The Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it has frozen federal child care funding for the state of Minnesota, citing viral fraud allegations.
Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill announced the move in a post on X, writing that “blatant fraud … appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.”
“We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,” he wrote.
O’Neill cited a video in which conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley alleged nearly a dozen Minnesota day care centers that receive state funds aren’t actually providing services.
CBS News conducted its own analysis of day care centers mentioned by Shirley. All but two have active licenses, according to state records, and all active locations were visited by state regulators within the last six months. The analysis found dozens of citations for safety, cleanliness and other issues, but no recorded evidence of fraud.
CBS News has reached out to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s office and the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families for comment.
Starting immediately, O’Neill said, all payments from HHS’s Administration for Children and Families nationwide “will require a justification and a receipt or photo evidence before we send money to a state.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.