Editorial Note on Part 984
Editorial Note: Nomenclature changes to part 984 appear at 65 FR 16731, Mar. 29, 2000.

§ 984.303 Contract of Participation (CoP). ( a ) *General.* Each eligible family that is selected to participate in an FSS program must enter into a CoP with the PHA or owner that operates the FSS program in which the family will participate. There will be no more than one CoP at any time for each family. There may be an ITSP for as many members of the family as wish to participate. The CoP shall be signed by a representative of the PHA or the owner and the head of FSS family, as designated by the family. This head of FSS family does not have to be the same as the official head of household for rental assistance purposes.
( b ) *Form and content of contract* — ( 1 ) *General.* The CoP, which incorporates the ITSP(s), shall set forth the principal terms and conditions governing participation in the FSS program. These include the rights and responsibilities of the FSS family and of the PHA or owner, the services to be provided to, and the activities to be completed by, each adult member of the FSS family who elects to participate in the program.
( 2 ) *FSS family goals.* The ITSP, incorporated in the CoP, shall establish specific interim and final goals by which the PHA or owner, and the family, measures the FSS family's progress towards fulfilling its obligations under the CoP and becoming self-sufficient. For any FSS family that is a recipient of welfare assistance at the outset of the CoP or that receives welfare assistance while in the FSS program, the PHA or owner must establish as a final goal for each FSS participant that every member of the family become independent from welfare assistance before the expiration of the term of the CoP, including any extension thereof. Also, see the employment obligation described in paragraph (b)(4) of this section. Aside from the goals specifically required in this section, PHAs or owners must work with each participant to establish realistic and individualized goals and may not include additional mandatory goals or mandatory modifications of the two mandatory goals.
( 3 ) *Compliance with lease terms.* The CoP shall provide that one of the obligations of the FSS family is to comply with the terms and conditions of the respective public housing or Section 8 lease. However, all considerations allowed for other assisted residents for repayment agreements, etc., shall also be allowed for FSS participants.
( 4 ) *Employment obligation* — ( i ) *Minimum requirement.* Although all members of the FSS family may seek and maintain suitable employment during the term of the contract, only the head of FSS family shall be required under the CoP to seek and maintain suitable employment during the term of the contract and any extension thereof.
( ii ) *Seek employment.* The obligation to seek employment means searching for jobs, applying for employment, attending job interviews, and otherwise following through on employment opportunities.
( iii ) *Determination of suitable employment.* A determination of suitable employment shall be made by the PHA or owner, with the agreement of the affected participant, based on the skills, education, job training, and receipt of other benefits of the household member, and based on the available job opportunities within the jurisdiction served by the PHA or in the community where the PBRA property is located.
( 5 ) *Consequences of noncompliance with the contract.* The CoP shall specify the consequences of noncompliance with the CoP as described in paragraph (i) of this section.
( c ) *Contract of Participation term.* The CoP shall state that each FSS family will be required to fulfill CoP obligations no later than 5 years after the first re-examination of income after the execution date of the CoP.
( d ) *Contract of Participation extension.* The PHA or owner shall, in writing, extend the term of the CoP for a period not to exceed two (2) years for any FSS family that requests, in writing, an extension of the contract, provided that the PHA or owner finds that good cause exists for granting the extension. The family's written request for an extension must include a description of the need for the extension. Extension of the CoP will entitle the FSS family to continue to have amounts credited to the family's FSS escrow account in accordance with § 984.304. As used in this paragraph (d), *good cause* means: ( 1 ) Circumstances beyond the control of the FSS family that impede the family's ability to complete the CoP obligations, as determined by the PHA or owner, such as a serious illness or involuntary loss of employment;
( 2 ) Active pursuit of a current or additional goal that will result in furtherance of self-sufficiency during the period of the extension (*e.g.,* completion of a college degree during which the participant is unemployed or under-employed, credit repair towards being homeownership ready, etc.) as determined by the PHA or owner; or
( 3 ) Any other circumstance that the PHA or owner determines warrants an extension, as long as the PHA or owner is consistent in its determination as to which circumstances warrant an extension.
( e ) *Unavailability of supportive services* — ( 1 ) *Good-faith effort to replace unavailable services.* If a social service agency fails to deliver the supportive services identified in an FSS family member's ITSP, the PHA or owner shall make a good faith effort to obtain these services from another agency.
( 2 ) *Assessment of necessity of services.* If the PHA or owner is unable to obtain the services from another agency, the PHA or owner shall reassess the family member's needs and determine whether other available services would achieve the same purpose. If other available services would not achieve the same purpose, the PHA or owner and the family shall determine whether the unavailable services are integral to the FSS family's advancement or progress toward self-sufficiency. If the unavailable services are: ( i ) Determined not to be integral to the FSS family's advancement toward self-sufficiency, the PHA or owner shall revise the ITSP to delete these services, and modify the CoP to remove any obligation on the part of the FSS family to accept the unavailable services, in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section; or,
( ii ) Determined to be integral to the FSS family's advancement toward self-sufficiency, the PHA or owner shall terminate the CoP and follow the requirements in paragraph (k) of this section regarding FSS escrow disbursement.
( f ) *Modification.* The PHA or owner and the FSS family may mutually agree to modify the CoP with respect to the ITSP and/or the contract term in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section, and/or designation of the head of FSS family. Modifications must be in writing.
( g ) *Completion of the contract.* The CoP is considered to be completed, and a family's participation in the FSS program is considered to be concluded when the FSS family has fulfilled all of its obligations under the CoP, including all family members' ITSPs, on or before the expiration of the contract term, including any extension thereof.
( h ) *Termination of the contract.* The CoP shall be terminated if the family's housing assistance is terminated in accordance with HUD requirements. The CoP may be terminated before the expiration of the contract term, and any extension thereof, by: ( 1 ) Mutual consent of the parties;
( 2 ) The failure of the FSS family to meet its obligations under the CoP without good cause. This includes an FSS family who has moved out of multifamily assisted housing and families receiving tenant-based assistance under section 8(o) of the 1937 Act who fail to comply with the contract requirements because the family has moved outside the jurisdiction of the PHA, and the PHA has not determined that there is good cause terminate the CoP with FSS escrow disbursement in accordance with paragraph (k)(1)(iii) of this section;
( 3 ) The family's withdrawal from the FSS program;
( 4 ) Such other act as is deemed inconsistent with the purpose of the FSS program; or
( 5 ) Operation of law.
( i ) *Option to terminate FSS participation or withhold the coordination of supportive service assistance.* The PHA or owner may withhold the coordination of supportive services or terminate the FSS family's participation in the FSS program, if the PHA or owner determines, in accordance with the FSS Action Plan hearing procedures, that the FSS family has failed to comply without good cause with the requirements of the CoP in accordance with this section.
( j ) *Transitional supportive service assistance.* A PHA or owner may continue to offer to a former FSS family that has completed its CoP, appropriate coordination of those FSS supportive services needed to become self-sufficient if the family still resides in public housing or Section 8 housing. If the family no longer resides in public housing, Section 8, or other assisted housing, then a PHA or owner may continue to coordinate supportive services for a former FSS family that completed its CoP using only funding sources that are not HUD funds or HUD-restricted funds.
( k ) *Termination with FSS escrow disbursement.* ( 1 ) The CoP is will be terminated with FSS disbursement when: ( i ) Services that the PHA or owner and the FSS family have agreed are integral to the FSS family's advancement towards self-sufficiency are unavailable, as described in paragraph (e) of this section;
( ii ) The head of the FSS family becomes permanently disabled and unable to work during the period of the contract, unless the PHA or owner and the FSS family determine that it is possible to modify the contract to designate a new head of the FSS family; or
( iii ) An FSS family in good standing moves outside the jurisdiction of the PHA (in accordance with portability requirements at § 982.353 of this chapter) for good cause, as determined by the PHA, and continuation of the CoP after the move, or completion of the CoP prior to the move, is not possible. PHAs must be consistent in their determinations of whether a family has good cause for a termination with FSS escrow disbursement under this paragraph (k).
( 2 ) Upon termination of a CoP pursuant to paragraph (k)(1) of this section, escrow funds must be handled consistent with § 984.305.