The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently informed New York City child care centers that, effective July 1, 2024, they would no longer be required to enter staffing information into the Aspire Registry, New York State’s early childhood workforce registry.
The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute is the implementing agency for the Aspire Registry, and has proudly led its growth and expansion over the past 12 years. Despite this change, we strongly encourage early childhood educators as a best practice to maintain their Aspire Registry profiles.
For more than a decade, the Aspire Registry has helped New Yorkers ensure they have an early childhood workforce they can trust. Child care programs licensed by DOHMH have been using the Aspire Registry since 2017 to record and track staff members’ education, employment history, ongoing professional development and compliance with required training — with more than 21,000 early childhood educators in DOHMH-licensed programs maintaining Aspire Registry profiles.
The Aspire Registry verifies educator credentials.
Using the Aspire Registry, program directors are able to generate comprehensive reports containing verified employee records to share with licensors during compliance visits. The Aspire Registry’s highly trained team has rigorous processes for verifying and ensuring the authenticity of documents, including lifesaving health and safety training, high school diplomas, GEDs, college transcripts, and training certificates. Because of New York’s diverse workforce — with many educators and center directors holding out-of-state or international credentials and degrees — the Aspire Registry has also worked with stakeholders to develop clear processes for determining the legitimacy and validity of documents from around the country and the world.
Aspire’s credential verification process has not changed. Without this expertise, programs risk inadvertently accepting fraudulent certificates or credentials. The Aspire Registry will remain a resource to program leaders and education directors as they review teaching staff qualifications. In fact, a 2024 report by the NYS Governor’s Child Care Availability Task Force recommended that educators in all licensed programs enroll in the Aspire Registry in part because it “reduces the administrative burden on programs and educators” by collecting and verifying data.
The Aspire Registry provides crucial information about the early childhood workforce.
Early childhood workforce registries provide critical information about educators in the early care and learning profession. As a 2020 report from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment puts it: “Without data, the needs of early educators are often invisible to policymakers and the wider public.” The Aspire Registry — which “offers the best source of data about the early childhood workforce across the state,” according to a 2021 Raising New York report — is a key component of statewide efforts to support early childhood educators. More than 70% of licensed early childhood center-based programs are now active in Aspire. The state’s own proposed Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) plan for 2025-27 highlights the Aspire Registry’s contribution to robust data around the early childhood workforce, including demographic information, location, education, and compensation.
The Aspire Registry advances the quality of professional development for early childhood educators.
Educators can use the Aspire Registry’s Professional Development Finder to access thousands of trusted, high-quality learning events and maintain accurate, validated records of their professional development. The Aspire Registry’s quality assurance review of professional development aims to verify and recognize quality training opportunities provided by more than 2,225 registered trainers across the state. Aspire Registry content reviewers ensure that professional development content adheres to best practice guidelines, including the New York State Early Learning Guidelines, the New York State Core Body of Knowledge for Early Childhood Educators, the Division for Early Childhood Recommended Practices, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Practice. Trainers in the Aspire Registry directory must be in good standing with licensing agencies and early childhood organizations; Quality Assured training distinguishes higher-level professional development sessions facilitated by trainers who meet high standards based on their education and qualifications.
The Aspire Registry empowers early education professionals to guide their own professional growth.
The Aspire Registry’s career ladder, which takes into account New York’s various child care modalities and staff roles, allows professionals to plan and track their achievements and goals. Educators can safely store important documents in their online profile, verified by experienced registry specialists, and showcase their academic and professional milestones all in one place — even if they change roles or locations. The Registry’s new mobile app allows educators to access their profiles on the go and upload documents directly from their mobile device.
The Aspire Registry’s dedication to supporting New York’s early learning community remains as strong as ever. We encourage educators in all licensed programs and settings to take advantage of the benefits the Aspire Registry offers.
