Minnesota fraud probe gets 60-day federal compliance deadline: HHS
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Minnesota’s alleged fraud scandal continues as the blue state is “clocked” by federal authorities to comply.
“We asked Minnesota for evidence that child care funding is going to legitimate providers,” Jim O’Neill, assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), wrote in an X-post video alongside HHS Assistant Secretary (ACF) Alex Adams of the Administration for Children and Families. “Six weeks later they still haven’t sent that information.”
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According to O’Neill, ACF sent the state “preliminary notice of noncompliance.”
“We no longer ask, we demand,” Adams said. “Because Minnesota refused to comply with the federally approved state plan and regulations, ACF sent Minnesota a preliminary notice of noncompliance.”
The Quality Learning Center in Minnesota was at the center of the state’s alleged child care fraud scandal. (Madelin Fuerste / Fox News Channel)
O’Neill said the state has 60 days to send the requested documents to federal officials.
“We put Minnesota in time,” O’Neill said in the video. “If their answers are inadequate, we will impose full penalties on the state to the full extent of the law.”
O’Neill said HHS sends about $20 billion a year to the state.
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“Every dollar the state directs to fraud is stolen from the intended Minnesota recipient. The status quo was to rely on the state to stop the fraud. That clearly hasn’t worked,” O’Neill said.
On December 30, O’Neill and Adams announced a freeze on child care payments to the province following the emergence of a fraud scandal involving nurseries in the province.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in St. He announced at a news conference at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., that he will not seek reelection. (Minnesota Star Tribune via Jerry Holt/Getty Images)
“Brave journalists have made shocking, incredible claims about extensive fraud in Minnesota’s child care programs,” O’Neill said in a video posted on X on December 30. “We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed fraudsters and fake day care providers to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade.”
Last month, O’Neill asked Gov. Tim Walz to conduct a comprehensive audit of certain daycares, including attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.
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A spokesperson for Walz’s office told Fox News in December that they believed the investigation was politically motivated.
“Fraud is a serious problem. But this is a transparent attempt to politicize the issue to harm Minnesotans and cut off funding for government programs that help people,” the spokesperson said.
Nick Shirley disrupted the news cycle last month with a 42-minute video investigating Minnesota nurseries that were inactive despite receiving millions of dollars in government funding. (Nick Shirley)
Adams said ACF has a team conducting an “on-site monitoring visit” to the state, where the department plans to attempt to collect records the state does not provide.
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“We will continue to follow every credible lead and restore the integrity of the programs that serve America’s most vulnerable people,” O’Neill said.
ACF and the state Department of Health inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
