DeWine: Safeguards in place to prevent fraud in state-funded daycares (VIDEO)

Gov. Mike DeWine addressed concerns about fraud in Ohio's day cares during a news conference Monday afternoon, days after fraud allegations in Minnesota saw federal child care funding frozen by the Trump administration. The funding freeze, announced late last month, followed allegations by right-wing social media influencers of schemes at Somali-run day care centers in Minnesota. As part of the freeze, states must provide additional information and verifications before they receive funds from the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes child care for low-income families, the Associated Press reported. During Monday's news conference, Ohio Department of Children and Youth Director Kara Wente said the state can continue to fund subsidized day cares for the next eight to 10 weeks, but a freeze beyond that would be "problematic." Ohio funds nearly 5,200 child care facilities based on attendance, not enrollment, DeWine said, and requires multiple steps to verify a child is in attendance at a day care. Those steps include individual classroom logs, and the family member dropping off and picking up the child, entering in a personal identification number and taking a photo confirmation, or scanning a location-specific QR code. In June, the state Department of Children and Youth began an anti-PIN sharing process, DeWine said, and reminded the families who receive subsidized child care to never share their PINs with the day care provider. He said there are "concerned citizens" trying to conduct their own investigations into suspected fraud at child care facilities who have been turned away at the door — and with good reason: To protect children at those centers. He said safety plans at facilities mean adults who are not there to drop off or pick up a child, or who do not work at or volunteer with a center, cannot walk in unannounced. "We do 10,000 inspections a year. ... The public needs to understand if it's your child in there, you don't want a random person to be able to knock on that door and get in," he said. "They have to have a reason to get in." All volunteers and employees must undergo state and federal background checks. Asked if the claims about fraud came from anti-Somali sentiment, DeWine said what some may misunderstand is that the vast majority of Somalis in the U.S. have been there for a long time. Many are citizens and many run businesses, the governor said. The Columbus area has the second-highest Somali population in the country after Minnesota. "We need to not fixate on any population," DeWine said. "We need to fixate on the problem, on the fraud, we need to focus on what we can do collectively, all of us together to stop fraud in Ohio or in any other state." The Department of Children and Youth encourages the public to send tips of potential fraud, DeWine said. In 2025, the department received 124 tips, with 61 resulting in daycares repaying just over $2 million in overpayments and closure of 12 programs The department also conducted over 10,000 unannounced visits to childcare centers. As a result of those visits, 38 daycares were closed and two others remain in administrative hearings. Wente said moving into 2026, the department plans to proactively review about 400 childcare cases statewide to ensure further compliance in addition to its unannounced visits and other verifications. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.