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Fraud and Privacy Policy

Fraud Policy

Fraud

Fraud is defined as an intentional misrepresentation of information to gain an unfair advantage over an individual or system. Examples of fraud with the Oklahoma Professional Development Registry (OPDR) system include, but not limited to:

  • Training certificate and credential manipulation
  • Transcript distortion
  • Eligibility deception

Participants may unknowingly, and therefore unintentionally, misrepresent degrees earned when submitting transcripts or grade reports from “diploma mills.”  The OPDR 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.

Detecting Fraud

The Oklahoma Professional Development Registry (OPDR) has mechanisms in place 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 criteria.

College level coursework and any degrees earned must be submitted on an official transcript without handwritten information on the transcript.

  • Registry staff is regularly updated on the format of training and credential documents, timelines for issue/expiration dates of credentials, fonts used and sponsors of training certificates and/or credentials submitted by participants
  • Registry approved training organizations will record a participant’s attendance and completion of  a training event directly into our system which lists the training and completion date onto the participant’s training record (instead of requiring a photocopied training certificate of completion)
  • Participants enter their place of employment, position held, and amount of time worked in a licensed facility into one database that is used by several programs. Employment dates and positions held are “verified” and documented annually by the facility administration.
  • Registry staff maintain a working relationship with child care licensing personnel, approved training sponsors and credentialing organizations as a source of verification

Reporting Fraud

The OPDR staff are obligated to report any suspicion of fraudulent practices within the system. The suspicion of fraud should be documented and kept in the participant’s file and immediately brought to the attention of the Project Director.

 OPDR staff researches the suspected fraudulent information with training sponsors, credentialing organizations and child care licensing personnel to determine if the information/document is indeed fraudulent

  • If fraud is still suspected and no verification from other sources can verify the document, staff makes detailed notes of the findings in the participant’s online account
  • Participant is issued a letter requesting either the original document of the photocopied one submitted, verification of attendance or compliance from the sponsoring organization or an explanation as to how they obtained the document they submitted
  • Participant has two weeks from the date of the letter to submit the requested information
  • If the requested information is submitted and found that fraud was not committed, OPDR staff will continue processing the application and no additional action is taken
  • If the requested information is submitted and we cannot confirm or deny that fraud was committed, the OPDR informs the participant (via email) of the finding, but as a consequence for submitting questionable information, the participant will only be able to use OPDR Approved trainings to meet Oklahoma Director’s Credential (ODC) or Professional Development Ladder (PDL) criteria for as long as they participate in the OPDR
  • If the requested information is not submitted within the allowed timeline or if alternate documentation is submitted in place of what was requested, we proceed with corrective action for the unverified and unexplained document/information

       

Corrective Action

If the requested information is submitted within the allowed timeline and we are unable to confirm or deny that fraud was committed, the OPDR informs the participant (via email) of the finding, but as a consequence for submitting questionable information, the participant will only be able to use OPDR Approved trainings to meet Oklahoma Director’s Credential (ODC) or Professional Development Ladder (PDL) criteria for as long as they participate in the OPDR. In addition, the participant will not be eligible to receive a stipend from the Oklahoma Registry Certificate of Achievement Stipend Program and the Oklahoma Child Care Wage Supplement Program for 1 year from the suspension date.

If subsequent suspensions occur, the amount of time the participant is ineligible will be extended. See below.

First time suspension occurs - ineligible for the Oklahoma Registry Certificate of Achievement Stipend Program and the Oklahoma Child Care Wage Supplement Program for 1 year from suspension date.

Second time suspension occurs - ineligible for the Oklahoma Registry Certificate of Achievement Stipend Program and the Oklahoma Child Care Wage Supplement Program for 2 years from suspension date.

Third time suspension occurs - ineligible for the Oklahoma Registry Certificate of Achievement Stipend Program and the Oklahoma Child Care Wage Supplement Program for 5 years from suspension date.

                               

If the participant does not submit the requested documentation/information within the allowed timeline or documents other than any originals of the photocopied documents previously submitted are not sent in, participant is notified by email of suspension from the Registry for a total of 90 days from the suspension date (letter signed and issued by the Oklahoma Registry’s Program Lead). In addition, the participant may only use OPDR approved coursework to meet ODC or PDL criteria for as long as they participate in the OPDR.

  • If the participant has an active ODC or PDL at the time of suspension, the current credential is revoked. The OPDR requests the destruction of the revoked credential.
  • Participants that are suspended from the Registry may also be subject to disciplinary action from The OPDR’s Professional Development Approval System (PDAS). This action can include, but not limited to ineligibility to participate in the training approval process, educator services, or other voluntary programs now or in the future.

In addition, the participant will not be eligible to receive a stipend from the Oklahoma Registry Certificate of Achievement Stipend Program and the Oklahoma Child Care Wage Supplement Program for 1 year from the suspension date.

If subsequent suspensions occur, the amount of time the participant is ineligible will be extended. See below.

First time suspension occurs - ineligible for the Oklahoma Registry Certificate of Achievement Stipend Program and the Oklahoma Child Care Wage Supplement Program for 1 year from suspension date.

Second time suspension occurs - ineligible for the Oklahoma Registry Certificate of Achievement Stipend Program and the Oklahoma Child Care Wage Supplement Program for 2 years from suspension date.

Third time suspension occurs - ineligible for the Oklahoma Registry Certificate of Achievement Stipend Program and the Oklahoma Child Care Wage Supplement Program for 5 years from suspension date.

Documentation

Participants suspended from the Registry will show a status of “Suspended” along with detailed notes as to timelines, requested documentation and any correspondence with the participant.

 OPDR staff contacts CECPD’s Director, PDAS Administration, DHS Professional Development Administration, QRIS Administration and DHS Child Care Licensing Administration via e-mail that includes:

  • The participant’s full name, place of employment, including K8 number of the facility and the position held at the facility
  • The participant’s suspensions dates
  • The participant is only allowed to use OPDR approved coursework to meet ODC or PDL criteria in the future
  • A copy of the suspension letter that was sent to the participant

Privacy Policy

THE OKLAHOMA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REGISTRY PRIVACY POLICY

Terms and Conditions

IMPORTANT – THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU ("You" or  the "Authorized User") AND THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA BY AND THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY OUTREACH/COLLEGE OF CONTINUING EDUCATION’S CENTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (“We” or “CECPD”). BEFORE DOWNLOADING, ACCESSING, OR USING ANY PART OF THE OKLAHOMA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REGISTRY PROGRAM OR ANY CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS WEBSITE (“OPDR”), YOU  SHOULD  READ  CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS THEY GOVERN ACCESS TO, PARTICIPATION IN, AND USE OF OPDR. CECPD IS WILLING TO ALLOW ACCESS TO, PARTICIPATION IN, AND USE OF OPDR ONLY ON THE CONDITION THAT YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAINED HEREIN. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY PART OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU ARE NOT GRANTED PERMISSION TO ACCESS, PARTICIPATE IN, OR OTHERWISE USE THE OPDR.

You, the Authorized User, voluntarily agrees to participate in OPDR. You understand that this program is being administered by CECPD on behalf of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS). In consideration for allowing You to participate in OPDR, You grant CECPD and DHS permission to receive any and all educational information You may provide, including but not limited to certifications, transcripts, diplomas, and training records (“Information”). You expressly consent to CECPD sharing the Information with DHS. Additionally, You expressly consent to CECPD and/or DHS sharing this information with Your employer, its officers, agents, and any other relevant funding agencies. Additionally, You expressly consent to CECPD and/or DHS sharing the Information, in a de-identified format, with other education/certification partners and/or affiliates who participate in OPDR initiatives.You certify that all information provided and/or attached to Your application is true and correct. You do hereby indemnify the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, its employees and agents against any claims whatsoever arising out of or connected with the Information to be released on Your behalf, and/or any subsequent professional placement, or lack thereof. You understand that CECPD will protect the confidentiality of personal information to the extent permitted under state and federal law. If applicable, CECPD will comply with provisions of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (20 USC 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (45 C.F.R. Parts 160, 162 and 164; Public Law 104-191). You certify that the information You provide to CECPD for OPDR is accurate and if falsified can result in Your permanent removal from OPDR. You further recognize that Your continuing membership in OPDR is on a renewal basis. You are responsible for all initial and renewal fees as stated on the application. You will submit all information requested within the application or renewal period. Should further clarification of the submitted documentation be necessary, You will cooperate fully with OPDR staff and submit this requested information within thirty (30) days of the written request.

OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY. We believe the responsible use of information is important for meeting Your needs and providing consistent service quality. The more we understand about You and Your needs, the better service we can provide. This privacy statement explains data collection and use practices of CECPD; it does not apply to offline services. CECPD collects and maintains Personal Identifiable Information (PII) for its members, which is reasonably related to servicing member accounts: the PII we collect and maintain includes name, addresses, telephone number, email address, and last 5 digits of Your social security number, and date of birth (please scroll down to review our Security Protection and Safeguard Procedures in place to protect Your PII).

Our website and email use "cookies" and similar means to collect aggregate statistical information. Aggregate information is demographic information and does not identify any individual member. We may use or disclose aggregate information for any purpose. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on Your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies are uniquely assigned to You, and are designed to be read only by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to You. Cookies are also used to recognize members' preferences, temporarily store session information and past activity at our site in order to provide better service and easier access when members return to our site. If You choose to decline cookies, You may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of this or other websites You visit. CECPD will only use Your e-mail address to contact You about Your account, or for the CECPD’s internal use.

The following types of companies are sometimes permitted to use our members' names and mailing addresses to promote quality goods and services: Department of Children and Families, organizations and individuals sponsoring training events, program administrators, parent information and research surveys. From time to time, CECPD may make arrangements with other persons or entities to provide You with joint products or services. Under these circumstances, where permitted by law, the information shared with such outside persons or entities will be limited to that which is necessary for them to do their job. These persons or entities are required to keep Your information secure and use it only for the permitted purpose authorized by us. Your name will not be released to advertisers. If You prefer not to have Your name and mailing address released or prefer that we not send You e-mail communications about offerings which may be of interest to You, please let us know by writing to: The University of Oklahoma, CECPD, 1801 N. Moore Ave., Moore, OK 73160 or by sending an e-mail to cecpd@ou.edu.

Personally identifiable information collected on this site may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which CECPD or its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries or agents maintain facilities, and by using this site, You consent to any such transfer of information outside of Your country.

We may disclose personal information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary, as required by or permitted by law, to protect and defend the rights or property of CECPD and/or, or to act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of OPDR, its Web sites, or the public. For example, CECPD may share personal information to protect against fraud or to service Your account.

In the case of a merger, sale or reorganization of some or all of our business we do reserve the right to transfer Your PII and other information. By using this site, You consent to the data practices described in this statement.

We may occasionally update these Terms and Conditions. For material changes to these Terms and Conditions, we will notify You either by placing a prominent notice on the home page of our Web site or by directly sending You  a notification. We encourage You to periodically review these Terms  and Conditions to stay informed about how we are protecting the personal information we collect. Your continued use of the service constitutes  Your agreement to these Terms and Conditions and any updates.

This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Oklahoma, without giving force and effect to its choice of law provisions. Any legal action in connection with this agreement shall be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction in the State of Oklahoma, to which jurisdiction and venue Contractor expressly agrees. This policy and all of our legal obligations are subject to the laws of Oklahoma and the USA, regardless of the location of any user. Any claims or complaints must be filed in the USA in the State of Oklahoma. CECPD welcomes Your comments regarding these Terms and Conditions. If You believe that CECPD has not adhered to this Statement, please contact us by email or by postal mail at the addresses listed on our website, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.

INVITATION

CECPD maintains this site (the "Site") for Your personal information, education and communication. You may only download material displayed on the Site for non-commercial, personal use provided You also retain all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices contained in the material. It is  strictly prohibited to modify, transmit, distribute, reuse, re-post, "frame" or use the content of the Site for public or commercial purposes including the text, images, audio and/or video without CECPD’s written permission.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

You can contact CECPD with Your questions and/or comments about the website, Your membership, by writing to: The University of Oklahoma, CECPD, 1801 N. Moore Ave, Moore, OK 73160 or by sending an e-mail to cecpd@ou.edu (please be sure to include Your Identification number and email address to facilitate our response).

TRADEMARKS

The trademarks, logos, and service marks (the "Trademarks") displayed on the Site, unless otherwise specified, are either the registered and unregistered trademarks of CECPD or used under license. Nothing contained in the Site should be construed as granting by implication or otherwise, any license or right to use any Trademark displayed in the Site without the written permission of CECPD, or any third party that may own the Trademarks displayed on the Site. Your misuse of the Trademarks displayed on the Site, or any other content on the Site, is strictly prohibited. You are hereby also advised that CECPD will aggressively enforce its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law, including the seeking of criminal prosecution.

OWNERSHIP

Everything You see or read on the Site is copyrighted unless otherwise noted and may not be used except as provided for in these terms and conditions or in the text of the Site without the express permission of CECPD which neither warrants nor represents that Your use of materials displayed on the Site will not infringe rights of third parties not owned or affiliated with CECPD.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, PRIVACY and PUBLICITY

Images of people or places displayed in this Site are either the property of, or used with permission by CECPD. The use of these images by You, or anyone authorized by You, IS PROHIBITED unless specifically permitted by these terms and conditions or specific permission provided elsewhere on the Site or You secure the necessary permission from the rights holder. Any unauthorized use of the images may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and communications regulations and statutes.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Any communication or material You transmit to the Site by electronic mail or otherwise, including any data, questions, comments, suggestions, or the like is, and will be treated as, non-confidential and non- proprietary. Anything You transmit or post may be used by CECPD or its affiliates for any purpose, including but not limited to, reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast and posting. CECPD is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any communication You send to the Site for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing and marketing products using such information. You are prohibited from posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any law. CECPD reserves the right to remove any content posted at any time at its sole discretion. CECPD will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing CECPD to disclose the identity of anyone posting such information or materials.

SECURITY

We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that meet or exceed industry standards to guard Your nonpublic personal information. We protect Your account information by placing it on the secure portion of our Web site, using firewalls and other security technology to protect our network and systems from external attacks, and requiring You to enter a unique user name and password to access Your account information online. Also, our servers have been enabled with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to prevent unauthorized parties from viewing the nonpublic personal information that You provide or access during a secure session (look for the padlock icon on Your browser). In addition, we employ VeriSign's digital certificate services to authenticate that You are transacting with our Web site.

ACCURACY

While CECPD uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information on the Site, CECPD makes no warranties or representations as to its accuracy nor does CECPD assume any liability or responsibility for any errors in the content of the Site.

DAMAGES and WARRANTIES

Your use of and browsing in the Site are at Your own risk. Neither CECPD, nor any other party involved in creating, producing or delivering the Site is liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect or punitive damages arising out of Your access to or use of the Site. Without limitation, everything on the Site is provided to You "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. Note that some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to You. Check Your local laws for any restrictions or limitations regarding the exclusion of implied warranties.

VIRUS

CECPD also assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable for any damages from viruses that may infect, Your computer equipment or other property on account of Your access to, use of, or browsing in, the Site or Your downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video or audio from the Site.

LINKS

CECPD has not reviewed all of the sites linked to the Site, is not responsible for the content of any off- Site pages or any other sites linked to the Site. Your linking to any other off-Site pages or other sites is at Your own risk and the fact that there  is a link to the OPDR site should not be construed as an endorsement of either the linked Site's content or sponsors.

TRADING WITH ENEMIES

Software from this Site is further subject to United States Export Controls. No software from this Site may be downloaded or exported 1) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria or any other country to which the United States has embargoed goods; or 2) anyone on the United Stated Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using the software, You represent and warrant that You are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.

REVISIONS

CECPD may at any time revise the Terms and Conditions herein by updating this Legal Page. You are bound by any such revisions and should therefore periodically visit this page to review the then-current terms and conditions.

You acknowledge You have carefully read the forgoing authorizations, fully understand the meaning of the waivers contained in these Terms and Conditions, and understand You are entering into a legally binding contract. You affirm that You sign this agreement with the intent to be legally bound thereby and agree to these Terms and Conditions voluntarily. You agree this transaction may be conducted by electronic means and hereby state Your electronic signature shall have the same force and effect as an original signature.