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Award Nominations Closing in Days
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Nominations are closing soon for the Justice Center's annual Code of Conduct Awards. The honor is given to four people who embody the ethical standards outlined in the Justice Center's Code of Conduct for Custodians of People with Special Needs. The Code provides a framework intended to assist staff to help people with special needs "live self-directed meaningful lives in their communities, free from abuse and neglect, and protected from harm." Anyone who signs the Code is eligible to be nominated. The deadline for nominations is Friday, July 9. Winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony in September.
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New Professional Boundaries
Training Now Available
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Establishing professional boundaries while working with people in care has proven to be difficult. Each year, the Justice Center investigates a high volume of cases that involve accusations of staff crossing this line. In response, the Justice Center has just developed a professional boundaries training video. The training is targeted toward provider agencies training staff on how to navigate these boundaries with an emphasis on reducing incidents of abuse and neglect and improving the quality of care. The interactive training includes:
- Defining professional boundaries and explaining how boundaries impact the provision of care.
- Explaining three types of professional boundaries - physical, interpersonal and psychological – as they relate to specific case scenarios at provider agencies serving vulnerable people.
- Explaining a concept called the "zone of helpfulness" that exists along a continuum of professional behavior.
- Discussing the importance of staff self-awareness and self-help to maintain effective professional boundaries in the workplace.
- Providing an overview of abuse prevention resources available on the Justice Center website.
This new, interactive training is available exclusively on the Justice Center website. While there, don't forget to visit the training section to find other helpful resources.
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Registration Open for New Online Training
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The Justice Center is offering a new, annual series of online training webinars for state and provider agency investigators. Topics this year will include the new Investigation Strategy Memo just issued by the agency as well as an overview of sepsis to help investigators learn best practices for investigating allegations involving people who develop this condition. Registration is already open and slots are limited!
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Volunteer to Help People
With Special Needs
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The Surrogate Decision-Making Committee (SDMC) is looking for volunteers to play an important role in the lives of people with disabilities. The Committee is an alternative to the court system for individuals who lack capacity to provide informed consent, do not have someone legally authorized to make medical decisions for them, and are in need of non-emergency major medical procedures of end of life decisions.
The following volunteers are needed:
- NYS Licensed Health Care Professional
- Attorney admitted to practice in NYS
- Family member of or person with mental disabilities or a former patient
- Advocate for persons with disabilities
The SDMC relies on panels of volunteers who have completed the Justice Center's online training program. They review requests for treatment and render a determination at an informal hearing. The volunteers are indemnified by New York State and reimbursed for travel expenses for hearing participation. To comply with COVID-19 precautions, SDMC hearings are currently being held virtually.
- The time commitment is entirely up to the volunteer.
- Hearings range in length from 20 minutes to an hour.
- Online training qualifies volunteers to serve on SDMC major medical decision panels. Additional trainings for service on end of life panels is offered throughout the year, with CLE credit available for attorneys.
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Take the Citizen Public
Health Training Program
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New York State, in partnership with Cornell University, has developed an innovative, free online course called the NYS Citizen Public Health Training Program. The four-part online training program will help build community-led initiatives and support surrounding prevention, detection, and response in the event of public health emergencies. With two hours of content per week, each module will build up your core knowledge, skills, and abilities, along with specific “calls to action” to help you translate learning into action within your community and network. Each module will also have one or more live (and recorded) conversations with experts to share up-to-date information and to answer key questions.
The goal of this program is to have at least one citizen public health leader in every neighborhood and community. Leaders will understand the state of health in NY and the factors that influence health. They will have foundational knowledge related to key public health issues and skills to connect and communicate with peers, allies, and key social resources. As a citizen public health leader, you will be able to take an active role in helping your community prevent and rebuild from the effects of COVID-19. Over the longer term, you’ll be a part of an informed network that can be mobilized to share information and plan for prevention, detection, and response in the event of public health emergencies.
Registration is free and available to any New York State resident.
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