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The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program was established by the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act of 1990, and revised under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992. The HOPWA program provides states and localities with resources and incentives to devise long-term comprehensive strategies for meeting the housing needs of low-income persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or related diseases and their families. This program authorizes entitlement grants and competitively awarded grants for housing assistance and services.
Eligibility for HOPWA Assistance
Persons who are low-income (80% of median income as established by U.S. HUD) and have received an AIDS diagnosis are eligible for assistance under HOPWA. Some programs, such as the short-term rental, mortgage and utility assistance program, have additional eligibility criteria that must be met. The Housing Information, Referral and Advocacy Program can provide assistance to persons with HIV/AIDS regardless of income.
Use of HOPWA Funds in Miami-Dade County
Local HOPWA funds are directed towards assisting eligible clients with housing designed to prevent homelessness, including emergency short-term rental, mortgage and utility assistance, long-term rental assistance, project-based rental assistance, operating assistance for project-based housing and community residences; and, when funds allow, capital funding for rehabilitation or new construction (new construction limited to single-room occupancy units and community residences). HOPWA funds also are directed towards housing information, referral and advocacy services.
Consistent with shifts in U.S. HUD policy and local policy recommended by the Housing Committee of the Miami-Dade HIV/AIDS Partnership and adopted by the City of Miami, HOPWA funds are directed at housing and housing-related services only due to the limited resources available to meet the housing needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS in the Miami-Dade EMD. To ensure that recipients receive necessary supportive services to maintain housing stability, all recipients of HOPWA assistance must receive case management services through coordination with Ryan White-funded programs or other community-based programs.
Annual Entitlement Funding
Recent annual HOPWA entitlement funding awards for the Miami-Dade County EMD are set forth below:
Fiscal Year:Amount of Award
- 2000: $10,139,000
- 2001: $10,269,000
- 2002: $12,482,000*
- 2003: $10,617,000
- 2004: $10,715,000
- 2005: $10,351,000
- 2006: $11,189,000
* Increase due to shift in annual portion of HOPWA formula allocation directed toward communities which experience a higher than average per capita incidences of AIDS cases as of March 31 of the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year for which formula funds are allocated.
Under federal regulations governing HOPWA, administrative costs for the grantee and project sponsors, are not to exceed three percent (3%) of the annual HOPWA allocation to administer the program locally, including the cost of general management, oversight, coordination, program evaluation, and reporting on all HOPWA funded services; and seven percent (7%) for administrative costs incurred as part of the delivery of HOPWA services.
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The Miami-Dade HIV/AIDS Partnership, through its Housing Committee,
serves in an advisory capacity to the City Commission with regard to HOPWA formula
grant funds awarded to the City on behalf of the Miami-Dade EMD. Specifically,
the City of Miami looks to the Partnership’s Housing Committee for community
input and advice concerning resource allocation, HOPWA program policies, and
coordination of efforts to address housing needs with care and treatment services
and activities directed at persons living with HIV/AIDS. The City of Miami is
formally represented on the Partnership and its Housing Committee.
For more information regarding HOPWA housing assistance
and client eligibility, please visit the City
of Miami HOPWA web site.
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