The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Administration for Children and Families, is pulling a series of Biden-era child care policies that mandated that states pay providers before verifying child attendance.
Under the new change, attendance-based billing will be restored, upfront payments will not be required, and voucher flexibility will return, HHS explained.
“Congress appropriated this funding to support working families and ensure children have safe places to grow and learn,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Loopholes and fraud diverted that money to bad actors instead. Today, we are correcting that failure and returning these funds to the working families they were meant to serve.”
Furthermore, HHS recently froze federal child care payments to Minnesota amid a widespread fraud scandal hitting the state. HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill announced the move on social media, writing, “We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota. You have probably read the serious allegations that the state of Minnesota has funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares across Minnesota over the past decade.” The new action requires ACF payments across the nation to include a “justification and a receipt or photo evidence before we send money to a state,” O’Neill said.
A hotline addressing fraud has also been launched. “We have launched a dedicated fraud-reporting hotline and email address at childcare.gov. Whether you are a parent, provider, or member of the general public, we want to hear from you,” the statement continued.
