Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1974 )

October 16, 1974
The Honorable Joe Resweber . Opinion No. H- 423
Harris County Attorney
Harris County Courthouse Re: Licensing of child care
Houston, Texas 77002 program established by county
community center.
Dear Mr. Resweber:
You askðer a community center established by Harris County
pursuant to Art. 5547-203, V. T. C. S., and operated by the County’s Mental
Health and Mental Retardation Authority (MHMRA) which provides twenty-
four hour a day care for children is required to obtain a license and, if so,
from whom. You also ask whether a therapeutic residential system for
troubled children jointly developed and operated by MHMRA. Harris County
Child Welfare, and the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department would
have to be licensed.
Section 8a of Art. 695c, V. T. C.S., in Subsection 2a, requires any
person, corporation, or other institution which operates a twenty-four hour
a day child care facility to obtain a license from the State Department of
Public Welfare. Subsection 10, thereof, exempts child care institutions
owned and operated by the State of Texas from the license requirement.
In Attorney General Opinion H-104 (1973) we concluded that “child-caring
institutions or facilities owned and operated by counties, . . . local
mental health-mental retardation units or similar political subdivisions
of the State” are exempted from the licensing requirements of § 8(a) (2a)
of Art. 695~ by Subsection 10 of the same Section. Consequently, in our
opinion, neither the Harris County community center nor a therapeutic
residential system operated by various county agencies need secure
licensing from the Texas Department of Public Wefare for child care pro-
grams they are operating.
p. 1965
, .
The Honorable Joe Resweber page 2 (H-423)
Your final question is whether contributions of staff or property
from public or private bodies to a MHMRA child treatment program might
activate the licensing requirements of Art. 695~. Art. 5547-202, 0 2.14
provides:
Sec. 2.14. The Department may accept gifts,
grants, and donations of money, personal property,
and real property for use in expanding and improving
the mental health and mental retardation services
available to the people of this state.
We believe this statute authorizes any MHMRA program to accept donations
without changing its fundamental character , or incurring further licensing
requirements. See also Art. 5547-202, 5 0 2.15 and 2.18(c), (d) and Art.
5547-203, 5 3.10.
SUMMARY
Child-caring institutions operated by local mental
health-mental retardation units or other political
subdivisions are exempted from Texas Department
of Pubiic Welfare licensing requirements by Art. 695c,
g 8(10), V. T. C. S. The acceptance of gifts or other
donations would not cause publicly operated institutions
to be subject to licensing requirements.
Very truly yours,
p. 1966
I
I
The Honorable Joe Rerwebar page 3 (H-423)
DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee
p. 1967