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T3C: What Texas Foster Care Organizations Need to Know
- Jul 17
- 10 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Everything Child Placing Agencies, General Residential Operations, and Residential Treatment Centers need to know about preparing for T3C credentialing.
Table of Contents
We have to be honest: Texas Child Centered Care comes with a lot of moving parts, and understanding how they all fit together takes more than a few paragraphs. So, we would like to suggest you grab a cup of coffee, find a comfortable seat, and settle in. Whether you read it all at once or use the table of contents to explore one section at a time, this guide is worth the read.
What is Texas Child Centered Care (T3C?)
Let's start at the very beginning. Texas Child Centered Care, commonly called T3C, is the framework Texas uses to transform how foster care services are assessed, matched, delivered, funded, documented, and evaluated. It "represents a complete transformation of the foster care system." (DFPS)
At its heart, T3C is intended to better connect each child, youth, or young adult with a provider prepared to meet their individual needs. For foster care organizations, that means being able to demonstrate that people, services, training, policies, technology, and quality processes described in an application are actually present in day-to-day practice.
So how do you know if your day-to-day practice is compliant with T3C? First, DFPS released a guide to assessing your organization. The T3C System Blueprint is DFPS’s primary guide to the framework and the requirements associated with each Service Package and Add-On Service. Because DFPS updates the Blueprint quarterly when revisions are needed, organizations should always work from the current edition and review the accompanying change log.
Why was Texas Child Centered Care Created in the First Place?
T3C was developed as part of Texas’ broader transformation of foster care. Under the previous system, foster care services and reimbursement rates were largely determined by each child’s assigned service level, such as Basic, Moderate, Specialized, or Intense. While these classifications reflected the general level of supervision and support a child was expected to need, they did not always clearly define the specific services an organization should provide. T3C replaces this structure with clearly defined service packages based on each child’s assessed needs, creating greater consistency, transparency, and accountability across the foster care system.
DFPS describes the goals of T3C as "improving safety, permanency, and well being outcomes while creating a more comprehensive network of quality services."
They do this with:
A universal child assessment and placement process
Twenty four clearly defined Service Packages
A rate methodology connected to the services included in each package
A stronger focus on outcomes, quality improvement, and accountability
Three Add-On Service Packages available for Child Placing Agencies
This is a significant operational change, but it is also a practical opportunity. T3C asks organizations to connect what they believe, what they promise, what their staff do, and what their data shows.
Who Must Follow T3C?
Any organization providing foster care services in Texas will be required to be credentialed by September of 2027. This includes organizations such as:
DFPS identifies September 2027 as the full implementation phase for T3C, with all providers expected to be transitioned to the new system. The Interim Credential application opportunity closed on January 1, 2026. Providers now seeking to offer a T3C Service Package must prepare for the Full Credentialing process.
September 2027 may sound distant, but credentialing requires more than completing an application. Organizations may need to revise program design, add permit services, hire or contract with qualified staff, develop training, implement a treatment model, build logic models, update policies, and strengthen case management and reporting systems. Starting quickly creates room to do that work thoughtfully.
The T3C Credentialing Roadmap
Every organization’s path will look a little different, but a strong T3C readiness process generally follows seven connected stages.
1. Select the right Service Packages
Start by learning what needs in the community your program is equipped to meet. Review the population described in each Service Package, the required permit type and services, staffing expectations, treatment requirements, caregiver supports, documentation, and quality measures. The goal is not to apply for the largest possible number of Service Packages. It is to select the packages your organization can deliver with consistency and integrity and services that match your approved license.
2. Align your permit, program, and staffing
Your HHSC Child Care Regulation permit must support the permit type and applicable treatment, programmatic, and special services required for the Service Packages in your application. At the same time, your staffing structure should clearly show who is responsible for clinical oversight, program leadership, case management, nursing or medical functions when applicable, quality assurance, training, supervision, and direct care. Job descriptions, qualifications, contracts, organizational charts, and actual practice should tell the same story.
3. Implement an Evidence-Based Treatment Model
Your treatment model should give staff and caregivers a shared, research supported approach to working with children. It should fit the needs of the population served and be integrated into training, supervision, service planning, daily interventions, documentation, and evaluation.
4. Develop a Logic Model for each Service Package
A logic model is a graphic that explains how your resources and activities are expected to produce measurable results. DFPS requires a separate logic model for each Service Package and Add On Service included in the submitted T3C application.
5. Build the quality and data infrastructure
T3C requires organizations to monitor whether services are being delivered as designed and whether children are experiencing the intended outcomes. This includes a Continuous Quality Improvement process, meaningful performance measures, reliable data collection, and a method for turning findings into action.
An electronic case management system is central to this work because the organization must be able to document services, monitor timelines, track outcomes, and report dependable information.
6. Align policies, procedures, and training
Policies should translate each applicable T3C requirement into clear organizational practice. Training should then prepare staff and caregivers to carry out that practice, including training tailored to the Service Packages they will support.
7. Submit your application
The provider submits the application and supporting documentation through the DFPS Credentialing Platform. Reviewers may request enhancements or clarification. Once the provider meets the requirements applicable at the time of application, DFPS will issue an Inactive Full Credential.
The provider then has up to 120 calendar days to complete any approved items that must be in place before the first day of operation under an Active Full Credential. After DFPS verifies completion and receives the signed T3C Verification Form, the provider may receive an Active Full Credential for the approved Service Packages and Add On Services.
Understanding Service Delivery Packages
One of the biggest changes introduced through T3C is the use of Service Delivery Packages.
DFPS has identified 24 Service Packages across foster family homes, GRO Tier I facilities, and GRO Tier II facilities, along with three Add On Services for CPAs. Each Service Package defines a particular setting and service approach for children, youth, or young adults with identified needs.
Depending on the package, requirements may address:
• The characteristics and needs of the children, youth, or young adults the package is intended to serve
• The services, staffing, caregiver supports, treatment approaches, and other resources that must be available through that package
Depending on the Service Package, requirements may include therapy, assessments, individualized service planning, crisis support, medical care, staff and caregiver qualifications, staffing ratios, care coordination, treatment models, logic models, documentation, and continuous quality assurance and improvement.
Organizations must be credentialed for each Service Package or Add On Service they intend to provide. Credentialing for one package does not automatically authorize an organization to deliver another.
Important: Organizations must be credentialed and approved for each Service Delivery Package before providing those services.
Understanding Evidence-Based Treatment Models
T3C requires credentialed providers to have an evidence-based treatment model specific to their program and Service Packages. This approach helps staff and caregivers provide consistent care while responding to each child’s individual strengths, needs, experiences, and goals.
Organizations can research established evidence based programs through the California Evidence Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, which provides a searchable registry of programs and information about their supporting research.
These models guide how staff:
Build relationships
Respond to trauma
Address behaviors
Teach life skills
Support emotional regulation
Promote permanency
Measure success
Some commonly utilized treatment models in Texas Foster Care:
Rock Solid Foundation collaborates with OMNI Family Institute to provide Together Facing the Challenge for the partnered organizations who feel it is a good fit for their organization. Using a treatment model creates consistency across the organization so children receive research-supported care regardless of which staff member is providing services.
Understanding Logic Models
A logic model is a visual explanation of how a program is expected to work. It connects the resources an organization invests with the services it provides and the results it expects to achieve.
A logic model connects:
Inputs → Activities → Outputs → Short Term Outcomes → Long Term Outcomes
For example, trained caregivers and clinical staff are inputs. Treatment model based interventions and service planning are activities. Completed sessions or timely reviews are outputs. Improved stability, functioning, permanency, or well being are outcomes.
DFPS requires a separate logic model for each Service Package and Add On Service. Each one should reflect the specific population, services, requirements, and intended outcomes of that package.
The submitted logic models also need to connect with the treatment model and quality process. If the application describes one set of outcomes while the CQI plan measures something entirely different, reviewers may have difficulty seeing how the program fits together.
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) is one of the cornerstones of T3C. DFPS uses the term Continuous Quality Assurance and Improvement, or CQI, to describe the structured process for monitoring service quality and improving outcomes. Instead of waiting until problems occur, CQI evaluates performance and improve services.
A healthy CQI process asks questions such as:
Are children achieving better outcomes?
Is our organization meeting performance expectations?
What trends are emerging?
Where are gaps occurring, if any?
How can our organization improve?
Organizations may monitor indicators such as placement stability, critical incidents, permanency outcomes, service plan timeliness, staff and caregiver turnover, training completion, documentation quality, length of stay, discharge patterns, and treatment outcomes. CQI becomes the engine that drives organizational excellence.
Application Submission and Review
Full Credentialing is the process of submitting an application through the T3C Credentialing Platform so DFPS can determine if a CPA, GRO or RTC meets the qualifications to offer the requested Service Packages or Add On Services.
Before submitting:
Confirm you are using the current application version.
Confirm your permit supports the requested packages.
Review every section for consistency.
Ensure policies, staffing, training, treatment models, logic models, and CQI measures align.
Submit one application for each licensed GRO facility and one credentialing application for each CPA contract.
Youth for Tomorrow supports DFPS with clinical review of aspects of credentialing, particularly the integration of treatment models and logic models. DFPS Credentialing Analysts review and verify the broader application materials and make credentialing determinations. In practice, organizations should prepare for the application to be reviewed as one connected program, not as isolated documents.
Reviewers may request time-sensitive enhancement requests. Clear, complete, and consistent responses can prevent repeated review cycles. When one document changes, check every related policy, training, logic model, and job description before submitting.
Once DFPS determines that the provider has met all requirements due at application, the provider is issued an Inactive Full Credential. The provider has up to 120 calendar days to complete the remaining approved requirements, submit evidence, and sign a T3C Verification Form before transitioning to an Active Full Credential.
An application or credential does not guarantee a contract with DFPS or an SSCC. Contracting decisions and network needs are evaluated separately.
Maintaining an Active Full Credential
Credentialing is not the finish line. It confirms that an organization has built the systems necessary to provide the approved services, and those systems must remain active.
An Active Full Credential is issued for:
Four years for CPA Foster Family Home Service Packages and Add On Services
Three years for GRO Service Packages, including those provided by Residential Treatment Centers
During the active period, providers must maintain model fidelity and comply with applicable requirements. DFPS also requires an annual T3C System Credential Report. Organizations should continue to monitor policies, and permits, documentation and CQI.
How Rock Solid Foundation Helps
Rock Solid Foundation partners with organizations throughout every stage of the T3C credentialing journey.
Our consultants assist with:
Service Delivery Package selection
Readiness Assessment
Treatment Model evaluation
Logic Model development
Continuous Quality Improvement process
Policy and documentation support
Application preparation
Enhancement request response
Transition support
With a 100% success rate and more than 35% higher approval rates than all other submitted applications combined, Rock Solid Foundation provides organization with the ease of knowledge and support when an organization submits their T3C application.
CaseBook® is an Electronic Case Management software designed specifically for Texas foster care organizations. It is T3C Compliant, and saves time, energy and duplicated work.
Client, Family, & Staff records
T3C compliant
Pre-built form library
Pre-designed workflows
Cascading data
Document storage
Due date reminders
Reports & dashboard
Cloud-based software
HIPAA compliant
Learn more about CaseBook®'s compliance and features.
Frequently Asked Questions About Texas Child Centered Care
What does T3C stand for?
T3C stands for Texas Child Centered Care, the statewide model used to organize and deliver foster care services in Texas. It is Texas’s framework for assessing, matching, funding, delivering, and evaluating foster care services through defined Service Packages.
Is T3C required?
Yes. By September of 2027, all Foster Care Organizations in Texas are required to comply with T3C regulations and policies. Organizations seeking to provide services within Texas's Community-Based Care system should understand and meet T3C requirements applicable to the services they intend to deliver.
What is a Service Package?
A Service Package defines the services, staffing, treatment approach, documentation, and expected outcomes for a specific type of foster care program. Organizations must be credentialed for each Service Delivery Package they provide.
Does every Service Package need its own logic model?
Yes. DFPS requires a separate logic model for each Service Package and each Add On Service included in the application.
What is the role of Youth for Tomorrow in T3C credentialing?
Youth for Tomorrow assists DFPS by applying clinical assessment expertise to aspects of credentialing, including the integration of treatment models and logic models. DFPS Credentialing Analysts remain responsible for reviewing and verifying application materials and issuing credential determinations.
How long does T3C credentialing take?
DFPS does not promise one standard review timeline. Timing depends on organizational readiness, the Service Packages requested, application quality, reviewer workload, priority capacity needs, and the number of enhancement cycles. Organizations should plan for credentialing as a multistage process rather than assuming approval within a fixed number of weeks.
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