Hearth Record

Dewitt-Lavaca Early Headstart

A licensed child care center in Yoakum, Texas 77995

813 Culpepper St., Yoakum, Texas 77995. (361) 879-8415.

Texas’s own record, on its child care search

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The short answer

Record last released by Texas HHSC on Oct 24, 2026.

The last 24 months 14 deficiencies in 5 months of the last 36. Last cited Apr 2026. Most serious: High. Every month

Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.

What these words mean5
Inspection (survey)
A visit by state inspectors, often unannounced, who check a place against the rules it must meet. For nursing homes and other places Medicare pays, CMS calls these visits surveys: a standard survey of a nursing home comes at least every 15 months, and a complaint survey whenever a complaint calls for one. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.308.
Deficiency, citation, violation
What inspectors write up when a place didn’t meet a rule: the rule, what they saw, and when. CMS calls it a deficiency; states may say citation or violation. It is the inspectors’ finding, not a court’s, and the place is usually asked for a plan to correct it. Source: CMS, statement of deficiencies (Form CMS-2567); each state’s licensing agency.
Texas’s risk levels
Texas gives each child care deficiency a risk level, by how likely it is to harm a child: Low, Medium Low, Medium, Medium High or High. High is its most serious. Source: Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation.
Licence status
Whether the state’s licence lets the place operate now, in the state’s own words: licensed, on probation (allowed to keep operating on conditions, after problems), provisional, pending or expired. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.
Capacity
The most people the licence or certification lets the place care for at once: residents, children, beds or apartments, as the state counts them. It isn’t how many are there now. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.

What did inspectors find?

14 deficiencies cited in the last three years

The middle of the 11 child care providers in Dewitt County had 9.

15 inspections on record. The latest, on Apr 15, 2026: 1 deficiency cited.

Rated High by Texas: Annual Fire Inspection - Before Initial Permit Issued and Every 12 Months, at the inspection on Oct 14, 2025

Rated High by Texas: Prohibited Punishments - No Harsh, Cruel or Unusual, at the report to the state on Jul 18, 2025

Rated High by Texas: Mark Cleaning Supplies, Toxic Materials; Keep Separate from Food and Inaccessible to Children, at the inspection on Apr 23, 2024

Source:

Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data) and inspections and investigations. Released Oct 24, 2026. Updated daily.

When those deficiencies happened

14 deficiencies in 5 months of the last 36. Last cited Apr 2026. Most serious: High. The last 3 years, to Oct 24, 2026.

14 deficiencies by month over the last 3 years. Each cell is one month.
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2023 NovDec
2024 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2025 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2026 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOct

Hover or focus a month to read it.

No visit on record Visited, nothing cited A stronger orange is more serious, on its source’s own levels, read onto four bands: from the least serious it publishes to the most
Source:

Hearth Record drew this from the dates and levels in the source’s own records.

Each deficiency, in Texas’s words

Grouped by visit, newest first, with the risk level Texas gave it, from Low to High.

Source:

Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data). Released Oct 24, 2026. Updated daily.

Apr 15, 2026: inspection1 deficiency

  • Written Feeding Instructions - Signed and Dated by Parent or Health-Care Professional

    “One infant lacked an infant feeding instructions.”

    Rule 746.2421(a). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Apr 17, 2026. Correction verified: Apr 15, 2026.

Oct 14, 2025: inspection5 deficiencies

  • Annual Fire Inspection - Before Initial Permit Issued and Every 12 Months

    “The operation did not have a current fire inspection on file.”

    Rule 746.5101(a). High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Oct 24, 2025. Correction verified: Oct 23, 2025.

  • Documented Annual Training - Caregivers of Children Under 24 Months Required

    “Four out of six employee files evaluated lacked current SIDS/Shaken Baby training.”

    Rule 746.1309(d). Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Oct 17, 2025. Correction verified: Oct 15, 2025.

  • Safety - Areas Free From Hazards

    “There is an opening on the playground between the ground and the lattice in which children may crawl through. In addition, one board on the walk way is detached and lifted up, posing a hazard.”

    Rule 746.3701. Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Oct 20, 2025. Correction verified: Oct 27, 2025.

  • Children’s Products- Annual Certification

    “The children’s product safety recall list had not been certified within the past year.”

    Rule 746.4135(b). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Oct 15, 2025. Correction verified: Oct 15, 2025.

  • Required Personnel Records - Required Affidavit (Form 2912)

    “Three out of six employee files evaluated lacked a pre employment affidavit on file.”

    Rule 746.901(5). Medium Low, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Oct 17, 2025. Correction verified: Oct 15, 2025.

Jul 18, 2025: report to the state1 deficiency

  • Prohibited Punishments - No Harsh, Cruel or Unusual

    “Based upon preponderance of evidence gathered it was determined that a caregiver used inappropriate discipline, by throwing a tablet, which resulted in a child being struck.”

    Rule 746.2805. High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Aug 15, 2025. Correction verified: Aug 19, 2025.

Feb 28, 2025: inspection3 deficiencies

  • Report Change in Director

    “The operation failed to notify Child Care Regulation there was a change in director.”

    Rule 746.303(a)(4). Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Mar 3, 2025. Correction verified: Feb 28, 2025.

  • Nutrition and Food Service - Drinking water available at every snack, mealtime, and during and after active play

    “Children did not have drinking water available during outdoor play.”

    Rule 746.3301(f)(1). Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Feb 28, 2025. Correction verified: Mar 13, 2025.

  • Background Check Validation - Every 3 months each operation, other than a licensed, registered, or listed home, must validate current list

    “The employee list was last validated 9-3-24.”

    Rule 745.651(2)(A). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Mar 3, 2025. Correction verified: Feb 28, 2025.

Apr 23, 2024: inspection4 deficiencies

  • Mark Cleaning Supplies, Toxic Materials; Keep Separate from Food and Inaccessible to Children

    “Purell sanitation wipes were observed on the ground in two bathrooms. Note: This was corrected when the wipes were stored out of the reach of the children.”

    Rule 746.3407(12). High, by Texas’s label. Corrected during the inspection. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Apr 23, 2024.

  • Safety - Areas Free From Hazards

    “The gate on the playground had an opening large enough for a small child to fit through.”

    Rule 746.3701. Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Apr 30, 2024. Correction verified: May 2, 2024.

  • Written Operational Policies - Criteria for Extreme Weather

    “The operational policies lacked the criteria that will be used to determine if weather is appropriate for outdoor play.”

    Rule 746.501(a)(18)(F). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Apr 25, 2024. Correction verified: May 2, 2024.

  • Written Operational Policies - Support inclusive services

    “The operational policies lacked information regarding children with special needs.”

    Rule 746.501(a)(30). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Apr 25, 2024. Correction verified: May 2, 2024.

All 18 visits on record
Inspections, investigations and reports to the state
DateVisitWhat the record says
Apr 15, 2026Inspection1 deficiency cited
Oct 27, 2025InspectionNo violation found
Oct 21, 2025Report to the stateNo violation found
Oct 14, 2025Inspection5 deficiencies cited
Aug 19, 2025InspectionNo violation found
Jul 22, 2025InspectionNo violation found
Jul 18, 2025Report to the state1 deficiency cited
May 29, 2025InspectionNo violation found
May 22, 2025InspectionNo violation found
May 20, 2025Report to the stateNo violation found
Apr 22, 2025InspectionNo violation found
Mar 13, 2025InspectionNo violation found
Feb 28, 2025Inspection3 deficiencies cited
May 2, 2024InspectionNo violation found
Apr 23, 2024Inspection4 deficiencies cited
May 10, 2023InspectionNo violation found
Apr 28, 2023InspectionNo violation found
Mar 1, 2022InspectionNo violation found

Is it licensed?

  • Licensed Center, permit issued Apr 24, 2018.
  • Licensed for ages: Infant, Toddler, Pre-Kindergarten.
  • Capacity: 48 children.
Source:

Texas HHSC, child care operations. Released Oct 24, 2026. Updated daily.

Has Texas acted against it?

  • No corrective or adverse action by Texas on record.
  • 3 reports to the state on record; Texas doesn’t publish whether they were .
Source:

Texas HHSC, child care operations and inspections and investigations. Released Oct 24, 2026. Updated daily.

Who does the caring?

  • Texas doesn’t publish staffing levels for individual providers. State rules set staff-to-child ratios by age.

Who owns it?

  • Texas’s open data doesn’t list owners.

How is it rated?

  • Not rated in Texas Rising Star.
Source:

Texas Workforce Commission, subsidy providers and Texas Rising Star. Released Oct 24, 2026. Updated daily.

How does it compare nearby?

  • Among 11 child care providers in Dewitt County, the middle value for deficiencies cited in the last three years was 9; this one had 14.
Source:

Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data). Released Oct 24, 2026. Updated daily.

10 of the 11 in Dewitt County, as the source lists them, same ZIP code first
PlaceDeficiencies, 3 years
Dewitt-Lavaca Early Headstart This child care provider14
St Paul Lutheran Ykt Child Care Center/ the Learning Garden9
Lifeway Baptist School3
Dewitt County Cuero Head Start and Early Head Start5
Little Saints Pre-School46
Lolly’s House4
Grace Episcopal School12
Kids Clubhouse16
Rooted Preschool0
Boss Baby Daycare11
Cindy’s Family Group Home2

What the record doesn’t say

  • Texas doesn’t publish whether a complaint was substantiated.
  • Texas rates some paperwork slips as High risk, so read what was actually cited.
  • Texas doesn’t publish staffing levels or owners for individual providers.

Sources

If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: Texas HHSC or Texas Workforce Commission. Texas’s own record is on its child care search. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.

Source:

This copy of the record was made on Oct 24, 2026.

From the provider

The public record above comes first. Anything the provider adds will appear here, below it, and say who wrote it.

Replies

None. Replies aren’t open yet. When they open, the provider will be able to answer any finding for free, and the reply will show beside that finding, unedited and dated.

Paid listing

None. Paid listings aren’t open yet. When they open, anything paid for will say “Paid by the provider”, and paying will never change a finding, a rating or the order of results.

How to read a record

Four things every record does, shown on an example record made up for this guide.

An example record, made up for this guide

An example nursing home

Made up for this guide: no real place is shown

Not fully inspected in over two years (CMS flag)

11 health citations at the latest inspection cycle

The state average is 14.3.

Source:

CMS, State and US Averages and Health Deficiencies. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

From the homeNone yet. Replies and paid listings aren’t open, and when they open they will sit here, below the record.

1 of 4

Every fact names its source.

Who published it, when, and how often it changes sit beside each fact, with a link to the agency’s own file.

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