{"id":2527036,"date":"2025-12-30T21:59:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T02:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hhs-freezes-child-care-payments-to-minnesota-over-alleged-fraud\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T22:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T03:02:07","slug":"hhs-freezes-child-care-payments-to-minnesota-over-alleged-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hhs-freezes-child-care-payments-to-minnesota-over-alleged-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"HHS freezes child care payments to Minnesota over alleged fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhhs-freezes-child-care-payments-to-minnesota-over-alleged-fraud%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2527036&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Department of health and Human Services has frozen all federal child care payments to Minnesota amid federal investigations into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-disses-states-again-latest-ruling-will-aid-bidens-steady-flow-of-illegals\/\" title=\"SCOTUS ruling supports Biden&#039;s immigration policies\">widespread fraud allegations<\/a> involving Somali-run <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-newsom-announces-statewide-vaccine-mandate-for-california-healthcare-workers\/\" title=\"Gov. Newsom Announces Statewide Vaccine Mandate For California ...care Workers\">day care centers<\/a> allegedly diverting government funds.HHS announced three actions: requiring receipts or photo evidence for Governance for Children and Families (ACF) payments (nationwide), ordering Gov. Tim Walz to produce a comprehensive audit of the centers (attendance, licenses, complaints, inspections, etc.), and launching a hotline and email to report suspected child care fraud. HHS officials said the frozen funds will be released once states can prove the money is being spent legitimately; ACF provides about $185 million a year for child care in Minnesota, intended to serve roughly 19,000 children. Governor Walz called the move politically motivated and noted his administration has pursued fraud referrals and audits; state officials say prior investigations found no fraud but are reopening inquiries after a viral video by self-reliant journalist Nick shirley raised new concerns.HHS officials have said they cannot yet determine whether the alleged misconduct is isolated or widespread.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">HHS freezes all child care payments to Minnesota over fraud allegations<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2458741\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/health-and-human-services\/\">Department of Health and Human Services<\/a> announced on Tuesday that all child care payments to<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/minnesota\/\"> Minnesota<\/a> have been frozen in response to the widespread <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fraud\/\">fraud allegations<\/a> under federal investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The move taken by HHS concerns Somali-run day care centers that are allegedly benefiting from government payments issued by the Administration for Children and Families. The Trump administration alleges the centers in question are stealing money directly from children.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4375260\/judge-doj-leadership-abrego-garcia-prosecution\/\">Judge suggests DOJ leadership pushed for Kilmar Abrego Garcia prosecution<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4364944\/democrats-split-merits-jan-6-committee-return-spotlight\/\">Democrats split on merits of Jan. 6 committee&#8217;s return to spotlight<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4364907\/disney-10-million-settlement-children-privacy\/\">Disney agrees to pay $10 million for allegedly violating children&#8217;s privacy<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>In a video, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O&rsquo;Neill and ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams said they took three direct actions to combat the alleged child care fraud.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>You have probably read the serious allegations that the state of Minnesota has funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares across Minnesota over the past decade.<\/p>\n<p>Today we have taken three actions&hellip; <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VYbyf3WGop\">pic.twitter.com\/VYbyf3WGop<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Deputy Secretary Jim O&#8217;Neill (@HHS_Jim) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HHS_Jim\/status\/2006136004294664464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>First, the department is now requiring justification and receipt or photo evidence of all ACF payments in Minnesota and the rest of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, HHS demanded Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tim-walz\/\">Tim Walz<\/a> (D-MN) provide a comprehensive audit of the day care centers. O&rsquo;Neill said the audit will include attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations, and inspections.<\/p>\n<p>Thirdly, HHS launched a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/childcare.gov\/\">dedicated hotline and email address<\/a> to report suspected child care fraud.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HHS_Jim\/status\/2006152183863972241\">subsequent post<\/a>, O&rsquo;Neill said the frozen funds will be released &ldquo;when states prove they are being spent legitimately.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Walz suggested HHS&rsquo;s actions were politically motivated.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is Trump&rsquo;s long game. We&rsquo;ve spent years cracking down on fraudsters,&rdquo; he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GovTimWalz\/status\/2006159722940879183\">wrote on X<\/a>. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a serious issue &mdash; but this has been his plan all along. He&rsquo;s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic governor <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Tim_Walz\/status\/2006109443893674228\">maintains<\/a> his administration has taken steps to crack down on fraud by referring cases to law enforcement and shutting down or auditing certain programs. Despite his efforts, he has faced intense criticism from Minnesota Republicans and the Trump administration on the fraud issue since late November.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota&rsquo;s day care system recently came under scrutiny following a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=r8AulCA1aOQ\">viral video<\/a> that shed light on the state&rsquo;s fraud scandal. O&rsquo;Neill credited independent journalist Nick Shirley for making the video.<\/p>\n<p>Adams said his office provides Minnesota with $185 million in child care funds annually, estimating that 19,000 American children are meant to benefit from that amount of money.<\/p>\n<p>After speaking with the director of Minnesota Child Care Services, Adams said he was not told with &ldquo;confidence whether those allegations of fraud are isolated or whether there&rsquo;s fraud stretching statewide.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/4364532\/minnesota-previous-investigations-child-day-care-centers-no-findings-fraud\/\">MINNESOTA OFFICIALS REVEAL PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS INTO CHILD DAY CARE CENTERS UNCOVERED NO &lsquo;FINDINGS OF FRAUD&rsquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Commissioner Tikki Brown of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families revealed that while no fraud has been found at <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >child day care centers<\/a> in the state so far, her office is investigating the centers again in response to Shirley&rsquo;s video.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;While we have questions about some of the methods that were used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously,&rdquo; Brown said on Monday. &ldquo;Each of the facilities mentioned in the video has been visited at least once in the last six months as part of our typical licensing process, and in fact, our staff are out in the community today to visit each of these sites again so that we can look into the concerns that were raised in the video.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HHS halts MN childcare payments amid fraud probe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":2527037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25364858485345.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[44036,36513,6909,8235,5698],"class_list":["post-2527036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-child-care","tag-federal-funding","tag-fraud","tag-hhs","tag-minnesota"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25364858485345.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2527036"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2527040,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527036\/revisions\/2527040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2527037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2527036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2527036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2527036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}