Fraud is defined as an intentional misrepresentation of information to gain an unfair advantage over an individual or system. Examples of fraud with the Aspire Registry include, but are not limited to:
a) Training certificate and credential manipulation
b) Transcript distortion
c) Eligibility deception
Detecting Fraud
The Aspire Registry has mechanisms to aid in detecting fraudulent college transcripts, training certificates, credentials earned, and any report of experience working in a licensed child care facility and/or positions held while in a facility that might be needed to meet given criteria.
a) Registry staff is regularly updated on the training format, transcripts and credential documents, timelines for issue/expiration dates of credentials, fonts used, and sponsors of training certificates, transcripts, and/or credentials submitted by participants.
b) Participants enter place of employment, position held and length of time worked in a licensed facility. Employment dates and positions held are “verified” by facility administration.
c) Registry staff maintains a working relationship with child care licensing personnel, training sponsor organizations, professional associations, our state’s scholarship program and credentialing organizations as a source of verification.
Participants may unknowingly, and therefore unintentionally, misrepresent degrees earned when submitting transcripts from “diploma mills”. The Aspire Registry considers transcripts and degrees earned through “diploma mills” to be fraudulent information from the company providing the degree. Participants will be notified that the education and training submitted does not meet the criteria outlined in the Initial Review Process and will not be processed within our program.
Reporting Fraud
The Aspire Registry staff is obligated to report any suspicion of fraudulent practices within the system. If a member is suspected of fraud, they will be issued a letter requesting one of the following:
- an original copy of the submitted document
- verification of attendance or compliance from the sponsoring organization
- an explanation as to how they obtained the document they submitted
The participant will have 2 weeks from the date of the letter to submit any of the requested information. If fraud is detected, Registry staff contacts Child Care Licensing Offices and other stakeholders.