Insider: Agency has identified $20 million in fraud at Ohio daycares in first couple of hours of audit

Ohio Department of Children and Youth representatives apparently identified at least $20 million in fraud during their first few hours of “program integrity reviews” at the state’s publicly funded child care programs, according to an insider.

The reviews launched on Monday and follow a Friday letter from Assistant Deputy Director Contracts and Monitoring Matthew Cunningham. The correspondence was addressed to “Programs Participating in Ohio’s Publicly Funded Child Care Program.”

Ohio Department of Children and Youth Chief Communications Officer Jodi Norton Trimble said the agency does not have an estimated amount of fraud, as the reviews are ongoing.

“We have not completed the reviews, so it would be inaccurate for you to report any findings as we have no estimations or findings at this time,” Norton Trimble told Ohio.News in an email.

“After June 2025, when the Department of Children and Youth reminded all families and providers that they cannot share PIN numbers, we established new policies to further safeguard the children in care and Ohio taxpayer dollars that include a process for random monthly case reviews and targeted reviews for high risk practices,” Norton Trimble added. “These reviews started on January 2 with these 400 child care programs (random sampling across the state).”

According to the letter, as part of the reviews, child care programs must provide “the last 90 days of attendance records,” starting with the week that includes Oct. 7, and a “statement or documentation of your operating hours and operating days” as of Friday. Agency personnel expect to collect the information by Wednesday.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, whose spokesman previously told The Columbus Dispatch that fraud “is unfortunately the cost of doing business,” held a press conference yesterday with select media to argue that the state’s anti-fraud safeguards are working.

The governor himself has conceded that fraud happens.

“Does fraud occur? Yes, fraud occurs,” he said, according to News 5 Cleveland. “Our job is to do everything we can — no fraud is acceptable.”

According to the report, the governor said that there are 5,200 childcare centers in Ohio. As a result of the state’s fraud detection, 12 facilities — or less than 1% of state-funded centers — were shut down in 2025.

The station reported that the state overpaid daycares $2 million in total in 60 cases. However, state officials said the cases were unintentional and that they got the money back, the Cleveland television station reported.

Allegations of fraud, mainly tied to Somali-run businesses, have centered on Minnesota. Amid the allegations, Gov. Tim Waltz announced on Monday that he won’t seek re-election.

Columbus has the second-highest Somali population behind Minneapolis, according to News 5 Cleveland.

“Well, look. I think that something, again, the national audience does not understand… is that the vast majority of Somalians have been here for a long time,” DeWine said, according to News 5 Cleveland. “Many of them are citizens. Many of them run businesses. We need to just not fixate on any population.”