Texas Daycare Emergency Preparedness Plan: What HHSC Requires

What Your Emergency Plan Must Cover

Under 26 TAC Chapter 747, registered and licensed child-care homes must have a written emergency preparedness plan on file before accepting children. This plan is part of your Plan of Operation (Form 2948) and must address three categories of emergencies: fire, severe weather, and medical crises.

Your plan must include specific procedures for each scenario — not general statements like "we will evacuate safely," but step-by-step protocols that any caregiver in the home could follow.

Fire evacuation. Primary and secondary evacuation routes from every room children use. A designated outdoor meeting point. How you account for every child after evacuating (name-check against attendance roster). How you contact emergency services and parents. How often you practice fire drills — the minimum standard is monthly.

Severe weather. An interior shelter location away from windows and exterior walls (a hallway, bathroom, or interior closet). How you receive weather alerts (NOAA weather radio, smartphone alerts, local TV). Procedures for sheltering in place during tornadoes, thunderstorms, or flooding. In Texas, tornado and severe thunderstorm protocols are particularly relevant from March through June.

Medical emergencies. Location of first-aid supplies. Who is authorized to administer first aid and medication. When and how to call 911. How to reach each child's emergency contacts. Location of completed emergency medical consent forms for every enrolled child.

Fire Drill Requirements

Monthly fire drills are mandatory for registered and licensed child-care homes. Each drill must be documented with the date, time, number of children present, total evacuation time, and any problems encountered.

The evacuation must account for the youngest children in care. If you have infants who can't walk, your plan must specify how you'll transport them — an evacuation crib, a multi-infant carrier, or a specific carry protocol. Your plan should account for realistic evacuation with your actual enrollment, including non-mobile infants.

Keep a fire drill log in your on-site records. Inspectors review the log during monitoring visits and check for consistent monthly entries. Missing or incomplete drill documentation can be a deficiency.

Record-Keeping Requirements Beyond Emergencies

Emergency preparedness is one piece of a broader record-keeping obligation. Under Chapter 747, your on-site records must include:

Child enrollment records. Completed admission forms for each child, including emergency contacts, authorized pick-up persons, emergency medical consent, and immunization records or valid exemption affidavits.

Staff and caregiver records. Proof of age, education credentials (high school diploma or GED), training certificates (pre-service hours, annual training, CPR/first aid), background check clearances, and TB screening results.

Daily attendance records. A daily log showing which children are present, what times they arrived and departed, and who dropped off and picked up each child. This log is your primary verification tool during emergencies — it's how you confirm every child is accounted for after an evacuation.

Incident reports. Required incident and medication records must be documented and communicated to parents according to current HHSC requirements. These reports must be kept on file for inspection review.

Inspection and training logs. Fire drill dates, fire extinguisher inspection records, smoke detector testing dates, and training completion certificates.

Required records must be maintained and readily accessible at the operation during inspections. "I have it on my computer at a different location" doesn't satisfy the requirement. Keep a usable backup of emergency information in case your phone or internet is unavailable.

Making Your Plan Inspectable

The gap most providers fall into isn't having an emergency plan — it's having one that looks like boilerplate rather than a plan specific to their home. Inspectors notice when the evacuation route described on paper doesn't match the physical layout of the house, or when the shelter location listed is a room that doesn't exist.

Walk your home with your written plan in hand. Verify that the primary evacuation routes are clear, the secondary routes actually function, the outdoor meeting point is workable, and the interior shelter location is the safest option in your floor plan.

The Texas Home Daycare Licensing Guide includes an emergency preparedness template along with a compliance tracker for ongoing record-keeping obligations, so you're not rebuilding your documentation system from scratch every time an inspector visits.

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