History of Boarding Home
Mental Health America of Greater Dallas’s ongoing advocacy includes appropriate housing for people with mental health conditions. In 2007, in preparation for the 80th Texas legislative session, we supported HB 1168, authorizing a study of boarding homes in Texas. After months of work with our community advocates, the bill’s successful passage required a research study for effective methods for establishing standards, regulating facilities, and clarifying the authority of counties and municipalities in boarding home regulation. Read the resulting report here: Report on Texas Boarding Houses by Health Management Associates, January 2009
Next, in 2009, Representative José Menéndez of San Antonio authored HB 216 to enact the report’s recommendations. Chiefly, it authorized the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to develop boarding homes model standards and gave Texas municipalities and counties the authority to regulate boarding homes operating within their jurisdictions. Again, after considerable community advocacy efforts, including our own, HB 216 was incorporated into Texas statutes as Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 260 – Boarding Home Facilities.
Then, starting in 2010, we worked closely with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and other mental health, substance abuse treatment, housing, senior, and disability rights stakeholders statewide to develop Texas Boarding House Model Standards, that once published in September 2010, included:
Throughout 2011 and 2012, we led advocacy efforts to urge the Dallas City Council to enact a city ordinance to implement boarding home regulations per those Texas Boarding House Model Standards until finally, in June 2012, the Dallas City Council unanimously passed Ordinance 28706; it became effective on October 1, 2012.
November 2012 – The City of Dallas hosted a day-long training on the new licensing procedures for owners of boarding homes.
January 2013 – The City of Dallas began accepting applications for boarding home licenses.
2015 – The Dallas City Council passed an ordinance adding CHAPTER 8A, Boarding Home Facilities, to the Dallas City Code, amending Chapter 33, Personal Care Facilities of the Dallas City Code. Chapter 8A with Amendments (3-14-16).pdf
City of Dallas’s List of Licensed Boarding Homes
Disclaimer: The information provided on this page is for general information and does not constitute an endorsement of the listed boarding homes by Mental Health America of Greater Dallas.
