Minnesota child care centers accused of wrongdoing were operating as expected, report says
Minnesota child care centers at the center of allegations of widespread fraud sparked by a viral video were operating as expected when visited by inspectors, the state Department of Children, Youth and Families said Friday.
“Children were present in all but one area, which was not yet open to families on the day investigators arrived,” the agency said.
The report stated that the agency was collecting evidence and launching further investigations, stating that the investigation into the four centers was continuing.
The report comes days later YouTube content creator Nick ShirleyTrump, who has made anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim videos in the past, released a viral video in which he claimed to have found widespread fraud in Somali-run child care centers.
videoThe video, which contains limited evidence for the creator’s claims, had 3 million views on YouTube as of Friday and gained traction after it was reshared by Vice President J.D. Vance and former Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk.
The conservative activist’s 42-minute video, released the day after Christmas, quickly spread and sparked action. stepped up immigration enforcement, frozen federal funds and more biting discourse President Donald Trump against the Somali community.
The state Department of Children, Youth and Families warned in a statement Friday that “unvetted or deceptive claims and misuse of tip lines can interfere with investigations, create safety risks for families, service providers and employers, and contribute to harmful narratives about Minnesota’s immigrant communities.”
“DCYF remains committed to fact-based investigations that stop fraud, protect children, support families and minimize disruption to communities that rely on these essential services,” the report said.
After the video was released, Health and Human Services froze all child care payments to the state pending investigation while the FBI and Department of Homeland Security investigated the allegations of fraud. CNN reached out to the FBI and DHS for comment on the preliminary state findings on Friday.
HHS did not directly respond to the state’s findings through a spokesperson on Friday and reiterated its call for a more robust verification process to prevent fraud. “The onus is on the state to provide additional verification,” said Andrew Nixon, HHS assistant secretary for media relations.
The Trump administration has given Minnesota officials until next Friday to provide corroborating information about providers and parents who receive federal funding for child care, according to an email sent to child care providers Friday by DCYF shared with The Associated Press. CNN has reached out to HHS and state officials for comment.
In addition to requesting state inspections of the Minnesota daycares featured in the video, Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill said the agency will now require justification and receipts or photographic evidence from the department’s Administration for Children and Families for all payments to states.
The subject of the allegations made in the controversial video is Child Care Assistance Program – known as CCAP – for 2025.
The report lists the amount of CCAP funding to centers in the video received in fiscal year 2025 as ranging from $470,000 to $3.6 million, totaling more than $17 million.
The report stated that one of the centers mentioned in the video has been closed since 2022.
CCAP does not receive applications directly from nurseries. Instead, qualified working parents and other eligible caregivers who earn less than the program’s income limit apply Directly to the government for assistance paid to the day care centre.
The accusations leveled in the video were the latest in a series of fraud scandals involving government social service programs that provide meals to needy children during the pandemic, Medicaid housing assistance and other safety nets that benefit needy families.
The scandals date back almost a decade and include allegations of fraud in Somali society. Feeding Our FutureA nonprofit prosecutor said it falsely claimed to provide meals to children in need during the Covid-19 pandemic. Federal charges have been filed against dozens of people, mostly Somalis, starting in 2022.
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