About this course
This course trains Direct Support Professionals and respite staff working in New York OPWDD-certified and OPWDD-funded settings on the state's protective laws and on their personal duties under the Protection of People with Special Needs Act. Learners meet the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs and the laws that created it, including Executive Law Article 20 and Social Services Law Article 11, sections 488 through 493. They learn who counts as a custodian and a mandated reporter, how to recognize the reportable categories of abuse and neglect, including physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, deliberate inappropriate use of restraints, aversive conditioning, obstruction of reports, unlawful use or administration of a controlled substance, and neglect, and what a significant incident is. The course explains the duty to call the Vulnerable Persons' Central Register at 1-855-373-2122 immediately upon discovery, the Code of Conduct for Custodians, the Staff Exclusion List, and the protections that shield good-faith reporters from retaliation. Learners also practice recognizing physical, behavioral, environmental, and non-verbal signs of harm in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, maintaining healthy boundaries, safeguarding personal allowance, and taking protective action after a disclosure. Jonathan's Law, 14 NYCRR Part 624, and the relationship between agency policy and the law round out the content. Completing this course satisfies the annually repeated abuse-prevention training topic in 14 NYCRR 633.8.