In child care, that ends now.
https://x.com/PressSec/status/2008541001137463322
Video Transcript
Hello, I'm HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill.
I'm Alex Adams, HHS Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families.
For the past two weeks, everyone's been asking questions about the political patronage system in Minnesota.
Incompetent state officials, through negligence or by design, for years have stood by as taxpayer money was diverted into the pockets of politically connected cronies.
State officials have been unwilling to provide definitive confirmation about the size and scope of fraud.
This much is clear. Governor Walz's administration is taking away money from working families and giving it to fake daycare scams.
Raising a young family is a blessing, and it's okay to need help.
Many families struggle to find affordable child care and rely upon state and federal assistance.
Unfortunately, Governor Walz has allowed resources to be wasted on wide-scale fraud, diverting those resources away from the families who rely upon them to make ends meet.
These are not victimless crimes. Every dollar stolen is a dollar stolen from children and families who need those services the most.
But fraud does not happen in a vacuum.
The policies set in Washington influence how states administer these programs, and those policies can either prevent fraud or invite it. Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris administration adopted rules for the Child Care and Development Fund that created serious vulnerabilities.
Those policies weakened accountability and made fraud easier, not harder.
That's why today we released a proposed rule to repeal those Biden-era mandates.
The proposed rule does three important things. First, it ends the requirement that taxpayer dollars must pay for child care before services are provided.
States will no longer be forced to send payments to providers up front.
Second, it ends the mandate for enrollment-based billing. Payments can once again be based on verified attendance, not just enrollment, so that providers can't bill for children who never show up.
And third, it ends the mandate to pre-fund guaranteed seats at child care centers without competition.
This restores parental choice and brings back market incentives that reward legitimate, high-quality providers.
Taken together, these changes ensure that payments reflect real services and real attendance, making it far harder for fraudulent or non-operational centers to game the system.
Across welfare programs, Biden administration policies effectively backed up a Brinks truck and sent the security home.
In child care, that ends today.
Produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.