“Termination” of HOPWA services means the premature ending of HOPWA services of any type before their normal or expected end.
There are two main reasons why a household’s assistance might be prematurely ended: the HIV-positive member of the household
passes away or there has been a violation of a program requirement that warrants the discontinuation of assistance.
If the HIV-positive member of the household passes away, a grantee or sponsor should continue providing assistance
“for a reasonable grace period” of up to one year. During that time, support should be given to help the household identify new housing.
Relocation assistance can also be provided. In the case of “program violations,” the phrase itself is broad and fairly encompassing,
passing the responsibility of defining what a program violation is to grantees. But the regulations are clear that, in every case,
terminations due to program violations should take place “only in the most severe cases.”
Therefore, it is important that grantees and their project sponsors have clear policies and procedures to guide program implementation
and have clear standards that articulate what would constitute a program violation. Sponsors should also have policies and procedures
that detail the termination process. This is important in order to safeguard a HOPWA program participant’s right to due process
under the Constitution and federal law. HOPWA regulations describe the baseline requirements for an adequate due process
as including written notice that explains the reason of termination, provides for a reasonable process for contesting the termination,
and requires prompt written notification of a final decision. And as the HOPWA regulation states, terminations should only be
“in the most severe cases.” This requirement means that termination should represent a last resort and should not be based
on minor violations of program requirements. For monitoring terminations, ask the project sponsors if they have
terminated any participants from services recently. If they have, review the files and discuss cases with the staff to see if due process was given
to the terminated households. Review the sponsor’s policies and procedures to see if they meet the baseline requirements
of an adequate due process. Let’s look at a termination scenario in the context of due process requirements.