How to Check a Home Care Agency's License in Texas and California
Where the state license lookups are, what a license does and does not prove, and which registries protect clients from unsafe caregivers.
Before a stranger comes into a parent's home, the first and cheapest check is whether the agency holds the license its state requires. In Texas and California that takes a few minutes online. This guide explains what to look up, what the results mean and what a license cannot tell you.
Texas: the HCSSA license
Texas licenses agencies that send workers to help people at home as Home and Community Support Services Agencies (HCSSAs) through the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). An agency that provides non-medical help with bathing, dressing, meals, transfers and similar tasks needs a license category called Personal Assistance Services (PAS). Agencies that also provide nursing or therapy hold a home health category, and hospice has its own category. You can look up any agency in the state's TULIP long-term care provider search, and HHSC publishes the same roster as a spreadsheet on its HCSSA page. The rules are collected under HCSSA statutes and rules.
Look for three things: that the license number matches the agency's legal name and address, that the status is a licensed one, and that Personal Assistance Services appears among the services. A license listed for home health only does not cover non-medical help. Branch offices and alternate delivery sites appear as separate rows, so make sure you are reading the office that will actually serve you.
California: the Home Care Organization license
California did not license non-medical home care agencies until the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act took effect in 2016. Today an agency that employs caregivers to provide non-medical in-home care must hold a Home Care Organization (HCO) license from the Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing. Use the state's Care Facility Search to find the agency. The result shows the license status and the license number, and may show inspection or complaint information posted by the state. The CDSS Home Care Services Bureau explains the program.
The caregiver checks behind the license
A license is about the business. Each state also has a worker-level safeguard.
- California: caregivers employed by an HCO must be registered on the Home Care Aide Registry, which involves a criminal background clearance, a tuberculosis test and entry-level training before client contact, with more training each year. Ask the agency to confirm that the specific caregiver is registered.
- Texas: before an agency puts an unlicensed worker in front of a client, it must search the Nurse Aide Registry and the Employee Misconduct Registry and run a criminal history check, and it must repeat the registry searches at least every 12 months. A person listed on the misconduct registry for abuse, neglect or exploitation cannot be employed by these agencies.
What a license does not tell you
A license shows that the agency registered with the state and agreed to follow its rules. It does not rate care quality, staffing reliability or price. It does not say whether the agency will send a replacement when a caregiver is sick, or whether it accepts short shifts. Those answers come from the agency itself, which is why the next step is to ask.
Questions to ask after you confirm the license
- Are caregivers your employees, with payroll taxes and workers' compensation, or independent contractors?
- Who will do the intake visit, and will a written care plan be provided?
- What is the hourly rate, the minimum shift and the charge for nights, weekends and holidays?
- What happens if the regular caregiver cannot come?
- How do I reach someone after hours?
If something goes wrong
Complaints about a licensed agency go to the licensing agency: HHSC in Texas and Community Care Licensing in California, both of which take complaints through their websites. In an emergency or if someone is in immediate danger, call 911. Adult Protective Services in each state investigates abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults.
The listings on this site come straight from the state rosters, so the license number on each profile is the one to type into the state's own search. Treat our badge as a starting point and the state record as the authority.