About this course
This course trains Direct Support Professionals and respite staff working in New York settings certified or funded by the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) on the rights and responsibilities of the people they support, and on the confidentiality duties that protect those people's records and personal information. Learners work through the rights enumerated in 14 NYCRR 633.4, including dignity and respect, a safe and sanitary environment, freedom from abuse, corporal punishment, unnecessary restraint and excessive medication, privacy, personal money and possessions, communication with visitors, religious freedom, participation in planning, and the right to object without fear of reprisal. The course explains the principle that rights are never limited for staff convenience or as punishment, when a limitation requires individualized documentation and due process, and how the objection process in 633.12 works at a general level. It introduces the OPWDD and Self-Advocates of New York State (SANYS) Rights, Responsibilities and Advocacy booklet as a plain-language companion, the responsibilities OPWDD asks people receiving services to take on, supported decision-making, dignity of risk, and the role of guardians and consent under 633.11. Confidentiality is grounded in Mental Hygiene Law 33.13 and the HIPAA Privacy Rule, with practical guidance on minimum necessary sharing, social media, texting, incidental disclosures, respite and community settings, and reporting a possible breach. Realistic New York scenarios show how rights and confidentiality look on an ordinary shift.