Texas

Facilities in Texas

Residential facilities providing religious, behavioral, and mental health treatment to children exist in all 50 states. Some of these facilities are known to be part of the Troubled Teen Industry, while others have not yet been verified. Any facility where children live and receive care requires additional oversight. This directory helps communities monitor local programs and advocate for accountability.

Reporting abuse in Texas

Texas folds the psychology, counseling, social work and marriage and family therapy boards into one council, BHEC, so one form covers most therapists; psychiatrists are separate, under the Medical Board. Texas is also one of the few states that publishes its filing deadline plainly, and it is longer than most: five years, and longer still for sexual misconduct.

Time limits in Texas: a general guide

This was correct as far as we could tell when we checked it on 28 September 2026. Laws on time limits change often, sometimes every legislative session, so some of what follows may have been updated since. It is a starting point, not legal advice: please check with a lawyer before relying on any date here. A time limit on a lawsuit or a criminal charge is also not a time limit on telling someone, and most of the places listed below will still take a report.

Time limits for abuse of a child often run from the survivor's 18th birthday, or from when they came to understand what happened, rather than from the day the program closed. Many states have lengthened them, removed them for child sexual abuse, or reopened claims that had already expired. A criminal charge, a lawsuit and a licence complaint each have their own time limit, so one having passed does not necessarily mean the others have.

Lawsuits

Physical abuse or injury: Two years for personal injury, which covers assault, battery, negligence and false imprisonment. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a)
If it happened before you turned 18: If you were under 18 when you were hurt, the time before your 18th birthday does not count. The two years start at 18, so the deadline is your 20th birthday. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001(a)-(b)
If the program was run by or for the government: Less certain The Texas Tort Claims Act does not cover assault, battery, false imprisonment or other intentional harm, so those claims generally cannot be brought against a state or local government program at all; a survivor may need to sue the staff or a private contractor instead. For negligence claims it does cover, notice is due within six months of the incident unless the government already knew of the injury. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 101.057, 101.101
Child sexual abuse: CSA: The civil SOL for CSA claims against all defendants is age 48 with a very narrow discovery rule. Trafficking: The civil SOL for trafficking claims against all defendants is age 48. CSAM: The civil SOL for CSAM claims is age 20. CHILD USA's summary

Criminal charges

Physical child abuse: Felony injury to a child and felony abandoning or endangering a child can be charged until 10 years after the victim's 18th birthday (the victim's 28th birthday). Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 12.01(7)
Assault: Five years for aggravated assault. Most other felonies: three years. Misdemeanor assault: two years (three for family violence). Tex. Code Crim. Proc. arts. 12.01(4)(I), 12.01(11), 12.02
Child sexual abuse: CSA: There is no SOL for some CSA offenses. The SOL is age 38 for sexual performance, and the SOL is 3 years from the offense for any remaining felonies and two years from the offense for misdemeanors. Trafficking: There is no SOL for trafficking offenses. CSAM: The SOL for CSAM violations is 7 years from the offense. CHILD USA's summary

The injury, assault and physical abuse lines are our reading of the statutes linked, as they stood on 28 September 2026. The child sexual abuse lines are CHILD USA's summary as it stood on 28 September 2026; their page may be more current than ours. In them SOL means statute of limitations, CSA child sexual abuse, and CSAM child sexual abuse material. "Less certain" marks a line where the law is unclear or where our reading has not been confirmed, so please treat it with extra care. Exceptions, court rulings and the details of what happened can all change which time limit applies, and some of these may be longer or shorter for you than they look here. CHILD USA's statute of limitations tracker, updated as each state changes its law. A lawyer can tell you which time limit applies to you, and many offer a free first consultation.

The therapist's licensing board

Holds the individual clinician's licence and can suspend or revoke it.

Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC)

Multiple professions

Investigates and prosecutes professional misconduct by psychologists, psychological associates, licensed specialists in school psychology, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists and social workers. It can discipline a licence up to revoking it.

It will not open an investigation at all unless the complaint arrives on its own form, and the whole complaint file is confidential by statute, so you cannot later obtain the investigation report.

Use this whenA therapist holding any Texas behavioral health licence. If the person is a psychiatrist, use the Medical Board instead.

HowFill in the Council's complaint form and email it to Enforcement@bhec.texas.gov or post it. Send supporting material with it; the Council asks for it.

DeadlineGenerally five years from the date services ended. For sexual misconduct, seven years from the date services ended or five years from the client's 18th birthday, whichever is later.

The licensee is sent a copy of the complaint including your name, unless you file anonymously. File anonymously and you will not be told the outcome. The Council aims to resolve complaints in six to twelve months.

1-800-821-3205 24-hour toll-free complaints line. Main office 512-305-7700.
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Enforcement@bhec.texas.gov
By postTexas Behavioral Health Executive Council, 1801 Congress Ave., Ste. 7.300, Austin, TX 78701

Texas Medical Board

Psychiatrist

Licenses and disciplines physicians, which in this industry means the psychiatrist who signed off the medication or the medical director whose name is on the program.

Use this whenA doctor, including a psychiatrist. Not a therapist or counselor - those go to BHEC.

HowFile through the online complaint portal, or call the hotline and follow the prompts to be sent a paper form. It must be in writing.

The Board does not accept anonymous complaints, but your identity is confidential by law once you file.

1-800-201-9353 Complaint hotline. Main line 512-305-7100; help with the online portal on 512-305-7030.
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The agency that licenses the program

Inspects the facility itself and can cite, fine, suspend or close it.

Texas HHS Complaint and Incident Intake

The single intake point for complaints about any provider Texas HHS regulates, including allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation by the provider. It routes them to the regulatory division that can inspect the facility and act on its licence.

Use this whenThe program itself: how it is run, how it is staffed, what it does to the young people in it.

HowReport online through the Texas Unified Licensure Information Portal (TULIP), or call. Email is accepted for complaints, though not for urgent ones.

For an inpatient substance use facility specifically, HHSC Health Care Regulation has its own line on 1-888-973-0022.

Law enforcement and legal channels

Child protection, the Attorney General, and the criminal side.

Texas Abuse Hotline (Department of Family and Protective Services)

The statutory report line for child abuse and neglect in Texas, including abuse of children in child care facilities and treatment centers, which DFPS investigates through its Child Care Investigations division.

Use this whenA child at a Texas program right now. If the danger is immediate, call 911 first.

HowCall the hotline, or report through the secure website, which promises a response within 24 hours. DFPS will not take a report by email and cannot accept photos or recordings that way.

1-800-252-5400 24 hours a day, every day, from anywhere in the country.
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Texas Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit

Criminally investigates abuse and neglect of patients in facilities that take Medicaid, along with misappropriation of a patient's money or property, and Medicaid provider fraud. It can bring criminal charges.

Use this whenA Medicaid-funded program where a young person was abused or neglected, or where money or property went missing.

HowCall the unit. It has field offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Grand Prairie, Houston, Lubbock, Pharr and San Antonio.

1-800-252-8011 Direct line 512-371-4700.
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By postMedicaid Fraud Control Unit, Office of the Attorney General, PO Box 12548, Austin, TX 78711-2548

Oversight and advocacy

Bodies with a right to investigate, and advocates who can act for you.

Disability Rights Texas

Texas's federally mandated Protection and Advocacy agency. It can investigate abuse and neglect where a person with a disability receives services, has a right of access to the facility, and provides free legal advocacy. It publishes its own guide to complaining about inpatient mental health services.

Use this whenA Texas program where the young person has a disability or a mental health diagnosis.

HowApply for help through the website or the intake line.

1-800-252-9108 Main line 512-454-4816 voice/TDD; video phone 866-362-2851.
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Texas HHS Ombudsman for Behavioral Health

Helps resolve a complaint about behavioral health services and makes sure it reaches the body that oversees whoever is paying for the care. It publishes a rights handbook for people receiving mental health services, including a version written for teenagers.

It is a route through the system rather than an enforcement body. An immediate risk of abuse goes to the Abuse Hotline, not here.

Use this whenSomeone who cannot get behavioral health care, or cannot get a complaint about it taken seriously.

HowCall, or submit online.

1-800-252-8154 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Relay Texas on 711 or 1-800-735-2989.
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By postTexas Health and Human Services Commission, Ombudsman for Behavioral Health, P.O. Box 13247, Austin, TX 78711-3247

National reporting channels, and the same list for other states