How to Complete OPWDD Form 163: Incident Report for Abuse or Neglect

OPWDD Form 163 is New York’s standard documentation that an OPWDD-certified or operated agency notified a service recipient’s personal representative — a parent, guardian, spouse, adult child, or adult sibling — about an allegation of abuse or neglect. Its full title is “Reportable Abuse/Neglect Personal Representative Notification Documentation.” The form does not replace the incident report itself; it records that the required family notification call was made and what was said. You complete it after entering the incident into OPWDD’s Incident Report and Management Application (IRMA) and after calling the Justice Center’s Vulnerable Persons Central Register.

What You Need to Complete Form 163

The form is available through the OPWDD website, and some provider agencies also distribute it through their own internal portals. To fill it out accurately, gather the following before you sit down with it:

The service recipient’s full name and TABS identification number, which is the unique identifier OPWDD uses across its system. If the person is not yet registered, the TABS field can be left blank.
The date, time, and location of the incident, plus the classification you selected when entering it into IRMA. Use the same category on both documents.
The name and relationship of the personal representative you contacted, the date and time of each call or attempted call, and the name and position of the staff member who placed the call.
A summary of what was communicated during the call, including whether a follow-up meeting was offered or requested.
A factual, objective description of the event. Stick to observed behavior and physical evidence; speculation and emotional characterization do not belong on this form.
The immediate protective actions staff took to ensure the person’s safety and medical stability, including any medical professionals consulted and any treatment provided.

Accuracy matters because the completed form becomes part of the permanent investigative record. The Justice Center, OPWDD investigators, and (for residents of OPWDD-licensed residential settings) the Mental Hygiene Legal Service may all review it.¹

Who Gets the Call

Under 14 NYCRR 624.6, the agency must give telephone notice to one of the following: the individual’s guardian, parent, spouse, adult child, or adult sibling.² A few exceptions change who ends up on the other end of the line:

Do not notify a guardian, parent, spouse, or sibling who is the alleged abuser.
If the service recipient is a capable adult who objects to the notification, give the notice directly to that person instead.
If no qualifying family member exists or is reasonably available, notify the person’s advocate or correspondent.

Record on the form exactly which category of representative was contacted and why, especially if an exception applied.

When the Call Must Happen

The call must happen as soon as reasonably possible and no later than 24 hours after the agency enters the initial incident information into IRMA.² If the first attempt does not reach the representative, document each attempt — the date, the time, and the outcome — on Form 163.

The notification does not have to happen in one call. If the first conversation covers the basic description of the event within the required window, follow-up calls carrying the remaining required information can come within a reasonable period after that. Notice can also be given in person rather than by phone, or by another method if the receiving party requests it.³ Whatever method you use, document it.

What the Call Must Cover

The notification itself has three required components, and the form asks you to confirm each one:

A description of the event and the initial actions the agency took to address it.
An offer to meet with the chief executive officer or designee to discuss the incident further.
For abuse and neglect allegations, an offer to provide information on the status and findings of the report as the investigation develops.

Note on the form what was offered, what the representative accepted or declined, and any follow-up contact that was scheduled.

Where Form 163 Fits in the Reporting Process

Form 163 is one piece of a larger sequence, and it helps to know what sits on either side of it so you do not confuse the notification record with the incident report itself.

Before Form 163, two phone calls happen. All reportable incidents and serious notable occurrences must be reported immediately to OPWDD’s Incident Management Unit at 518-473-7032.⁴ When the incident involves an allegation of abuse or neglect, a separate immediate call goes to the Justice Center’s Vulnerable Persons Central Register at 1-855-373-2122, which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.⁵ Mandated reporters do not need to wait for confirmation before calling; reasonable cause to suspect is the threshold, not certainty.

When the VPCR call is made, initial information is automatically populated in IRMA. The agency must review that auto-entered data within 24 hours of occurrence or discovery (or by close of the next working day, whichever is later) and fix anything missing or inaccurate. For serious notable occurrences that were not reported to the VPCR, the agency itself enters the initial information into IRMA within the same window.⁶ Each incident entered into IRMA receives a Master Incident Number (MIN); if the event involves more than one service recipient, the same MIN appears on each individual report.⁷

The incident report itself lives in IRMA and on Form OPWDD 147. Form 163 sits alongside those: it is the agency’s proof that the family was told what happened and when.⁸ Keep the classification and incident details on Form 163 consistent with what you entered in IRMA and recorded on Form 147.

One naming note. Some older documents refer to the IRMA system as “IRMIS.” The current name is IRMA, and that is what current forms and instructions use.⁴

How Long to Keep the Completed Form

Agencies must retain all records related to incidents and occurrences, including Form 163, for at least seven years from the date the incident is closed. Retained records include evidence and materials obtained during the investigation, copies of every document generated under Part 624, and documentation showing compliance with every reporting and notification requirement. If an audit or any litigation involving the incident is pending, the agency holds the records for the duration of that proceeding regardless of the seven-year minimum.⁹

1
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 14 CRR-NY 524.2 – Legal Base
2
Legal Information Institute. 14 NYCRR 624.6 – Notifications
3
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 14 CRR-NY 624.6 – Notifications
4
Office for People With Developmental Disabilities. Incident Management
5
Justice Center for the Protection of People With Special Needs. Report Abuse or Neglect
6
Legal Information Institute. 14 NYCRR 624.5 – Reporting, Recording, and Investigation
7
Office for People With Developmental Disabilities. Instructions for Completing Form OPWDD 147
8
Office for People With Developmental Disabilities. Incidents
9
Office for People With Developmental Disabilities. Part 624 and Part 625 Handbook