Day Care Fraud Probes Are Popping Up in More States Following Minnesota Revelations

Minnesota’s day care fraud scandal may just be the tip of the iceberg.

With YouTuber Nick Shirley’s investigation garnering national attention, investigative journalists and public officials in other states are now sounding the alarm, noting similar schemes could be playing out in their respective states.

On Wednesday, The Center Square did its own investigation in Washington state, visiting several taxpayer-subsidized “day cares” there.

Their journalists visited Brightstar Early Learning, which took $141,686 in taxpayer subsidies for the latter half of 2025. A woman on the scene refused to discuss whether child care is provided at the site.

“I don’t have to answer,” she responded, as she pulled out a smartphone and began recording, demanding to know, “Where do you come from?”

Another facility, Eyow Childcare Inc., received $158,931 in taxpayer subsidies for July through November 2025.

The Center Square visited the address listed for Eyow multiple times. It was apparently run out of a home. The homeowner called police the second time journalists came by, but was told they had a right to be on the sidewalk.

Many, if not most, of the allegedly fraudulent day care facilities in Minnesota have been linked to the state’s large Somali community.

The Center Square found a similar pattern in the city of Federal Way, Washington.

The outlet reported that out of 25 home-based day care providers listed within a one-mile radius in Federal Way on the Child Care Aware of Washington site, “12 of them are identified as Somali and accept multiple state subsidies.”

The Center Square filmed one exchange with a Somali woman, and the dialogue sounded identical to Shirley’s experience. The supposed worker was hostile and suspicious of why someone was asking basic questions about her business.

“You have a day care. Where are all the children?” journalist Jonathan Choe asked.

“I don’t have to tell you what I have, what I don’t have,” the masked woman responded. “I’m not proving anything for you.”

Another Center Square report indicated that Ohio may have a similar situation on its hands.

The outlet reported Wednesday that Republican Rep. Josh Williams is calling for an investigation in his state.

In a letter signed by 42 other lawmakers, Williams asked the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to make unannounced visits and audit attendance records of child care facilities that receive public funding.

Williams cited “widespread public reports alleging that certain child care facilities participating in publicly funded child care programs are fraudulently billing the state of Ohio for children who are not actually in attendance.”

“These allegations raise serious concerns regarding program integrity, the responsible use of taxpayer dollars, and the overall credibility of Ohio’s publicly funded childcare system,” his letter said.

“Unannounced inspections are an essential tool to identify violations, deter fraudulent practices, and reinforce confidence in the oversight of publicly funded programs.”

Williams said he wants any facility where fraud has likely occurred or false reporting is found to stop receiving funding.

California has had its of similar cases of fraud

In 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California charged four people, including a husband and wife, in a multimillion-dollar child care fraud scheme in which they were accused of using the San Diego-area UMI Learning Center to falsely report classes and employment to steal child care benefits.

The four defendants pleaded guilty and in 2024 were sentenced to jail time of up to 27 months and ordered to pay restitution ranging from $101,153 to $3.7 million, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

This could prove to be a national problem, but it has received scant attention from mainstream outlets.

It took Shirley’s work to expose the problems in Minnesota.

CNN was on the scene, but only to try to discredit him, rather than investigate the scheme.

It cannot be overlooked that this is happening in places with Democratic Party leadership.

Was incompetence to blame for letting this money go to apparently unworthy causes, or was this part of a grand plan that funnels money to Democratic campaigns and into their pockets?

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