Documenting a Relapse or Serious Rule Violation

Not legal advice — a starting operational template, not a substitute for your own attorney's guidance on a specific situation. See the in-app Compliance Reference for general state-by-state context.

Recovery-residence status is generally protected under the Fair Housing Act, which means a relapse alone doesn't automatically justify eviction. What protects both the resident and your program is the same thing either way: specific, dated, behavior-based documentation of what actually happened, applied consistently, rather than a judgment call about someone's character. This template is built around that.

Step 1 — Document the behavior, not a conclusion

Write down exactly what happened, in the moment or as close to it as possible, using the Incident Reports feature so there's a timestamped record. The difference between a defensible record and a risky one is almost always specificity.

• Avoid: "Was being difficult and seemed off." Use instead: "Raised voice in the common area, refused a requested drug test at 9:40pm, left the house without signing out."
• Avoid: "Not doing well lately." Use instead: "Missed curfew twice this week (Tuesday, Thursday), missed two assigned chores, positive test result on [date]."
• If you're not sure how to phrase something factually, the "Suggest tighter language" button on the incident description field is built for exactly this — it tightens vague language into specific, behavior-focused wording without inventing details you didn't already write.

Step 2 — Consider a documented alternative before jumping to discharge

For a first or non-safety-threatening incident, offering — and documenting — an alternative is usually what separates a defensible discharge from a risky one later. Examples: increased drug testing frequency for a defined period, a temporary curfew tightening, a check-in plan with a specific staff member, a required conversation with a sponsor or case manager.

This step doesn't apply to everything — behavior that creates an immediate safety risk to the resident or others may warrant faster action, and that's a judgment call for your program, not a rule this template can make for you. For everything short of that, document the alternative you offered and the resident's response to it.

Step 3 — Let the response become the basis, not the original incident

If the resident accepts the alternative, document that and move on — this becomes part of their ongoing record, useful context if something similar happens again. If they decline the alternative, or a further violation happens afterward, that refusal or further violation — not the original relapse — becomes the documented basis for discharge. This distinction matters: "resident relapsed" is a much weaker basis for discharge than "resident declined a documented alternative and then missed three consecutive check-ins."

Step 4 — Assemble the discharge file

If discharge does proceed, a complete file typically includes:

• The signed program agreement they agreed to at intake (Documents/e-signature).
• The incident history leading up to this point (Incident Reports).
• The alternative offered in Step 2 and how they responded.
• Written discharge notice, with proof it was actually delivered (not just drafted).
• A final financial statement (Billing).
• Dated photos of room/property condition at move-out.
• Your program's property-retention plan for anything left behind — check your own state's specific requirement here; some states set a minimum (Minnesota, for example, requires at least 60 days), and this is exactly the kind of detail worth checking in the Compliance Reference or with your own legal counsel rather than assuming.

A quick language check

Before you finalize anything, reread it and ask: could someone unfamiliar with this resident understand exactly what happened, when, and how the program responded — using only what's written, with no inference required? If a sentence describes a feeling or a character judgment rather than an observed action, it's worth rewriting.