Overview
- HHS halted childcare payments to Minnesota pending verification, with Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill announcing the freeze and tighter oversight.
- States must now submit documentation such as justifications, receipts or photographic proof before federal childcare funds are released, according to HHS statements.
- The FBI and DHS have deployed personnel and carried out enforcement actions in Minnesota as part of expanded probes into alleged large-scale fraud schemes.
- A federal prosecutor has asserted that half or more of roughly $18 billion provided since 2018 may have been stolen across 14 programs, with prosecutors reporting that 82 of 92 defendants are Somali Americans.
- Policy experts warn that extended withholding of funds could disrupt childcare for thousands of low-income families and hinder parents’ ability to work.