Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and local advocates are defending Ohio’s child care system after comments from the Trump administration accusing another state of child care fraud.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said states would need to provide “justification” proving that federal child care funds are being spent on “legitimate” entities. The comments followed fraud allegations in Minnesota related to the state’s child care programs, stemming from a YouTube video by a right-wing social media influencer. The allegations particularly targeted child care centers run by Somali citizens of the state.
The allegations led the Trump administration to freeze federal funding going to the child care sector in Minnesota, which owners and Democrats in the state said would cause major problems in an already struggling sector.
While DeWine said “people are rightfully concerned” about the Minnesota child care fraud allegations, he defended Ohio’s nearly 5,200 state-funded facilities.
In a recent statement, the governor said with the sheer number of facilities “there is certainly the potential for fraud,” but Ohio has several ways of countering the threat.
He noted the practice of paying facilities based on attendance instead of enrollment, a new provision inserted into the state’s most recent operating budget.
DeWine also said the Ohio Department of Children and Youth has a system in place verify attendance and review childcare programs, along with investigating allegations of fraud.
“The department has a comprehensive review process of child care programs that receive state dollars that includes a review of family eligibility, unannounced health and safety inspections, and financial management reviews,” DeWine said in a statement.
Advocacy groups in the state said the child care system in Ohio certainly has room for improvement, and faces struggles based on cost and accessibility, but the threat of fraud isn’t on the list of widespread problems.
“Ohio has strict child care regulations and inspections,” said Tami Lunan, who leads The CEO Project, which focuses its advocacy on parents, child care providers, teachers, and women of color who work in what the group calls the “care economy.”
Lunan said delaying or freezing funding to providers “would be a disaster” because of the already thin margins under which child care centers operate.
“Ohio’s child care providers, many of whom are small business owners, women, and people of color, operate under constant scrutiny and accountability while serving working-class families who rely on stable, affordable care,” Lunan said in a statement.
“Suggesting otherwise without evidence is dangerous and inappropriate to the providers who are doing essential work and following the law.”
In a Jan. 1 press release, the think tank Policy Matters Ohio said lawmakers need to address workforce shortages, low wages, high costs and other issues, rather than focusing on “misleading claims” about child care.
The organization furthered DeWine’s and other advocates’ statements that Ohio’s system includes strict oversight and “crucial accountability measures.”
“Ohio already has strong systems in place to protect children and taxpayers,” Policy Matters senior project coordinator and child care researcher Ali Smith said.
“Licensed child care providers undergo routine, thorough, unannounced inspections every year, and those reports are available for anyone to review. Suggesting that oversight is lax is simply not true.”
Citing data from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Policy Matters said the department received 124 fraud allegations in 2025, and 61 of those resulted in overpayments being paid back to the state. A dozen programs were closed by the Department of Children and Youth in that year.
“This is how accountability and transparent oversight are supposed to work,” Policy Matters stated in its release.
DeWine noted this data as well, adding that 30 other programs accused of fraud were “operating in accordance with state and federal laws,” and 21 are still being reviewed.
Smith encouraged caution for families seeing “unsubstantiated claims of fraud” on social media or elsewhere, citing examples of viral videos that were taken during holiday breaks when facilities were closed.
“We urge Ohioans to rely on official sources, rather than social media speculation,” Smith said.
