Health, Safety & Prevention

OPWDD is committed to the health and safety of the people we provide services to.  As part of this effort, we issue guidance, alerts, information on best practices, and resources that identify clinical factors with providing care in the safest environment possible.  

To stay up to date on Safety Alerts, please visit our Safety Alerts page. 

Mortality Review

A mortality review is a strategic process for implementing health and safety initiatives, effecting prevention activities, informing changes in policies and procedures, monitoring performance and outcomes, reducing the occurrence of potentially preventable events, and engaging stakeholders in and increasing transparency of quality assurance processes. OPWDD, in partnership with the University of Massachusetts Center for Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Research, established a mortality review process to gain an understanding of current health problems, identify patterns of risk, and show trends in specific causes of death.  

Our morality review process has a structure composed of six local mortality review committees and one central mortality review committee. These committees are comprised of members with varied clinical, quality assurance, and program operations expertise, and are facilitated by appointed chairpersons. 

NYS Justice Center Abuse Prevention Resource Center

The Justice Center’s abuse prevention efforts are critical to advancing its mission to support and protect the health, safety and dignity of all people with special needs and disabilities. The Abuse Prevention Resource Center strives to be a source for up-to-date information, useful guidance and effective tools.

Statewide Committee on Incident Review (SCIR)

The mission of OPWDD’s Statewide Committee on Incident Review (SCIR) is to prevent harm to, and abuse of, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through efforts to reduce and prevent incidents involving individuals receiving services in OPWDD’s system. Toward this purpose, the SCIR Committee’s primary responsibility includes developing recommendations for OPWDD regulations and policy on incident management. The SCIR Committee also develops information on best practices in safeguarding through trend analysis and research and disseminates this information to providers of services in the OPWDD system.  

Members of the Statewide Incident Review Committee (SCIR) are appointed by OPWDD leadership. They include individuals who perform a variety of functions in OPWDD, at both Central Office and Regional Offices. Membership also includes representation from not-for-profit providers statewide and provider associations. The Chair of the SCIR Committee is the Director of OPWDD’s Incident Management Unit.  

To contact SCIR, please send an email to [email protected].