Franchisees don’t pay royalties for a logo. They pay for systems, streamlined workflows, competitive pricing from their vendors, and proven processes that protect their business from failures they can’t predict.
Background screening is one of those systems. In senior care, it’s a critical component; When it fails, your franchisee and your brand lose their reputation, and potentially face lawsuits while the brand takes the damage across every market.
The value proposition of franchising falls apart when the systems from the franchisor expose them to major liability.
In the past year alone, three caregiver fraud cases involving senior care agencies, two from Visiting Angels franchises, resulted in $82,000 stolen from elderly victims.
Each case exposes a different screening failure. And each one proves that “we run background checks” isn’t a system—it’s a checkbox that leaves franchisees exposed.
Case 1: Suwanee, Georgia – When “Passed a Background Check” Isn’t Enough (April 2025)
Briauna Powell, 24, worked for Visiting Angels in the Atlanta metro area. She used elderly clients’ credit cards and bank accounts to buy a $16,000 car, pay rent three times, fund a $1,700 Lowe’s shopping spree, and cover her personal ADT security bill. Total damage: approximately $25,000 across at least three elderly victims in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties.
Police discovered the fraud only after a victim’s power of attorney noticed unusual activity. By then, Powell had moved between multiple victims. She now faces nearly two dozen charges, including identity theft, fraud, and elder exploitation.
The franchise owner’s statement to local news: “She passed a thorough background check with no issues.”
Your franchisee followed policy, ran the check, hired the caregiver, and still ended up with fraud headlines across metro Atlanta. Because the background check answered “Does she have a criminal record?” but couldn’t answer “how do we actively monitor the caregivers we are putting into client’s homes?”
Case 2: Carmel, Indiana – When Four Years Isn’t Enough to Catch the Pattern (2020-2025)
Adula Valdivia, 49, worked for Visiting Angels for four years caring for an 87-year-old woman. She created a shell company (Reinigen LLC) and paid herself roughly $6,000 from the victim’s bank accounts. Neighbors noticed Valdivia wasn’t showing up and actively discouraged them from checking on the elderly woman. The victim’s niece eventually noticed unusual credit card debt.
Total estimated theft: approximately $29,000. Valdivia faces 19 criminal counts including theft and fraud.
This case exposes the ongoing monitoring gap. A background check at hire catches history. But what system flags when a caregiver stops showing up for shifts while getting paid or unusual financial activity starts appearing on a client’s accounts?
Case 3: Massachusetts – When Five Facilities Miss the Same Credential Fraud (2024-2025)
Regina Henaku, 33, used stolen credentials from a relative and former co-worker to gain employment at five different senior care facilities between August and November 2024. She worked at a long-term care facility in Framingham, a senior living community in Bedford, and assisted living facilities in Hudson and Leominster—staying a few weeks at each location before moving on.
She stole bank cards from 16 elderly victims and drained approximately $28,000 from 11 accounts. When police investigated, she used another stolen identity to mislead them.
In October 2025, she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years, permanently barred from healthcare work.
Five separate organizations with five separate hiring processes all failed to verify that the credentials on her application belonged to the person in the interview chair. Basic primary source verification, a license verification process, would have ended her application at the first facility.
Why This Is a Franchisor Problem, Not a Franchisee Problem
When the Visiting Angels franchise owner said Briauna Powell “passed a thorough background check with no issues,” she was defending her franchisee’s compliance with company policy. But to the families who trusted that franchise with their elderly parents, that statement translates to: “Your system failed to protect us.”
This is the gap franchisors must close. Franchisees pay royalties because they need systems they can’t build alone:
- Vetted vendor relationships with screening partners who understand senior care compliance.
- State-specific compliance protocols that specify exactly what checks are required in each state.
- Credential verification standards that require primary source verification from licensing boards.
- Ongoing monitoring systems that flag arrests, credential suspensions, and financial red flags.
- Reference check protocols with documented verification.
When these systems aren’t handled at the franchisor level, your franchisees are operating without the protection they paid for. And when fraud happens, it’s not just their failure—it’s yours.
What Senior Care Franchisors Must Provide
Top-performing franchise systems give their franchisees clear screening infrastructure:
A vetted screening partner relationship. Franchisees should have access to competitive rates from franchisors who evaluate multiple vendors and negotiate the best rate possible.
Three cases. $82,000 stolen. Twenty elderly victims. Two Visiting Angels franchises now explaining to every prospect family how someone who “passed a thorough background check” stole tens of thousands of dollars.
The cost to franchisors happens when prospects research your brand and find these headlines.
compliance with a checkbox, but protection of vulnerable clients and the franchisee’s business.
Because when your franchisee faces a lawsuit and the attorney asks, “Did the franchisor provide adequate screening systems?” the answer should be uniform across all franchisee operations.
About Sure Check
Sure Check provides FCRA-compliant background screening built specifically for senior care franchises. For franchisors: We provide pre-negotiated vendor relationships, FDD-ready compliance documentation, and franchisee training on screening protocols. Your franchisees get the system they’re paying royalties for.