Families face uncertain losses
“I’ll have to drop out of work. I’ll have to drop out of school,” said Breyanna Rodriguez, a Cortland, Illinois, resident whose child care assistance allows her to work part-time and take community college classes while preparing for nursing school. Without the subsidy, Rodriguez said, her bill for four children would reach $4,400 a month — most of her husband’s paycheck.
“I just wish this administration didn’t make such a drastic leap,” she said. “If families can’t get child care subsidies, that’s going to impact so many people in so many horrible ways that I don’t think they’re grasping.”
HHS said in a statement that it “identified concerns that these benefits intended for American citizens and lawful residents may have been improperly provided to individuals who are not eligible under federal law.” The administration has not released details about the fraud allegations that prompted the documentation requirements.
Providers say oversight is already extensive
Child care providers said they already operate under substantial oversight. Dawn Uribe, who runs Mis Amigos Preschool across several Minnesota locations, said staff must verify children’s identification at sign-in, and providers can wait a month to be reimbursed for services rendered. State inspectors regularly audit their records.
“There’s already so much oversight that goes into this so I don’t really understand how much more they can do,” Uribe said.
Karen DeVos, who operates three child care facilities in rural northwest Minnesota, said she is directing staff to have records ready for unannounced visits from investigators. She said routine audits and attendance checks are already standard.
“If we continue to view every provider as somebody who could be committing fraud, we are going to lose really valuable resources in our child care providers,” DeVos said. “There is only so much stress that people can take and not knowing every single day if somebody is going to knock on your door and accuse you of something is terrifying.”
Uribe said the administrative burden and below-cost reimbursement rates are so significant she is considering forgoing federal funds entirely. Providers already lose money when they enroll children who receive subsidies, she said.
Administration cited viral video
The administration cited a viral video by Nick Shirley, a right-wing social media influencer who claimed to have found widespread fraud at day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis, in its decision to cut off certain federal funding streams, the AP reported.
The administration’s earlier step — announced the prior week — required states to supply additional information before receiving child care money. The Tuesday freeze escalated that to withholding funds outright pending what HHS described as exhaustive documentation.
Expert warns of immediate harm
Ruth Friedman, who headed the federal Office of Child Care under President Joe Biden, said she was concerned the new requirements would lead to funding delays that could immediately endanger child care programs. She said the information the administration requested might not be readily available to states.
The freeze adds pressure to a sector already facing staff shortages and long waits for subsidy enrollment, the AP reported.
Working parents face uncertainty
For Charity Pallum of Ada, Minnesota, the prospect of losing the subsidy introduces uncertainty into daily planning. Pallum, a teacher, and her husband — who works at a car dealership — both hold full-time jobs because federal child care funding covers their 1-year-old twins.
“We have responsibilities to our families and we have responsibilities to our work, and we want to maintain both,” Pallum said. “I guess our plans are, ‘We’re just going to see how this goes.’”
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