How Texas licenses assisted living in El Paso: Type A, Type B and Type C

Which agency licenses assisted living in El Paso, Texas?

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), through its Long-Term Care Regulation division, licenses every assisted living facility in El Paso under Health and Safety Code chapter 247 and the standards in 26 Texas Administrative Code chapter 553.

The City of El Paso and El Paso County enforce building, fire and zoning codes, but the right to take in residents comes only from the state license. HHSC also inspects, investigates complaints and imposes administrative penalties, and it posts each license's inspection findings and enforcement history on its public TULIP provider search. Our facility pages reproduce that record for every licensed building in the metro.

HHSC's November 5, 2026 directory lists 31 licensed assisted living facilities in El Paso and Hudspeth counties (22 Type B, 6 Type A and 3 Type C) with 964 licensed places; half are licensed for 15 residents or fewer.

What is the difference between Type A and Type B assisted living in Texas?

Texas assigns the license type by residents' ability to evacuate (26 TAC 553.5): Type A residents must be able to leave the building without staff help, follow directions in an emergency and not need routine care at night, while Type B residents may need help to evacuate, may need care at night and may not be able to follow directions in an emergency.

Neither type may keep a resident who is permanently bedfast. Type B is the license that serves most frail older adults and is the only type that can hold an Alzheimer's certification. In El Paso, 22 of the 31 licensed assisted living facilities are Type B, 6 are Type A and 3 are legacy Type C foster homes.

What is a Type C assisted living home in El Paso?

Type C is a legacy adult foster care license for a home of no more than four residents; HHSC no longer issues new Type C licenses, but homes that already hold one may keep renewing it.

A Type C home is usually a family residence where the operator lives on site and cares for a few adults. It offers a very small household and the same HHSC inspections and complaint process as larger facilities. Because the license is frozen, the number of Type C homes can only shrink over time. Ask a Type C operator who covers when they are away, how emergencies at night are handled, and what happens to residents if the operator retires.

How long does a Texas assisted living license last?

The licenses in HHSC's directory carry a three-year term, shown on each record as an effective date and an expiration date, and HHSC must inspect each facility at least every two years under Health and Safety Code 247.027.

A license belongs to one licensee at one address for a set capacity, so a sale, a move or an expansion needs HHSC's approval. The licensee is often a company rather than the building's name, and some facilities are run by a separate management company; both appear in HHSC's directory, and we show them on each facility page. When the same company holds several El Paso licenses, the inspection records of its other buildings are worth reading too.

Who must run a Texas assisted living facility day to day?

Each facility must have a qualified manager on duty who completes 12 hours of continuing education every year, and a manager generally may run only one facility, except that a manager of small Type A facilities can oversee up to four with no more than 16 residents in all.

Those rules show up in real El Paso inspection findings: TULIP records include citations for a manager missing the annual continuing education and for a manager not on duty at the facility. Staff must be trained before they work alone, and every employee and applicant must pass a criminal history check and a search of the employee misconduct registry and nurse aide registry before hire. Ask any facility to show you the training records for the caregivers who would work with your parent.