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DCL
Child Day Care Licensing Overview

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is granted its authority to
regulate child-care facilities and child-placing agencies by the Texas Legislature in Chapter 42
of the Texas Human Resources Code. The purpose of regulation is to protect a group or class of children by establishing and enforcing statewide minimum standards.

Paid Expenditures and Total Average Filled
Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Staff

Total Staff 439.7
Direct Delivery Total Staff 363.6
Caseworkers 274.5
Supervisors 36.4
Clerical 35.7
Other 93.2
Staff Costs $23,571,588.58

Worker demographic

Demographic Subcategory Number or Percent
Turnover Rate n/a 15.4%
Tenure Less than 1 Year 14.8%
1-3 Years 31.2%
Greater than 3 Years 54.0%
Entry Salary (INV) n/a $32,273.16
Entry Salary (Non INV) n/a $29,145.96
Average Age n/a 40.4
Race/Ethnicity African-American 27.4%
Anglo 46.8%
Hispanic 21.7%
Other 4.2%

Supervisor Demographics

Demographic Subcategory Number or Percent
Turnover Rate n/a 2.7%
Tenure Less than 1 Year 5.4%
1-3 Years 10.8%
Greater than 3 Years 83.8%
Entry Salary n/a $39,117.96
Average Age n/a 45.4
Race/Ethnicity African-American 18.9%
Anglo 56.8%
Hispanic 24.3%
Other 0.0%

Description of the Monitoring/Investigation Process

Step 1: Application/Permit Issuance
  • Orientation
  • Inspection
  • Background Check
  • Technical Assistance
  • Fees
  • Initial Permit
  • Non-expiring Permit
Step 2: Monitoring/Investigation
  • Routine Action: Continue to Monitoring
  • Complaint Based Action: Continue to Investigation
Step 2a: Monitoring
  • Assess Risk
  • Annual Unannounced Inspections
  • Biennial Background Checks
  • Random Sampling of CPA Foster Homes
  • Technical assistance
Step 2b: Investigation
  • Assess Risk
  • Abuse, Neglect, or exploitation
  • Minimum Standards violations, including serious incidents
Step 3: Deficiencies Found? Reports Validated?
Step 4: Due Process
Step 5: Enforcement/Remedial Action
  • Document Inspection
  • Share results with facility and the public via CLASS database
  • Require correction to reduce risk
  • Verify compliance
  • Increase monitoring plan as necessary
Types of Remedial Action
  • Corrective Action
  • Probation/Evaluation
  • Fines/Penalties
  • Denials
  • Suspension
  • Revocation
Step 4: Due Process

Note: The described process is for reference only and does not necessarily represent the flow of a case.

Statistics FY 2009

  • Daycare Operations/Homes: 24,965
  • Capacity: 1,045,798
  • Abuse/Neglect Investigations: 2,373
  • Non-Abuse/Neglect Investigations: 12,160
  • Inspections: 46,812
  • Adverse Actions: 321

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Legal Responsibility for Child-Care Licensing

Statutory References

Day Care and Residential Care: Statutory References
Social Security Act
Human Resources Code, Chapters 40, 42, and 43
Texas Family Code, Title 5
Texas Government Code
Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 249
Texas Administrative Code, Title 40

Major Provisions

  • Develop minimum standards to promote the health, safety and well being of children in out of home care.
  • Validating a system of weighted minimum standards in order to help quantify compliance.
  • Inspect child-care operations to ensure they maintain compliance with minimum standards.
  • Investigate allegations of abuse/neglect, violations of standards violations or the law and ensure appropriate corrective or adverse actions are taken.
  • Conduct criminal background checks and DFPS central registry checks on all adult staff or
    caregivers, and youth age 14 – 18 who will be in frequent contact with children in child-care
    operations excluding children in care.
  • Offer consultation to potential applicants and permit holders about meeting and maintaining
    compliance with Licensing standards, and achieving programs of excellence.
  • Educate and advise consumers of child-care operations by providing the operations’ compliance history.
  • Enforcing regulatory requirements for illegally operating child-care providers.
  • Educating the public about choosing regulated child care.

Other Programmatic Information:

Challenges:

  • Appropriately and consistently enforcing minimum standards across operation types.
  • Implementing a system of weighted minimum standards in order to help quantify compliance.
  • Developing inclusive, appropriate and effective relationships with child-care operations resulting in increased compliance and stronger protection for children.
  • Determining exemption status for new and different types of child care operations.
  • Providing technical assistance to child care operations struggling to manage behavior problems exhibited by young children.
  • Providing thorough, efficient and timely background check results to over a quarter of a
    million people seeking to work in child care, foster care or seeking to adopt a child.
  • Maximizing of Mobile Technology.

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Texas Child Population Ages Birth through 13 Years
Fiscal Year 2009

State Total: 5,083,816

Region Number Child Population (Birth - 13 Years)
Region 1 168,834
Region 2 104,231
Region 3 1,397,356
Region 4 202,555
Region 5 142,907
Region 6 1,210,468
Region 7 527,314
Region 8 502,185
Region 9 114,628
Region 10 184,724
Region 11 528,614
Total 5,083,816

Population Data Source: Texas State Data Center; University of Texas (San Antonio)

Texas Child Population Ages Birth through 13 Years by County

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Child Day Care Operations in Texas as of August 31

Fiscal Year Licensed Child Care Centers Licensed Child Care Homes Listed Family Homes Registered Child Care Homes Small Employer Based Child Care Total Day Care Operations
2005 8,900 1,645 4,132 7,808 0 22,485
2006 9,092 1,604 3,895 7,488 0 22,079
2007 9,319 1,536 3,900 7,214 0 21,969
2008 9,309 1,564 8,257 6,895 1 26,026
2009 9,342 1,617 7,305 6,700 1 24,965

*Note: Counts do not include applicants

Child Day Care Operations in Texas as of August 31

Child Placing Agencies* 2008
Count		 2008 Capacity 2009 Count 2009 Capacity
Licensed Child Care Centers 9,309 912,320 9,342 930,060
Licensed Child Care Homes 1,564 18,664 1,617 19,276
Listed Family Homes 8,257 19,096 7,305 18,489
Registered Child Care Homes * 6,895 80,303 6,700 77,961
Small Employer Based Child Care 1 12 1 12
Total Child Day Care Operations 26,026 1,030,395 24,965 1,045,798

* Homes registered prior to 9/1/03 did not require a capacity to be listed in the database. As new permits are issued for changes made to currently operating homes, the capacities were included. As a result, there is an increase in the capacity that is displayed.

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Child Day Care Operations and Homes Regulated by Fiscal Year

Region Licensed Child Care Centers 2008 Licensed Child Care Centers 2009 Licensed Child Care Homes
2008		 Licensed Child Care Homes
2009		 Listed Family Homes 2008 Listed Family Homes 2009
1 Lubbock 303 306 68 68 407 364
2 Abilene 213 218 60 69 223 190
3 Arlington 2,288 2,292 376 402 1,953 1,860
4 Tyler 357 353 74 71 411 456
5 Beaumont 223 218 30 26 99 80
6 Houston 2,312 2,316 183 202 1,762 1,420
7 Austin 1,258 1,294 221 232 994 879
8 San Antonio 944 925 114 117 692 653
9 Midland 207 217 43 43 221 238
10 El Paso 292 284 161 155 434 331
11 Edinburg 912 919 234 232 1,061 834
Unknown/Out of State 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 9,309 9,342 1,564 1,617 8,257 7,305

Child Day Care Operations and Homes Regulated by Fiscal Year

Region Registered Child Care Homes 2008 Registered Child Care Homes 2009 Small Employer Based Child Care
2008		 Small Employer Based Child Care
2009		 Total 2008 Total 2009
1 Lubbock 191 179 0 0 969 917
2 Abilene 154 159 0 0 650 636
3 Arlington 2,242 2,192 1 1 6,860 6,747
4 Tyler 102 94 0 0 944 974
5 Beaumont 77 67 0 0 429 391
6 Houston 2,357 2,293 0 0 6,614 6,231
7 Austin 679 628 0 0 3,152 3,033
8 San Antonio 627 632 0 0 2,377 2,327
9 Midland 58 52 0 0 529 550
10 El Paso 79 86 0 0 966 856
11 Edinburg 329 317 0 0 2,536 2,302
Unknown/Out of State 0 1 0 0 0 1
Total 6,895 6,700 1 1 26,026 24,965

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Licensing of Child Day Care Operations by Region
Fiscal Year 2009

Licensed Child Care Centers

Region Applications
Accepted		 Initial Permits Issued
1 Lubbock 23 20
2 Abilene 29 25
3 Arlington 271 227
4 Tyler 43 45
5 Beaumont 22 20
6 Houston 330 278
7 Austin 173 146
8 San Antonio 138 135
9 Midland 29 29
10 El Paso 21 19
11 Edinburg 151 142
State Total 1,230 1,086

Licensed Child Care Homes

Region Applications
Accepted		 Initial Permits Issued
1 Lubbock 9 9
2 Abilene 16 17
3 Arlington 97 100
4 Tyler 7 7
5 Beaumont 0 0
6 Houston 69 58
7 Austin 62 57
8 San Antonio 23 21
9 Midland 4 4
10 El Paso 8 7
11 Edinburg 27 26
State Total 322 306

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Licensing Child Care Operations by Region,
Fiscal Year 2009

Licensed Family Homes

Region Applications
Accepted		 Listings Issued
1 Lubbock 165 135
2 Abilene 94 84
3 Arlington 891 801
4 Tyler 146 138
5 Beaumont 29 26
6 Houston 569 497
7 Austin 406 347
8 San Antonio 302 264
9 Midland 151 131
10 El Paso 114 109
11 Edinburg 303 278
State Total 3,170 2,810

Registered Child Care Homes

Region Applications
Accepted		 Registrations Issued
1 Lubbock 33 29
2 Abilene 36 39
3 Arlington 419 360
4 Tyler 11 9
5 Beaumont 7 6
6 Houston 468 363
7 Austin 122 103
8 San Antonio 142 129
9 Midland 14 9
10 El Paso 25 23
11 Edinburg 57 50
State Total 1,334 1,120

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Inspections in Child Day Care Operations

Facility Type Count & Percentage 2008
Number		 2008 Percentage 2009
Number		 2009 Percentage
Licensed Child Care Centers 32,497 69.1% 32,107 68.6%
Licensed Child Care Homes 3,686 7.8% 3,906 8.3%
Listed Family Homes 590 1.3% 542 1.2%
Registered Child Care Homes 8,557 18.2% 8,427 18.0%
Small Employer Based Child Care 3 0.0% 1 0.0%
Illegal Operations 1,556 3.3% 1,678 3.6%
Exemption Requests 124 0.3% 151 0.3%
Total 47,013 100.0% 46,812 100.0%

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Inspections in Child Day Care Licensing Operations by Type of Inspection, Fiscal Year 2009

Total Inspections: 46,812

Child Day Care Operations

Inspection Type Number Percent
Monitoring 24,886 55.3%
Investigation 9,119 20.3%
Follow-up 7,393 16.4%
Other 3,585 8.0%
Total  44,983 100.0%

Illegal Operations

Inspection Type Number Percent
Monitoring 4 0.2%
Investigation 990 59.0%
Follow-up 299 17.8%
Other 385 22.9%
Total  1,678 100.0%

Exemption Requests

Inspection Type Number Percent
Monitoring 10 6.6%
Investigation 60 39.7%
Follow-up 34 22.5%
Other 47 31.1%
Total  151 100.0%

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Investigations in Child Day Care Operations

Day Care Licensing Operations Type 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Licensed Child Care Centers 9,002 9,483 10,831 12,073 10,812
Licensed Child Care Homes 292 234 352 494 419
Listed Family Homes 314 430 610 2,968 819
Registered Child Care Homes 729 704 1,083 1,501 1,353
Illegal Operations/Exemptions 694 976 1,061 1,190 1,219
Total  11,031 11,827 13,937 18,226 14,622

*Includes Small Employer Based Child Care Centers

Investigations in Child Day Care Operations
Fiscal Year 2009

Region Licensed
Child Care Centers* 		Licensed
Child Care Homes		 Listed Family Homes Registered
Child Care Homes		 Illegal Operations Exemptions Day Care Total
1 Lubbock 559 10 66 45 62 742
2 Abilene 245 21 48 25 47 386
3 Arlington 3,001 97 260 435 346 4,139
4 Tyler 392 11 22 8 43 476
5 Beaumont 183 0 5 5 17 210
6 Houston 2,297 87 147 421 168 3,120
7 Austin 1,319 47 99 104 176 1,745
8 San Antonio 1,563 40 72 209 94 1,978
9 Midland 232 6 55 6 23 322
10 El Paso 298 54 16 25 18 411
11 Edinburg 722 46 27 66 58 919
Unknown/Other 1 0 2 4 167 174
Total 10,812 419 819 1,353 1,219 14,622

*Includes Small Employer Based Child Care

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Investigations in Child Care Operations
Fiscal Year 2009

Child Day Care Operations

Operations Type Total
Num Operations as of 8/31/09		 Investi-gations Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Total		 Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Valid 		Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Percent Validated		 Num of
Non
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Total		 Num of
Non
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
- Deficiency Cited
Licensed Child Care Centers 9,342 10,811 1,653 242 14.6% 9,226 2,881
Licensed Child Care Homes 1,617 419 63 18 28.6% 359 66
Listed Family Homes 7,305 819 107 11 10.3% 713 181
Registered Child Care Homes 6,700 1,353 187 26 13.9% 1,179 239
Small Employer Based Child Care 1 1 0 0 0.0% 1 0
Subtotal 24,965 13,403 2,010 297 14.8% 11,478 3,367

Unlicensed Operations

Operations Type Total
Num Operations as of 8/31/09		 Investi-gations Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Total		 Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Valid 		Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Percent Validated		 Num of
Non
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Total		 Num of
Non
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
- Deficiency Cited
Illegal Operations 599 1,156 358 96 26.8% 627 180
Exemption Requests 402 63 5 1 20.0% 55 29
Subtotal 1,001 1,219 363 97 26.7% 682 209

Total

Total Operations Total
Num Operations as of 8/31/09		 Investi-gations Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Total		 Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Valid 		Num of
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Percent Validated		 Num of
Non
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
Total		 Num of
Non
Abuse/
Neglect Investi-gations
- Deficiency Cited
Total 25,966 14,622 2,373 394 16.6% 12,160 3,576

Note: The number of Investigations and the number of Non Abuse/Neglect Investigations are based on the date that the worker completed the investigation. The number of Abuse/Neglect Investigations uses the date that the Investigation stage closed. Therefore, the sum of Abuse/Neglect Investigations and Non
Abuse/Neglect Investigations will not match the total investigations.

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Adverse Actions and Corrective Actions Initiated in Child Day Care Operations by Region Fiscal Year 2009

Adverse Actions in Licensed Child-Care Centers

Region Permits Denied Permits Revoked Permits Suspended Total Adverse Actions
1 Lubbock 0 2 0 2
2 Abilene 2 0 0 2
3 Arlington 4 5 0 9
4 Tyler 2 0 0 2
5 Beaumont 2 0 0 2
6 Houston 10 11 7 28
7 Austin 2 0 0 2
8 San Antonio 3 0 0 3
9 Midland 0 0 0 0
10 El Paso 1 0 0 1
11 Edinburg 0 2 0 2
State Total 26 20 7 53

Corrective Actions in Licensed Child-Care Centers

Region Evaluation Probation Total Corrective Action
1 Lubbock 5 5 10
2 Abilene 4 4 8
3 Arlington 18 22 40
4 Tyler 18 10 28
5 Beaumont 3 3 6
6 Houston 39 21 60
7 Austin 24 6 30
8 San Antonio 9 10 19
9 Midland 0 1 1
10 El Paso 2 2 4
11 Edinburg 9 10 19
State Total 131 94 225

Adverse Actions in Licensed Child-Care Homes

Region Permits Denied Permits Revoked Permits Suspended Total Adverse Actions
1 Lubbock 0 0 0 0
2 Abilene 0 1 0 1
3 Arlington 3 2 0 5
4 Tyler 1 0 0 1
5 Beaumont 0 0 0 0
6 Houston 1 0 0 1
7 Austin 2 0 0 2
8 San Antonio 0 2 0 2
9 Midland 0 0 0 0
10 El Paso 0 1 0 1
11 Edinburg 0 0 0 0
State Total 7 6 0 13

Corrective Actions in Licensed Child-Care Homes

Region Evaluation Probation Total Corrective Action
1 Lubbock 0 1 1
2 Abilene 0 0 0
3 Arlington 0 0 0
4 Tyler 1 0 1
5 Beaumont 0 0 0
6 Houston 0 0 0
7 Austin 2 1 3
8 San Antonio 1 1 2
9 Midland 0 0 0
10 El Paso 0 1 1
11 Edinburg 0 1 1
State Total 4 5 9

Note: Adverse actions are determined by the date the facility was sent the letter of intent. Finalizing adverse action through due process is lengthy. Voluntary Suspensions are not counted in the number of suspensions. Corrective actions begin after the due process is completed.

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Adverse Actions and Corrective Actions Initiated in Child Day Care Operations by Region Fiscal Year 2009

Adverse Actions in Listed Family Homes

Region Permits Denied Permits Revoked Permits Suspended Total Adverse Actions
1 Lubbock 15 2 0 17
2 Abilene 8 2 0 10
3 Arlington 57 9 0 66
4 Tyler 3 2 0 5
5 Beaumont 0 0 0 0
6 Houston 33 3 0 36
7 Austin 24 3 0 27
8 San Antonio 17 4 0 21
9 Midland 13 1 0 14
10 El Paso 4 0 0 4
11 Edinburg 13 0 0 13
State Total 187 26 0 213

Corrective Actions in Listed Family Homes

Region Evaluation Probation Total Corrective Action
1 Lubbock 0 0 0
2 Abilene 0 0 0
3 Arlington 0 0 0
4 Tyler 0 0 0
5 Beaumont 0 0 0
6 Houston 0 0 0
7 Austin 0 0 0
8 San Antonio 0 0 0
9 Midland 0 0 0
10 El Paso 0 0 0
11 Edinburg 0 0 0
State Total 0 0 0

Adverse Actions in Registered Child-Care Homes

Region Permits Denied Permits Revoked Permits Suspended Total Adverse Actions
1 Lubbock 2 2 0 4
2 Abilene 1 0 0 1
3 Arlington 1 11 0 12
4 Tyler 0 1 0 1
5 Beaumont 0 0 0 0
6 Houston 4 10 0 14
7 Austin 0 2 0 2
8 San Antonio 2 4 0 6
9 Midland 0 0 0 0
10 El Paso 1 0 0 1
11 Edinburg 1 0 0 1
State Total 12 30 0 42

Corrective Actions in Registered Child-Care Homes

Region Evaluation Probation Total Corrective Action
1 Lubbock 1 1 2
2 Abilene 0 0 0
3 Arlington 3 3 6
4 Tyler 0 0 0
5 Beaumont 0 0 0
6 Houston 6 1 7
7 Austin 4 0 4
8 San Antonio 0 1 1
9 Midland 0 0 0
10 El Paso 0 0 0
11 Edinburg 0 1 1
State Total 14 7 21

Total Adverse and Corrective Actions for Child Day Care Operations

total Permits Denied Permits Revoked Permits Suspended Total Adverse Actions Evaluation Probation Total Corrective Action
Grand Total 232 82 7 321 149 106 255

Note: Adverse actions are determined by the date the facility was sent the letter of intent. Finalizing adverse action through due process is lengthy. Voluntary Suspensions are not counted in the number of suspensions. Corrective actions begin after the due process is completed.

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Background Checks for Child Day Care Operations, Fiscal Year 2009

Operation Type Central Registry Checks DPS Checks FBI Checks*
Licensed Child Care Center 189,984 189,929 155,248
Licensed Child Care Home 4,609 4,603 864
Listed Family Home 9,045 9,045 567
Registered Child Care Home 11,186 11,184 1,660
Small Employer Based Child Care 17 17 16
Total 214,841 214,778 158,355

* Represents the number of FBI checks that were requested, not the number that were actually processed.
Note: Does not include background checks conducted on individuals in an illegal child-care operation
or exemption request.

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