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Texas · HCSSA license · Free checklist

Texas home care license checklist

Every step to a Texas home care license, from before you apply to your first renewal, each with the rule it comes from. Answer six questions to tailor it, tick steps off as you go and email it to yourself.

Tailor my checklistTexas start-up guide
  • Rule-verified September 30, 2026
  • 30 steps, each cited
  • Free, no account
A home care founder in a parked truck ticking off an HCSSA license checklist on a clipboard: Presurvey Training and 8 hours admin training done, policies written next

Quick answer

To open a non-medical home care agency in Texas you need an HCSSA license in the Personal Assistance Services category from HHSC. The main steps: the administrator and alternate complete HHSC’s Presurvey Training and 8 hours of administration training; you set up a physical place of business in Texas and write the policies Chapter 558 requires; you apply through TULIP and pay HHSC’s $2,625 fee; then, within six months of the license, you admit a first client and request your initial survey on Form 2020.

Companion-only services with no personal care do not need a license.

Rule-verified, checked against official sources on September 30, 2026

Tailor your checklist

Six quick questions

Your answers stay in this browser. The checklist below updates as you answer.

What will your agency do for clients?
Where will your place of business be?
Have you picked an administrator and an alternate?
What have you already done?

Tick any that apply.

Will you use either of these?

Tick any that apply.

Do you plan to get accredited (Joint Commission, CHAP or ACHC)?

Your checklist

Showing the steps for a new personal assistance services agency. Answer the questions above to tailor it.

Before you apply

  1. HHSC, How to Become a Licensed HCSSA Provider

  2. 26 TAC §558.11(g), (i)

  3. 26 TAC §558.244(a)(3)Administrator requirements →

  4. 26 TAC §558.13(a)

  5. 26 TAC §558.259(c)

  6. HHSC HCSSA FAQ, p. 8Can you run it from home? →

  7. HHSC HCSSA FAQ, p. 4Build them with CareRulebook →

Apply

  1. 26 TAC §558.3(a)(1)-(2)Every HHSC fee →

  2. 26 TAC §558.12(d)(2)

  3. 26 TAC §558.11(a)

After the license: the first six months

  1. 26 TAC §558.256(q)(1)

  2. 26 TAC §558.243(b)(3)

  3. Tex. Health & Safety Code §250.004(a)

  4. 26 TAC §558.521(b)(1)

  5. 26 TAC §558.521(c)How the initial survey works →

  6. 26 TAC §558.521(d)The 10 most-cited violations →

In the first 12 months

  1. 26 TAC §558.259(d)

  2. 26 TAC §558.287(a)(1)

  3. 26 TAC §558.247(a)(5)

Every year and at renewal

  1. 26 TAC §558.260(a)

  2. 26 TAC §558.218(a)

  3. 26 TAC §558.17(f)

Email me this checklist

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See our privacy notice. Reply to any email to stop them.

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Answer a few questions about your agency and CareRulebook writes the Texas policies HHSC checks at your initial survey, with your details filled in and the rule quoted under every policy.

  • 35 policies, 48 rule requirements mapped
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  • Editable Word and PDF, delivered instantly
  • 12 months of updates when Texas changes the rules
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Frequently asked questions

What do I need to get a home care license in Texas?

For non-medical personal care you need an HCSSA license in the Personal Assistance Services category from HHSC. Before applying, the administrator and alternate complete HHSC’s Presurvey Training and 8 hours of administration training, and you need a physical place of business in Texas and the written policies Chapter 558 requires. You then apply through TULIP and pay HHSC’s $2,625 fee.

Do I need a license for companion care in Texas?

Not if you only provide sitter-companion, chore or household services with no personal care and no health-related services. Texas Health and Safety Code §142.003(a)(15) exempts them. Once you help with bathing, dressing or other personal care, you need an HCSSA license.

What happens after the license is issued?

Within six months you admit and serve at least one client and send HHSC Form 2020 to request your initial survey, which is unannounced. Accredited agencies send their accreditation documents instead.

Is this checklist free?

Yes. It is free to use and to email to yourself. It is guidance, not legal advice, so check each step against the rule it links to.

Keep reading

Texas

How to start a home care agency in Texas

The full guide behind this checklist.

Texas

License cost and timeline

Every HHSC fee and deadline.

Texas

Administrator requirements

Who qualifies and the training hours.

Texas

The Texas initial survey

What surveyors check and the ten most-cited violations.

Sources

  1. 26 TAC Chapter 558, Licensing Standards for Home and Community Support Services Agencies · Texas HHSC (text via Cornell LII) · retrieved September 30, 2026
  2. Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 142 · Texas Legislature · retrieved September 30, 2026
  3. HCSSA Frequently Asked Questions (updated July 2026) · Texas HHSC · retrieved September 30, 2026
  4. Provider Letter PL 2026-10: Search Engine for Multi-Agency Reportable Conduct (SEMARC) · Texas HHSC · retrieved September 30, 2026
  5. Regulatory Services Annual Report FY 2025 · Texas HHSC · retrieved September 30, 2026
  6. Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 250 (nurse aide registry and criminal history checks) · Texas Legislature · retrieved September 30, 2026
  7. How to Become a Licensed HCSSA Provider · Texas HHSC · retrieved September 30, 2026
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