Texas Relative Placements
Texas conducts the following types of home studies:
- Relative Care
- Foster Care
- Parent Care
- Adoption
Texas will not accept more than 2 home study requests on several prospective caregivers for placement of the same child at a time. The sending state will need to wait until the homestudies are completed prior to sending additional home study requests on other prospective caregivers.
Relative Home Study
Define Relative:
Relative home studies may be completed on any degree of relationship.
As the Receiving State, Texas will accept fictive kin requests as “relative home study requests”.
A “fictive kin” (also known as ‘symbolic relative’) is defined as a person with a longstanding and significant relationship with a child (i.e. Godparent, someone considered to be an aunt or uncle even though they are not related to the child).
Relatives must be licensed:
Proof of Paternity Required for Placement with Paternal Relative:
Texas considers the following types and degrees of relation as relative placements. Individuals related in the 1st degree, 2nd degree, 3rd degree and 4th degree (You may need to refer to your state's consanguinity chart or state statute to determine relations or relative status.):
- 1st Degree (mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter)
- 2nd Degree (grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, first cousin)
- 3rd Degree (great grandmother, great grandfather, great aunt, great uncle, grand-niece, grand nephew, second cousin)
- 4th Degree (great, great-grandmother, great, great-grandfather, great, great aunt, great, great aunt, great, great uncle, great grand-niece, great grand nephew, third cousin)
- Godmother, Godfather
- Other
Regulation 7 Priority Placement
Texas performs priority placements:
Wait Time (ICPC Interstate Home Study)
Average length of time to process and complete a home study with criminal background checks for an interstate placement (Not including completion of education training):
Wait time to complete Home Study, only (without criminal records check):
Texas determines the "Date of Receipt" for an interstate home study as:
- Date stamped in the ICPC Office.
Method of requesting, sending, and/or reporting an interstate home study
|
Regular Mail |
Express Mail |
Overnight Mail |
Electronic Mail |
| Send request for a home study to Receiving State |
y |
|
y |
y |
| Send home study request to Local office |
|
|
|
y |
| Send home study report to Sending State |
y |
|
y |
y |
Criminal Records Checks
Texas requires criminal background checks for the following home studies:
- Foster Care
- Relative Care
- Adoption
- Parent
Types of Checks (Crim. & Abuse Neglect Registry)
Texas requires the following types of criminal background and perpetrator checks (Federal (F), State (S), Local (L), Abuse and Neglect Registry (ANR), Not Required (NR))
|
Federal |
State |
Local |
ANR |
NR |
| Parent |
y |
y |
|
y |
|
| Relative |
y |
y |
|
y |
|
| Foster Care |
y |
y |
|
y |
|
| Adoption |
y |
y |
|
y |
|
Wait Time for Criminal Records Checks
Wait time for fingerprint results are:
Live Scan or other technology
- State: 8-14 days
- Local/County: Not Offered
Manually - Fingerprint Card
- State: 15-30 days
- Local/County: 15-30 days
Average length of time to process and complete a home study with criminal background checks for an interstate placement (Not including completion of education training):
Verification of Criminal Records Results
- Actual results/information contained in the Criminal Background
- Signature verifying background check completed
Wait Time - (License/ Certification/ Approval - Education and Training)
Average Length of time it takes for a home to be licensed/approved/certified:
Length of time a license is valid before renewal required:
Texas offers classes (education and training) for placement resources' homes to become licensed/certified/approved:
- Other: if classes are offered at state or county discretion. - Varies among each Region in Texas (there are 11 Regions)
