Overview
- HHS froze child care payments to Minnesota and imposed broader Administration for Children and Families documentation rules requiring justification, receipts or photo evidence for disbursements.
- Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families said compliance checks at nine centers featured in the viral video found operations as expected, with children at eight sites and one not yet open; four cases remain under review and the nine centers received $17.4 million in FY2025.
- The White House praised Nick Shirley’s video and described a whole-of-government response as federal law enforcement surged resources, while the Small Business Administration suspended nearly 7,000 Minnesota borrowers over suspected COVID-relief loan fraud.
- Federal and state probes predate the video, including the Feeding Our Future case with 78 people charged, and reports indicate several centers in the video had served as meal sites for that nonprofit though they have not been charged.
- Providers and families in the Somali American community report threats, harassment and at least one break-in targeting a center, and state officials warned that unvetted claims can jeopardize safety and hinder investigations.