Hearth Record

Smart Start Learning Center

A licensed child care center in Edinburg, Texas 78541

913 W Monte Cristo Rd, Edinburg, Texas 78541. (956) 588-5064.

Texas’s own record, on its child care search

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The short answer

Record last released by Texas HHSC on Nov 5, 2026.

The last 24 months 11 deficiencies in 4 months of the last 36. Last cited Jul 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?

11 deficiencies cited in the last three years

The middle of the 479 child care providers in Hidalgo County had 3.

11 inspections on record. The latest, on Jul 21, 2026: 1 deficiency cited.

Rated High by Texas: AP Background check results - Must receive notification prior to allowing subject to be present at your operation, at the inspection on Aug 13, 2025

Rated High by Texas: Safety - Bodies of Water Inaccessible to Children, at the inspection on Aug 13, 2025

Rated High by Texas: Annual Fire Inspection - Before Initial Permit Issued and Every 12 Months, at the inspection on Feb 13, 2024

Source:

Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data) and inspections and investigations. Released Nov 5, 2026. Updated daily.

When those deficiencies happened

11 deficiencies in 4 months of the last 36. Last cited Jul 2026. Most serious: High. The last 3 years, to Nov 5, 2026.

11 deficiencies by month over the last 3 years. Each cell is one month.
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2023 Dec
2024 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2025 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2026 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNov

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 Nov 5, 2026. Updated daily.

Jul 21, 2026: inspection1 deficiency

  • Fire Drill Monthly - Exit in 3 Minutes

    “A monthly fire drill was not conducted for the month of June 2026.”

    Rule 746.5205(1). Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Jul 21, 2026. Correction verified: Jul 21, 2026.

Aug 13, 2025: inspection5 deficiencies

  • AP Background check results - Must receive notification prior to allowing subject to be present at your operation

    “An employee was present at the childcare operation without an eligible background check letter. The employee previously had a provisional background check but was inactivated for failing to follow through the process.”

    Rule 745.641. High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Aug 13, 2025. Correction verified: Aug 13, 2025.

  • Safety - Bodies of Water Inaccessible to Children

    “There was a bucket of water in the kitchen which became accessible when a child ran into the kitchen. The door leading to the kitchen did not lock.”

    Rule 746.3701(9). High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Aug 13, 2025. Correction verified: Aug 28, 2025.

  • Written Activity Plan - Group Name and Dates

    “There was no current activity plan for the school age and toddler group.”

    Rule 746.2205(a)(1). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Aug 14, 2025. Correction verified: Aug 14, 2025.

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

    “There were no feeding instructions for two infants.”

    Rule 746.2421(a). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Aug 15, 2025. Correction verified: Aug 19, 2025.

  • Notification of Change in Space

    “The outdoor area was reduced without notifying Child Care Regulation.”

    Rule 746.301(2). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Aug 15, 2025. Correction verified: Aug 28, 2025.

Feb 12, 2025: inspection2 deficiencies

  • Maintenance of Building, Grounds and Equipment

    “A gap has developed beneath the wooden fence due to the neighbor’s dog digging, which could pose a safety concern for children engaged in outdoor play.”

    Rule 746.3407. Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Feb 14, 2025. Correction verified: Feb 21, 2025.

  • Required Records Maintained and Made Available - Safety Documentation for Emergency Drills, Fire Extinguishers, & Smoke Detectors

    “The fire practice documentation indicated fire drills have not been conducted in a monthly basis. The last fire drill conducted was in October 2024. The sheltering/severe weather and lock down drills were not conducted four times in 2024. The fire extinguishers in the operation were last serviced in December 2023.”

    Rule 746.801(10). Medium, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Feb 14, 2025. Correction verified: Feb 21, 2025.

Feb 13, 2024: inspection3 deficiencies

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

    “Fire inspection not available at application inspection.”

    Rule 746.5101(a). High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Mar 15, 2024. Correction verified: Mar 11, 2024.

  • Annual Sanitation Inspection

    “Sanitation inspection not available at application inspection.”

    Rule 746.3401(a). Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Mar 15, 2024. Correction verified: Mar 11, 2024.

  • Fenced Outdoor Activity Space

    “Fence in operation measures less than the four feet of required outdoor fencing.”

    Rule 746.4305. Medium High, by Texas’s label. Correction date, as Texas HHSC recorded it: Mar 15, 2024. Correction verified: Mar 11, 2024.

All 11 visits on record
Inspections, investigations and reports to the state
DateVisitWhat the record says
Jul 21, 2026Inspection1 deficiency cited
Dec 19, 2025InspectionNo violation found
Aug 28, 2025InspectionNo violation found
Aug 13, 2025Inspection5 deficiencies cited
Feb 21, 2025InspectionNo violation found
Feb 12, 2025Inspection2 deficiencies cited
Aug 7, 2024InspectionNo violation found
Jun 18, 2024InspectionNo violation found
May 13, 2024InspectionNo violation found
Mar 11, 2024InspectionNo violation found
Feb 13, 2024Inspection3 deficiencies cited

Is it licensed?

  • Licensed Center, permit issued Aug 8, 2024.
  • Accepts state child care subsidies.
  • Licensed for ages: Infant, Toddler, Pre-Kindergarten, School.
  • Capacity: 32 children.
Source:

Texas HHSC, child care operations. Released Nov 5, 2026. Updated daily.

Has Texas acted against it?

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

Texas HHSC, child care operations and inspections and investigations. Released Nov 5, 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?

  • Texas Rising Star: 4-Star (the highest of three levels).
Source:

Texas Workforce Commission, subsidy providers and Texas Rising Star. Released Nov 5, 2026. Updated daily.

How does it compare nearby?

  • Among 479 child care providers in Hidalgo County, the middle value for deficiencies cited in the last three years was 3; this one had 11.
Source:

Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data). Released Nov 5, 2026. Updated daily.

11 of the 479 in Hidalgo County, as the source lists them, same ZIP code first
PlaceDeficiencies, 3 years
Little Steps Daycare1
Sunrise Learning Center6
Children’s Depot LLC2
Little Leaders Center6
Angel Wings Learning Center, LLC3
Martha Barrios De CantuNot given
Karina Salinas3
Umos Mshs Edinburg Center6
Innovacare Learning Center, LLC8
Smart Start Learning Center This child care provider11
Lovely Rainbow Learning Center LLC16
Melissa’s Learning Center LLC1

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 Nov 5, 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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