South Dakota, wary of Minnesota child care fraud, touts better oversight, payment model
Officials say random inspections, licensing requirements are key to accountability efforts
When news broke late last year of widespread fraud allegations in Minnesota’s child care assistance program, officials in Pierre took notice.
Videos depicting empty child care facilities in the Twin Cities by conservative journalist Nick Shirley went viral. Those videos prompted allegations of billions of dollars in fraud, resulting in prosecutions, congressional hearings and the decision by Gov. Tim Walz not to seek reelection.
Officials in the South Dakota Department of Social Services, which administers child care assistance here, took stock of fraud prevention measures in this state’s program. They concluded that the state’s layered approach to regulating child care providers and entities in other heavily subsidized programs, including Medicaid, is deterring fraudulent actors or catching them before large-dollar thefts occur.
