care Services subsidies are paid through TWC, not HHSC. HHSC’s pages do not say which home tiers can take CCS subsidies or what Texas Rising Star requires. Ask TWC or your local workforce board before you build a business plan around subsidized enrollment. On the HHSC side, a July 2026 proposal would amend 26 TAC 747.207. Registered and licensed homes that take CCS subsidies would have to comply with CCS program requirements as a minimum standard.⁠¹⁴

Changes in 2025 and 2026, and what is pending

• TB testing dropped. HB 2789 removed tuberculosis screening for children in care from September 1, 2025. HHSC says it “will no longer require TB screening for anyone.”⁠¹⁰ The chapter 747 booklet still mentions TB records where local health authorities require them, and an August 2026 proposal would delete those references.⁠⁴⁠¹²
• Screening records. Since September 1, 2025, licensed homes no longer have to keep vision and hearing screening records.⁠¹⁰
• Insurance cut to $100,000 from January 1, 2026, with rule text proposed in August 2026.⁠²⁠¹²
• Longer initial licenses. Initial licenses now last 12 months under the statute, and the matching rule change is pending.⁠¹⁰⁠¹²
• SEMARC background checks have been added to every check since September 1, 2026.⁠¹¹
• Revocation disclosures (proposed). To carry out SB 225 (2021), HHSC proposed new rules in July 2026: 742.402 for listed homes and 747.311 for registered and licensed homes. Each permit holder, controlling person, employee and prospective employee would disclose any revoked state license or occupational permit. If anyone discloses one and that person is hired or stays affiliated with the home, a parent of each enrolled child would have to sign and date a written notice.⁠¹³⁠¹⁴ The comment period ended August 31, 2026. Comments on the August insurance and TB package closed September 28, 2026.⁠¹³⁠¹² HHSC’s provider news through October 1, 2026 showed no adoption notice for either package, so check HHSC’s child care home news page before relying on the old or the new text.

Sources

1. 1
   Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation, Become a Child Care Home Provider Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Texas Legislature, Texas Human Resources Code, Chapter 42, Regulation of Certain Facilities, Homes, and Agencies that Provide Child-Care Services Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation, Minimum Standards for Listed Family Homes (26 TAC Chapter 742), June 2022, revised December 2025 Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation, Minimum Standards for Licensed and Registered Child-Care Homes (26 TAC Chapter 747), September 2024, revised December 2025 Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation Handbook, 5200 Fees Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation Handbook, 3200 Processing the Application Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation Handbook, 3300 Process for Determining Whether to Issue or Deny a Permit Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation Handbook, 3400 Issuance of a Permit Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation, Child Care Home Provider Application Forms Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation, 89th (2025) Legislative Bills Impacting Child Care Operations (revised August 2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation, Provider Guidance Letter PGL-26-11007, SEMARC Background Check Implementation Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Public Comment Period for Chapters 742, 744, 745, 746, 747 and 748, Licensure, Screening and Liability Insurance (August 28, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
13. 13
    Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Public Comment Period for Chapters 742 and 747, Child Care Home Requirements (July 31, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
14. 14
    Texas Secretary of State, Texas Register, July 31, 2026, Proposed Rules, Title 26 (Chapters 742 and 747) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
15. 15
    Texas Secretary of State, Texas Register, August 28, 2026, Proposed Rules, Title 26 (Chapters 742 to 748) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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