24-hour Residential Child Care Provider

24-hour residential child care operations provide around-the-clock care for children 17 years or younger whose parents or guardians are temporarily or permanently unable to care for them. Residential child care includes General Residential Operations and Child-Placing Agencies.

General Residential Operations

General Residential Operations provide 24-hour care for seven or more children 17 years or younger and may provide various treatment services, emergency care services, or therapeutic camps. General Residential Operations include Residential Treatment Centers.

Child-Placing Agencies

Child-Placing Agencies are persons or organizations other than a child’s parent or guardian who plan for placement of a child or place a child in a child care facility, foster home, or adoptive home. Foster Family Homes provide 24-hour care for six or fewer children 17 years or younger.

Find information about how to Become a 24-hour Residential Provider.

Learn more about:

• Types of Child Care Operations
• Permit and Issuance
• Reports, Inspections and Enforcement Actions

Foster Home Sampling

Senate Bill 6 (79th Legislature) amended Texas Human Resource Code (HRC) 42.044(e) to require Residential Child Care Regulation to inspect a random sample of agency foster homes. Information gained during these inspections is used to determine a child-placing agency’s compliance with the law, rules and minimum standards.

Foster Home Screenings

• Content Guide (PDF)
• Sample Format (PDF)
• Information about how to become a foster/adoptive parent can be found at How to Become a Foster or Adoptive Parent in Texas (PDF).

Additional Information for General Residential Operations

• Pre-Employment Verification and Reference Checks for General Residential Operations (Webinar)
• Updated Guidance on the Governor’s Disaster Proclamation – Regarding Unlawfully Present Individuals (PDF)
• Psychiatric Residential Youth Treatment Facilities (PRYTF) (PDF)

Additional Information for CPS Contractors

• Psychotropic Medications Training
• Regional Statistical Information About Children in DFPS Care
• Residential Contract Managers for 24 hour/Residential Facilities
• Texas Board of Nursing Continuing Nursing Education
• Trauma Informed Care Training