Minnesota faces funding deadline after Trump administration freezes childcare payments

close

Video

Rep James Comer: Minnesota fraud scandal is the 'biggest story in America'

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., weighs in on the Minnesota childcare fraud scandal on ‘Hannity.’

Minnesota officials have until next week to turn over information on childcare providers and parents receiving federal funds or risk losing federal childcare funding, according to a notice sent to providers.

Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) told childcare providers in an email Friday that information about funding recipients must be sent to the federal government by Jan. 9, The Associated Press reported.

The notification came after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Tuesday it will freeze all childcare payments to Minnesota following fraud allegations involving some childcare centers.

"We recognize the alarm and questions this has raised," DCYF said in the email. "We found out about the freezing of funds at the same time everyone else did on social media."

MINNESOTA FRAUD COMMITTEE CHAIR CLAIMS WALZ 'TURNED A BLIND EYE' TO FRAUD WARNINGS FOR YEARS

HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill announced the halt of childcare subsidies to Minnesota on Dec. 30. (HHSTV1 via YouTube)

The DCYF instructed providers and families relying on the frozen funds to continue the program’s "licensing and certification requirements and practices as usual." The email does not say if recipients need to take any action or provide any information.

The state agency said it "did not receive a formal communication from the federal government until late Tuesday night," after the DHS announced it would freeze all childcare payments to Minnesota.

All states must submit additional verification before receiving more childcare funding.

CNN ROASTED FOR ‘EFFORT TO DISCREDIT’ SHIRLEY’S VIRAL REPORTING ON ALLEGED FRAUD AT MINNESOTA DAYCARE CENTERS

Nick Shirley upended the news cycle last week with a 42-minute video investigating Minnesota daycare centers that appeared inactive despite receiving millions of dollars in government funding.  (Nick Shirley)

On Friday, the DCYF said the state Office of Inspector General conducted on-site compliance checks this week at nine childcare centers referenced in a viral video by independent journalist Nick Shirley, who was accusing them of committing fraud.

In his video, Shirley visited several Minnesota childcare facilities, including the Quality Learning Center in Minneapolis, which he said appeared inactive despite receiving state childcare assistance funds.

Investigators found the centers operating "as expected," according to DYCF, and children were present at all sites except for one, which it said was not yet open for families at the time of the visit.

The department said it has ongoing investigations at four of the centers, and has 55 open investigations involving providers receiving funding through the Child Care Assistance Program.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST SAYS HE'S GOTTEN DEATH THREATS, TOLD HE'LL BE 'KIRKED' OVER MINNESOTA FRAUD VIRAL VIDEO

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)

At a news conference Monday, Minnesota DCYF Commissioner Tikki Brown said prior inspections of the centers did not uncover fraud, noting that regulators are conducting unannounced visits in response to concerns raised by the video.

"We are aware of a video that's being circulated that has gained local and national attention about childcare centers in Minnesota," Brown said. "While we have questions about some of the methods that were used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously."

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital has reached out to Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families for comment.

Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner, Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.