Little Mermaid IV Day Care Center
A licensed child care center in Brownsville, Texas 78521
335 Old Port Isabel Rd, Brownsville, Texas 78521. (956) 546-4664.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. Texas’s own record is on its child care search.
The short answer
Record last released by Texas Workforce Commission on Nov 2, 2026.
- 7 deficiencies cited in the last three years Middle in Cameron County: 2
- 2 rated High by Texas, its most serious level (needs attention)
- 10 inspections on record
- 4-Star Texas Rising Star rating
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?
7 deficiencies cited in the last three years
The middle of the 198 child care providers in Cameron County had 2.
10 inspections on record. The latest, on Sep 14, 2026: no violation found.
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 Feb 12, 2024
Rated High by Texas: No Blocked or Locked Doors as Exits, at the inspection on Feb 12, 2024
Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data) and inspections and investigations. Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
When those deficiencies happened
6 deficiencies in 4 months of the last 36. Last cited Sep 2025. Most serious: High. The last 3 years, to Nov 2, 2026.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dec | |||||||||||
| 2024 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2025 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2026 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov |
Hover or focus a month to read it.
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.
Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data). Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
Sep 24, 2025: inspection1 deficiency
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Sign-in and Sign-out Tracking System
“One child present in the toddler/pre-k area was not included in the sign in sheet. The child was added during the inspection. Child’s first day of care was 09/23/2025.”
Sep 30, 2024: inspection2 deficiencies
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Transportation Safety Training -Director and Employee Complete 2 Hours Annually
“Transportation training has not been updated. Expired on 8/14/23.”
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Maintenance of Building, Grounds and Equipment
“Toilet seat in the pre-kinder classroom and sewer pipe in the outdoor playground were observed broken at the time of inspection.”
Feb 12, 2024: inspection2 deficiencies
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AP Background check results - Must receive notification prior to allowing subject to be present at your operation
“Observed one caregiver present in the operation in charge of a group of children without a cleared background check at the time of inspection.”
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No Blocked or Locked Doors as Exits
“Front exit door was locked and not working properly at the time of inspection.”
Jan 31, 2024: report to the state1 deficiency
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Operation Open to Parents At All Times
“Based on the information obtained standard was found non-compliance as the operation only allows parents to sign in and sign out. The front exit door is always locked, Parents need to knock before entering.”
Nov 9, 2023: inspection1 deficiency
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Report Change in Controlling Person
“Controlling person list is not being kept current. Previous director no longer present at this center has not been removed as a controlling person. Director no longer present as of 11/5/23. NOTE: Corrected at inspection as the operation notified licensing that director was no longer employed.”
2 deficiencies older than three years
Dec 30, 2021: inspection2 deficiencies
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Fenced Outdoor Activity Space -Gates Locked
“The locking mechanism in the gates is not accessible to the staff. The locks are outside the gate. The gates were locked during the inspection. Until the mechanism is changed the gates will remain unlocked during hours of operation.”
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Posting Requirements - List entitled “Current Employees”--sized at least 81/2 X 11 inches, printed legibly, include employee first and last name
“The employee list was outdated. An employee who is no longer present was in the list. Two employees who are currently employed were not on the list. This was corrected during the inspection.”
All 11 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2026 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Oct 7, 2025 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Sep 24, 2025 | Inspection | 1 deficiency cited |
| Sep 30, 2024 | Inspection | 2 deficiencies cited |
| Feb 27, 2024 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Feb 12, 2024 | Inspection | 2 deficiencies cited |
| Jan 31, 2024 | Report to the state | 1 deficiency cited |
| Nov 9, 2023 | Inspection | 1 deficiency cited |
| Dec 21, 2022 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Jan 28, 2022 | Inspection | No violation found |
| Dec 30, 2021 | Inspection | 2 deficiencies cited |
Is it licensed?
- Licensed Center, permit issued Dec 28, 2005.
- Accepts state child care subsidies.
- Licensed for ages: Infant, Toddler, Pre-Kindergarten, School.
- Capacity: 29 children.
Texas HHSC, child care operations. Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
Has Texas acted against it?
- No corrective or adverse action by Texas on record.
- 1 report to the state on record; Texas doesn’t publish whether they were A complaint allegation the state investigated and found true: the evidence showed it more likely than not happened. Inconclusive means the evidence couldn’t show it either way. Neither inconclusive nor unsubstantiated proves it didn’t happen. Source: California Department of Social Services, complaint findings; each state’s licensing agency..
Texas HHSC, child care operations and inspections and investigations. Released Oct 31, 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).
Texas Workforce Commission, subsidy providers and Texas Rising Star. Released Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily.
How does it compare nearby?
- Among 198 child care providers in Cameron County, the middle value for deficiencies cited in the last three years was 2; this one had 7.
Texas HHSC, deficiencies (non-compliance data). Released Oct 31, 2026. Updated daily.
| Place | Deficiencies, 3 years |
|---|---|
| Little Mermaid IV Day Care Center This child care provider | 7 |
| D J Lerma Head Start Child Development Center | 0 |
| Kidzland Learning Center | 2 |
| Small World Educational Center | 2 |
| Creative Minds Learning Center | 1 |
| Alphabet Playhouse Early Childhood Center, LLC | 1 |
| Little Mermaid Day Care Center | 2 |
| Lincoln Park School Day Care Center | 3 |
| The Texas Christian Preschool | 6 |
| Giggles & Wiggles Daycare | 3 |
| DBA: Kinder Fun Creative Learning Center | 2 |
| Felipe R. Perez Head Start Child Development | 3 |
| Juggi’s Child Care Inc. | 9 |
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
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Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child care operations (bc5r-88dy).
Released Oct 31, 2026 and checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily. Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication).
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Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Inspections and investigations (m5q4-3y3d).
Released Oct 31, 2026 and checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily. Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication).
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Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Deficiencies (non-compliance data) (tqgd-mf4x).
Released Oct 31, 2026 and checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily. Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication).
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Texas Workforce Commission, Subsidy providers and Texas Rising Star.
Released Nov 2, 2026 and checked Nov 2, 2026. Updated daily. No licence stated.
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.
This copy of the record was made on Nov 2, 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
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Paid listing
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