Minnesota must provide documents to US government in child care fraud probe by next week

Minnesota officials have until next week to hand over information on providers and parents who receive federal child care funds that the Trump administration contends have been used fraudulently or risk losing federal funding. State officials said Friday recent inspections showed several childcare centers accused of fraud by a right-wing influencer were “operating as expected.”

In an email sent Friday to child care providers and shared with The Associated Press by multiple providers, Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families said it has until Jan. 9 to provide information about recipients of the funds.

The announcement earlier this week by the Trump administration that it would freeze child care funds to Minnesota and the rest of the states comes after a series of fraud schemes involving government programs in Minnesota run by Somali residents, as were many of the childcare centers.

Allegations of fraud at the child care centers went viral recently when a right-wing influencer posted a video claiming there was fraud taking place, putting Minnesota and some other states in the cros...