How often are Texas daycares inspected?
Updated August 30, 2026 · Sourced from official Texas HHSC records
Texas HHSC Child Care Regulation (CCR) inspects licensed daycare operations
unannounced at least once a year, and registered child care
homes at least once every two years. Listed family homes are
inspected only as part of an investigation. Inspections can be more frequent for operations with a
weaker compliance history.
Texas does not inspect every child care operation on the same schedule. How often the state shows up depends on the operation's permit type, in the agency's own words:
“CCR conducts unannounced inspections at licensed operations at least once per year and conducts unannounced inspections at registered child care homes at least once every two years. Inspections might be more frequent based on an operation's ability to comply with statutes, administrative rules and minimum standards.”
Listed family homes are the exception. These are small home-based operations the state keeps on a list but does not visit on a routine cycle:
“CCR only conducts inspections at listed family homes as part of an investigation.”
What this means when you read a record
- Licensed operations (centers and licensed child care homes) should show at least one inspection roughly every year in the state's records.
- Registered child care homes are inspected on a longer cycle, so a shorter inspection history is normal for them, not a red flag.
- Listed family homes often have little or no inspection history because the state visits them only when it is investigating a specific concern. A short history there does not mean the home passed inspections; it usually means none were scheduled. See how licensed, registered, and listed care differ.
- An operation that struggles to comply can be inspected more often than the minimum, so a higher number of inspections is not automatically a bad sign.
On each facility page, CheckedCare shows the inspection count from the state's own 60-month public window, exactly as the agency reports it. To read a specific operation's history, see how to look up a daycare's inspection record.