Children sleep during nap time at Minnesota Child Care in Minneapolis, Minn., on Dec. 30. (Renee Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Streamlining systems is key to identifying any atypical trends in billing behavior and attendance data that could point to fraud, Bennett said.
TREASURY SECRETARY ANNOUNCES CASH REWARDS FOR MINNESOTA FRAUD WHISTLEBLOWERS
"The best practice is moving to a modern system, moving to a system where all of the data is in one place and it's all connected," Bennett said. "So you can use that to identify risk, flag unusual patterns early, and then have humans go and investigate. Oversight should support child care providers, not punish them."
To help do this, Bennett spearheaded Wonderschool Oversight in January – building upon Wonderschool’s existing partnerships with states including Florida, Michigan and Illinois – that aims to centralize state agencies' program data to evaluate enrollment, attendance, billing and licensing information in the same place.
Having this information in one spot allows for Wonderschool Oversight to flag unusual patterns that could require human review, Bennett said.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington on Monday, March 10, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Days later, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from halting the funding freeze for at least two weeks. Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for comment.
That’s not the only alleged fraud scheme the state is facing. Lawmakers have spearheaded investigations into Minnesota's alleged "Feeding Our Future" $250 million fraud scheme that allegedly targeted a children's nutrition program the Department of Agriculture funded and that Minnesota oversaw during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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At least 77 people have been charged in that scheme, which took advantage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to waive certain Federal Child Nutrition Program requirements.
Likewise, another alleged fraud scheme in the state stems from the Housing Stability Services Program, which allegedly offered Medicaid coverage for housing stabilization services in an attempt to help those with disabilities, mental illnesses and substance-use disorders receive housing.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/childcare-expert-exposes-key-roadblock-uncovering-fraud-schemes-minnesota-really-difficult