Excerpts
The Trump administration has said it is freezing child care funds to all states until they provide more verification about the programs in a move fueled by a series of alleged fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents.
All 50 states will be impacted by the review, but the Republican administration is focusing most of its ire on the blue state of Minnesota and is calling for an audit of some of its centers.
Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement Wednesday that he was “exploring all our legal options to ensure that critical childcare services do not get abruptly slashed based on pretext and grandstanding.”
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More verification needed for all states to get child care funds
All 50 states will have to provide additional levels of verification and administrative data before they receive more funding from the Child Care and Development Fund, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson. However, Minnesota will have to provide even more verification for child care centers that are suspected of fraud, such as attendance and licensing records, past enforcement actions and inspection reports.
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Minnesota child care centers are alarmed
Maria Snider, director of the Rainbow Child Development Center and vice president of advocacy group Minnesota Child Care Association, said fear is rising among both families — many of which are living paycheck to paycheck — and child care centers that rely on the federal funding. Without child care system tuition, centers may have to lay off teachers and shut down classrooms, she said.
The Administration for Children and Families provides $185 million in child care funds annually to Minnesota, according to Assistant Secretary Alex Adams.
In Minnesota, the application process for the funding is complex and multilayered, Snider said. Her own child care center has been subjected to random audits, she said, and all centers are required to submit to licensing visits by officials.
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