How Texas licenses assisted living
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Long Term Care Regulatory division licenses assisted living under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 247 and 26 Texas Administrative Code Part 1, Chapter 553. Unlike states that issue one blanket license, Texas splits assisted living into two tiers based on what a resident can do for themselves in an emergency.
Type A facilities serve residents who do not need routine overnight attendance and who are capable of following directions to evacuate on their own -- most private-pay assisted living in the Fort Worth metro is licensed this way.
Type B facilities serve residents who need staff assistance to evacuate, are not capable of following directions in an emergency, or require nighttime staff attendance -- this is the tier most memory care and higher-acuity assisted living falls under.
A single building can hold both a Type A and a Type B license for different wings or floors. Ask which license applies to the specific unit your parent would live in, not just the building as a whole, and ask what happens if their needs eventually exceed what that license allows.
What the Type A/B split changes for families
The admission and retention limits tied to each license type are what actually gate whether a resident can stay as their needs increase, not the building's marketing. A Type A community that cannot legally retain a resident who now needs nighttime attendance will require a transfer, sometimes to a Type B wing on the same campus and sometimes to a different building entirely.
Ask directly: which license type covers the specific unit my parent would live in today, and what happens if their needs exceed it next year?
