Residential Addiction Treatment in Texas

A residential treatment center is a place to live while you recover. For a few weeks or longer, treatment becomes the whole day instead of an hour squeezed in after work: counseling, education, group support, medical and psychiatric care when needed, and a routine built around staying sober. For many Texans with addiction to alcohol, opioids, stimulants or more than one substance, it's the setting where recovery finally gets traction.

This guide explains what Texas law means by residential treatment, the two residential intensities Texas licenses, how residential fits with detox and outpatient care, how insurance handles it, and how to choose a center. Below you'll find residential treatment centers by region, county and city across Texas.

Residential treatment, defined

Texas rules describe residential treatment as round-the-clock, multidisciplinary clinical care delivered in a residential site with a structured therapeutic environment. Programs are licensed by HHSC as chemical dependency treatment facilities under Health and Safety Code Chapter 464, with rules in 26 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 564. Every residential program must keep direct care staff awake and on site at all hours and a counselor on duty at least eight hours a day, six days a week.

Intensive residential

Intensive residential programs must average at least 30 hours of services per client each week: at least 10 hours of chemical dependency counseling, including an hour of individual counseling, 10 hours of education and life skills, and 10 hours of planned activities, with five activity hours on evenings and weekends. Adult programs keep at least one direct care staff member per 16 clients while they're awake and one per 32 overnight, and a counselor carries no more than 10 clients.

Supportive residential

Supportive residential programs provide at least 6 hours of treatment services each week, typically for people who need a stable, sober place to live while they rebuild routines, often after intensive residential care.

How residential fits with detox and outpatient care

Treatment works best as a continuum. Many people start with medical detox, move into residential treatment, then step down to intensive outpatient and outpatient care, sometimes while living in sober housing. Texas rules describe outpatient programs as for people who don't need the more structured environment of residential treatment, with intensity matched to the treatment plan. NIDA's research finds that most people need at least three months of treatment overall, and that participation of less than 90 days has limited effect, which is why the whole continuum matters more than any single stay.

Who benefits most

Residential care is often the right level when outpatient treatment hasn't worked, when home isn't a safe or sober place, when use involves more than one substance, when a mental health condition needs attention at the same time, or when daily life has fallen apart enough that structure itself is part of the treatment. People with co-occurring conditions benefit from programs that treat both together; Texas rules bar licensed programs from excluding someone because of a mental health history or psychiatric medications. See dual diagnosis treatment in Texas.

Residential Addiction Treatment in Texas at a glance

Counts come from this directory, which combines the SAMHSA National Directory of Substance Use Treatment Facilities with public business listings. "Confirmed" programs are those whose SAMHSA service codes or listings show residential, inpatient or detox care; 58 report accepting private health insurance in the SAMHSA directory. Always confirm services directly.

Insurance and cost

Texas Insurance Code Chapter 1368 requires group health plans to cover necessary chemical dependency treatment, on terms no less favorable than coverage for physical illness. State and federal parity laws limit plans from applying stricter limits or prior authorization rules to substance use treatment than to comparable medical care. Residential treatment usually needs prior authorization, and plans review progress as the stay continues, so expect the treatment team to document medical necessity along the way.

Major Texas carriers and residential addiction treatment

Plan rules vary, and self-funded employer plans can differ. Always confirm benefits with the member services number on your ID card.

If you're uninsured, Texas funds substance use treatment through regional Outreach, Screening, Assessment and Referral (OSAR) centers, which screen people and refer them to state-funded programs. Your county's OSAR is listed on its county page.

Choosing a residential treatment center

• Verify the license through the HHSC chemical dependency treatment facility page, and ask whether the program is intensive or supportive residential.
• Ask what therapies the program uses and how individualized the plan is.
• Ask who provides medical and psychiatric care, and how often clients see them.
• Ask about medications for opioid and alcohol use disorder.
• Ask how families are involved.
• Confirm insurance network status and precertification before admission.
• Ask for the discharge and aftercare plan, and when planning starts.

Staying close to home

For Texans with Texas health plans, an in-network Texas program usually makes benefits easier to use, keeps family within driving distance for family sessions and makes it easier to line up outpatient care and a recovery community at home. Choosing a center in a different region can still be a smart move for people who need distance from where they used.

Residential Addiction Treatment by region

Texas's Health and Human Services Commission organizes services into 11 health service regions. Here's where residential treatment centers on our list are located.

A day in residential treatment

Days follow a predictable rhythm, and that predictability is part of the point. Mornings usually start early with a community meeting, followed by group counseling and education sessions on topics such as relapse triggers, coping skills and the effects of substances on the body and brain. Afternoons bring individual counseling, specialty groups (trauma, grief, anger, family), medical or psychiatric appointments, exercise and recreation. Evenings include planned activities, support meetings and quiet time. Texas rules cap group counseling at 16 people and require access to screening for TB, HIV, hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections, a sign of how much basic health care is woven into residential treatment.

Your rights in a Texas program

Licensed facilities must display HHSC complaint posters in English and Spanish so clients know how to reach the state, and anyone can file a complaint with HHSC Complaint and Incident Intake online at any hour. Programs can't deny admission or discharge someone just because they take prescribed medication. If a program asks you to stop a prescribed medication as a condition of admission, ask why, and talk with your prescriber.

Find a residential treatment center near you

Residential Addiction Treatment in Texas's largest cities

• Dallas (121 within 25 mi)
• Houston (118 within 25 mi)
• San Antonio (40 within 25 mi)
• Austin (67 within 25 mi)
• Fort Worth (69 within 25 mi)
• El Paso (18 within 25 mi)
• McAllen (18 within 25 mi)
• Denton (47 within 25 mi)
• Arlington (102 within 25 mi)
• Corpus Christi (13 within 25 mi)
• Plano (115 within 25 mi)
• Lubbock (12 within 25 mi)
• Laredo (5 within 25 mi)
• McKinney (71 within 25 mi)
• Killeen (12 within 25 mi)
• Garland (114 within 25 mi)
• Irving (148 within 25 mi)
• Brownsville (11 within 25 mi)
• College Station (5 within 25 mi)
• Amarillo (9 within 25 mi)
• Frisco (98 within 25 mi)
• Grand Prairie (119 within 25 mi)
• Waco (10 within 25 mi)
• Odessa (12 within 25 mi)
• Midland (12 within 25 mi)
• Port Arthur (15 within 25 mi)
• Pasadena (108 within 25 mi)
• Beaumont (15 within 25 mi)
• Tyler (14 within 25 mi)
• Mesquite (84 within 25 mi)

Residential Addiction Treatment programs across Texas

One program from each of several Texas counties, confirmed programs first. Use the county and city links for the closest options to you.

Residential Addiction Treatment by county

• Harris County (103)
• Dallas County (63)
• Tarrant County (52)
• Travis County (42)
• Bexar County (39)
• Collin County (37)
• Denton County (24)
• Fort Bend County (22)
• Brazoria County (20)
• Hidalgo County (18)
• El Paso County (18)
• Williamson County (18)
• Galveston County (15)
• Jefferson County (14)
• Hays County (13)
• Montgomery County (12)
• Bell County (12)
• Smith County (12)
• Lubbock County (12)
• Cameron County (11)
• Nueces County (11)
• McLennan County (10)
• Wichita County (8)
• Grayson County (8)
• Ector County (8)
• Bastrop County (8)
• Kaufman County (7)
• Potter County (6)
• Johnson County (6)
• Taylor County (6)
• Ellis County (6)
• Parker County (5)
• Kerr County (5)
• Comal County (5)
• Tom Green County (5)
• Brazos County (5)
• Webb County (5)
• Gregg County (4)
• Angelina County (4)
• Midland County (4)
• Liberty County (3)
• Bowie County (3)
• Hale County (3)
• Henderson County (3)
• Rockwall County (3)
• Waller County (3)
• San Patricio County (3)
• Gonzales County (3)
• Randall County (3)
• Harrison County (3)
• Starr County (2)
• Walker County (2)
• Chambers County (2)
• Hamilton County (2)
• Hunt County (2)
• Hutchinson County (2)
• Austin County (2)
• Hill County (2)
• Palo Pinto County (2)
• Bandera County (2)
• Wood County (2)
• Nacogdoches County (2)
• Wilbarger County (2)
• Val Verde County (2)
• Lamar County (2)
• Victoria County (2)
• Zapata County (2)
• Brown County (2)
• Cherokee County (2)
• Howard County (2)
• Matagorda County (2)
• Anderson County (2)
• Gillespie County (2)
• Washington County (2)
• Ochiltree County (2)
• Wilson County (1)
• Brewster County (1)
• Navarro County (1)
• Bee County (1)
• Deaf Smith County (1)
• Rusk County (1)
• Bailey County (1)
• Van Zandt County (1)
• Hardin County (1)
• Upshur County (1)
• Pecos County (1)
• Gray County (1)
• Caldwell County (1)
• Falls County (1)
• Madison County (1)
• Willacy County (1)
• Wise County (1)
• Tyler County (1)
• Moore County (1)
• Cooke County (1)
• Limestone County (1)
• Kendall County (1)
• Kleberg County (1)
• Erath County (1)
• Hardeman County (1)
• Orange County (1)
• Maverick County (1)
• Wharton County (1)
• Burnet County (1)
• Uvalde County (1)
• Panola County (1)
• Fayette County (1)
• Polk County (1)

Don't see your county? Every county has a page with the nearest programs: browse all 254 Texas counties.

Other types of care

Related guides

• What Is Court-Ordered Rehab in Texas? Chapter 462 Explained
• How to File for Court-Ordered Rehab in Texas: Step by Step
• What Happens at a Court-Ordered Treatment Hearing in Texas
• Court-Ordered and Voluntary Rehab for Minors in Texas
• What Is Residential Treatment for Addiction in Texas?
• Inpatient vs Residential Rehab: What's the Difference?

This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Confirm services, licensing and insurance directly with any program.