A video posted by a YouTuber has prompted federal authorities to freeze child care payments in Minnesota, intensifying scrutiny of a sector already under investigation for potential fraud.
In late December, 23-year-old YouTuber Nick Shirley released footage showing visits to more than a dozen Somali-owned child care centres across the state. In the video, several facilities appeared largely empty during operating hours, despite records indicating they had received millions of dollars in public funding.
One centre highlighted in the footage, ABC Learning Center, was shown as having received about $3.7 million in child care subsidies over three years while being licensed for just 40 children, according to publicly available payment data cited in the video.
Following the video’s circulation, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed it had frozen all federal child care payments to Minnesota pending a comprehensive review. Federal officials said the action was taken to protect taxpayer funds while audits and site checks are conducted.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have since joined the review, with investigators examining payment records and conducting on-site inspections. Authorities said the process includes reviewing security footage and enrolment documentation to verify whether services billed to the government were actually provided.
Some child care providers have pushed back against the allegations, saying the video captures only brief moments and does not reflect daily attendance patterns. Several centres said they have security footage showing children present at other times and warned that a blanket funding freeze could force legitimate providers to shut down.
Minnesota has been under increased federal scrutiny following previous investigations that uncovered large-scale fraud schemes involving nutrition and social service programmes, costing taxpayers billions of dollars nationwide.
Federal officials stressed that the current review does not presume wrongdoing by all providers and said payments could resume for centres found to be operating in compliance with programme rules.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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