5 months ago
- News
- Published: Dec. 31, 2025, 2:59 p.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Following viral claims astir fraud successful Minnesota’s Somali-run daycares, two-thirds of Ohio’s House Republicans are calling for sweeping investigations into our state’s publically funded childcare centers.
In a letter to Ohio Department of Children and Youth Director Kara Wente, 41 Republican lawmakers urged her to summation unannounced inspections and scrutinize billing records for imaginable maltreatment of payer funds.
Their missive does not reference circumstantial accommodation aliases allegations. But it comes arsenic nan right-wing website Muckraker.com and different blimpish influencers person circulated posts questioning whether Somali-run daycare centers successful Columbus whitethorn beryllium billing nan authorities for children who are not really there.
“These allegations raise superior concerns regarding programme integrity, nan responsible usage of payer dollars, and nan wide credibility of Ohio’s publically funded childcare system,” according to nan letter.
But nan accuracy of those allegations seems successful doubt.
Gov. Mike DeWine’s agency says nan authorities routinely audits publically funded child-care programs and has long-standing systems to drawback it—including unannounced inspections.
“We person nary problem doing spot checks. We do them each nan time,” DeWine spokesperson Dan Tierney said.
He compared nan societal media frenzy to tv stations advertizing reruns arsenic “new to you” if viewers hadn’t seen them.
“It’s that type of business here,” Tierney said.
Ohio’s licensed daycare centers watch complete astir 285,000 children each day, according to nan Ohio Department of Children and Youth website. And astir 116,000 of them person immoderate information of their tuition covered by nan state.
It’s an income-based strategy wherever parents suffice done their region occupation and family services offices, and nan authorities reimburses providers based connected section rates.
The Biden management had pushed for states to salary providers based connected enrollment, meaning centers could beryllium reimbursed for reserved spots, moreover erstwhile a kid missed a day. The thought was to support daycares afloat aft nan pandemic, erstwhile attendance was unpredictable.
Ohio, however, still ties its payments to attendance. Parents swipe their children successful and out, and nan authorities reimburses centers based connected who was really there.
Tierney said that makes Ohio’s strategy tougher to manipulate.
“Does it destruct fraud attempts? I can’t opportunity that,” he said. “But erstwhile you person to show attendance, it’s overmuch harder to create shade enrollment.”
Tierney said anyone who suspects fraud should study it, and nan Department of Children and Youth will investigate.
As for nan viral video that helped spark nan existent debate, it shows nan extracurricular of a Columbus daycare and includes an question and reply pinch a purported neighbour who says he ne'er sees group going successful aliases out. The X station labels it arsenic “potential Somali fraud.”
But authorities records show thing different.
During a November 2025 inspection, DCY documented 87 children wrong nan halfway that day. Inspectors did find issues that needed to beryllium fixed, but nan study said nary “serious risk” violations were found.
Tierney said different viral declare — that a expected daycare was really a baccy shop — tin beryllium cleared up by simply looking astatine nan day connected nan Google Maps image being shared.
“The photograph was from 2022, and nan daycare successful mobility didn’t unfastened until July of this year,” he said.
He added that nan halfway is still going done nan authorities support process to judge publically funded children, truthful it is not receiving authorities money astatine this time.
As a statehouse newsman for Cleveland.com, I constitute astir each things Ohio authorities pinch a attraction connected elections, marijuana policy, societal issues, budgets, redistricting, nationalist pensions, migration successful Ohio and...
