8412.6 Residential Therapeutic Care
CPS January 2026
Contractors must provide specialized or intensive residential therapeutic care when the child’s therapeutic or behavioral needs cannot be met in a family setting, or the child’s behaviors present a danger to others in the home. The contractor may provide the care directly or through subcontractors.
8412.61 Determining Eligibility
CPS January 2026
Only adopted children are eligible for residential therapeutic care provided through the Post-Adoption Services program.
To qualify, a child must meet all of the following criteria:
- Be expected to be able to return home and function in the adoptive family within 12 months.
- Be ineligible for treatment in a state hospital or state supported living center.
- Have a service level of Specialized or Intense.
8412.62 Extending Eligibility
CPS January 2026
The eligibility period for residential therapeutic care is limited to 12 months after adoption.
The associate commissioner for CPS or designee may extend an adopted child's eligibility if any of the following apply:
- An extension will permit the child to complete the academic year without disruption within the next 90 days.
- An appropriate alternative placement will be available for the child within the next 90 days but is not available now.
- The child is expected to be able to return home and function in the adoptive family within the next 90 days.
Referrals for Long-Term Care
If a child's treatment needs cannot be met within 12 months, the contractor must refer the family to an agency that can meet the child's need for long-term care.
For information about programs and facilities that can provide such care in Texas, the contractor may contact any of the following agencies:
- Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
- Texas Health and Human Services (HHS), Aging and Disability Resource Center.
- Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
Extending Long-Term Care
The associate commissioner for CPS or designee may extend a child's eligibility for up to 12 additional months, when all of the following conditions are met:
- The child is being treated in a specialized residential treatment facility whose standard course of treatment for the child's condition is longer than 12 months and no more than 24 months.
- There is clear evidence in the most recent comprehensive psychological or psychiatric report that the child requires and is not currently receiving treatment for a severe condition (such as a reactive attachment disorder requiring a specialized form of treatment). Note: The psychiatric or psychological report cited must be no older than 90 days.
- Current treatment notes and reports clearly indicate that the child is making significant progress, despite the need for extensive treatment services.
- The treatment facility, the child's family, and the provider of the post-adoption services expect the child to be able to return home at the end of the prescribed treatment, which is no more than 24 months after the initial placement.
- The child's family is actively participating in the child's treatment, is participating in family therapy, and is complying with the terms outlined in the agreement for residential placement and the plan of service.
- Outpatient treatment is unavailable, and long-term, out-of-home treatment is in the child's best interest.
- Adequate funds are available for the child's continued treatment.
8412.63 Requiring Family Involvement
CPS November 2006
The child's adoptive family must participate in family treatment over the course of the child's stay in residential care.
8412.64 Reunifying Child and Family
CPS November 2006
Each three-month review of the child's service plan must address the progress made toward reunifying the child with the adoptive family.
Important: If either of the following conditions arises, the contractor must begin planning for a child's discharge from residential therapeutic care, and must carry out the discharge within 60 days:
• the adoptive parents do not:
• maintain regular contact with the child,
• participate in treatment, or
• intend to let the child return home; or
• the child's functioning does not improve.
8412.65 Identifying Allowable Providers
CPS January 2026
Post-adoption residential therapeutic care must be provided in one of the following:
- Residential group care facility that has been specifically licensed to provide therapeutic care.
- Licensed residential treatment center.
- State-licensed or -certified treatment facility for drug or alcohol abuse.
- State-licensed or -certified hospital.
8412.66 Referring Clients
CPS November 2006
The contractor must attempt to refer the child to the least restrictive setting appropriate to the child's needs. Before referring a child for residential therapeutic care, the contractor and the child's family must explore the possibility of meeting the child's needs with day treatment.
8412.67 Authorizing Care
CPS November 2006
The CPS program administrator or the administrator's designee must authorize residential therapeutic care in advance.
8412.68 Paying for Care
CPS November 2006
CPS reimburses contractors for residential therapeutic care based on the child's service level. The department's payments must not exceed the contractor's costs.
8412.69 Reducing the Service Level
CPS November 2006
If the service level of an adopted child in residential therapeutic care is reduced below specialized at the end of a service level review, the contractor must immediately begin planning to:
• support the child's return to the adoptive home,
• refer the child and family to another facility that can meet the child's needs, or
• help the family find other ways to pay for the contractor's continuing care.
The child's eligibility for CPS-paid residential therapeutic care ends 60 days after the effective date of the reduced service level.