Trump administration says it is freezing baby care funds to Minnesota : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3249x1800+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa2%2F2e%2F1eace4ed40f6a7233863817f98ad%2Fap25364858446345.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3249x1800+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa2%2F2e%2F1eace4ed40f6a7233863817f98ad%2Fap25364858446345.jpg" class="img" alt="State Sen. Michelle Benson reacts at a news conference on April 10, 2019, at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul to a report by the state's legislative auditor on combatting fraud in Minnesota's Child Care Assistance Program." fetchpriority="high"/> State Sen. Michelle Benson reacts at a information convention on April 10, 2019, on the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul to a report by the state's legislative auditor on combatting fraud in Minnesota's Baby Care Help Program. Steve Karnowski/AP conceal caption

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Steve Karnowski/AP President Trump's administration introduced on Tuesday that it is freezing baby care funds to Minnesota after a sequence of fraud schemes in recent times.

Deputy Secretary of Well being and Human Companies Jim O'Neill mentioned on the social platform X that the step is in response to "blatant fraud that seems to be rampant in Minnesota and throughout the nation."

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed again in a submit on X, saying fraudsters are a severe subject that the state has spent years cracking down on however that this transfer is a part of "Trump's lengthy sport."

"He is politicizing the difficulty to defund applications that assist Minnesotans," mentioned Walz.

The announcement comes someday after U.S. Homeland Safety officers have been in Minneapolis conducting a fraud investigation by going to unidentified companies and questioning employees.

There have been years of fraud investigation that started with the $300 million scheme on the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, for which 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted. Prosecutors mentioned the group was on the heart of the nation's largest COVID-19-related fraud rip-off, when defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program supposed to supply meals for youngsters.

A federal prosecutor alleged earlier in December that half or extra of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 applications in Minnesota since 2018 could have been stolen. Many of the defendants are Somali People, they mentioned.

O'Neill, who's serving as appearing director of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, additionally mentioned within the social media submit Tuesday that funds throughout the U.S. via the Administration for Youngsters and Households, an company throughout the U.S. Well being and Human Companies Division, will now require "justification and a receipt or photograph proof" earlier than cash is distributed. They've additionally launched a fraud-reporting hotline and e mail handle, he mentioned.

He additionally known as out a right-wing influencer who had posted a video Friday claiming he discovered that day care facilities operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had dedicated as much as $100 million in fraud. O'Neill mentioned he has demanded Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz submit an audit of those facilities that features attendance information, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.

"We now have turned off the cash spigot and we're discovering the fraud," O'Neill mentioned.

The Administration for Youngsters and Households offers $185 million in baby care funds yearly to Minnesota, in keeping with Assistant Secretary Alex Adams.

"That cash ought to be serving to 19,000 American kids, together with toddlers and infants," he mentioned in a video posted on X. "Any greenback stolen by fraudsters is stolen from these kids."

Adams mentioned he spoke Monday with the director of Minnesota's baby care companies workplace and she or he wasn't capable of say "with confidence whether or not these allegations of fraud are remoted or whether or not there's fraud stretching statewide."

Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has mentioned fraud won't be tolerated and his administration "will proceed to work with federal companions to make sure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught."

Walz has mentioned an audit due by late January ought to give a greater image of the extent of the fraud. He mentioned his administration is taking aggressive motion to forestall extra fraud. He has lengthy defended how his administration responded.

Minnesota's most distinguished Somali American, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, has urged folks to not blame a whole neighborhood for the actions of a relative few.