Minnesota Child Care Program Paid $67 Million to Nine Raided Day Cares Over Eight Years

Minnesota's Child Care Assistance Program paid more than $67 million in public childcare subsidies over the past eight years to nine day care providers, several of which federal authorities raided last week.

Local news outlet KSTP reviewed state records and found the figure. No charges have been filed, so it remains unclear how much might involve fraud. Authorities have not released a full list of raided day cares, but public records confirm several recipients of CCAP subsidies were among them.

State payments through CCAP to these nine centers more than doubled in the final two years of available data, rising from around $8 million in 2023 to over $16 million in 2025. The number of students served stayed steady.

Federal agents served 22 search warrants at day care and autism centers in Minnesota last week.

Phil Krinkie, a former state lawmaker, small business owner and member of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, told KSTP, "I think voters are very frustrated with the entire situation. I don't think it's Republican or Democrat — they're just frustrated."

The Minnesota House Republican Caucus posted on X that Democrats killed a bill last week to increase oversight and fraud penalties for child care providers receiving high amounts of CCAP funding, like these nine.

Fox News Digital contacted the FBI, Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota and the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families for details on the raids, including whether the nine CCAP-funded day cares were involved. Only HHS replied, stating ACF does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Former Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson told KSTP the scope of the warrants indicates investigators are seeking evidence that publicly funded services were actually provided.

"Whether it's a business, a school, a nonprofit — if something grows that much, you know, makes sense to ask why is it growing that much and how could it grow so fast," Swanson said. She oversaw several Medicaid fraud prosecutions as attorney general.

"These are federally and state-funded programs," Swanson added. "The question is, ‘were services billed to the government that weren’t rendered?'"

CCAP provides public funding for families unable to afford child care. The state Department of Children, Youth, and Families administers the program and supplied the data KSTP examined.

Fox News Digital sought comment from DCYF on the CCAP program but received no response in time for publication. KSTP also got no information from DCYF after its public records request.

State Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, submitted the same request. DCYF then provided the records, documents and data, according to KSTP.