With the child care fraud scandal engulfing Minnesota, we asked officials in the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) how to prevent similar wrongdoing in the state. Although largely funded by the federal government, childcare programs are administered by the states, including the review of applications for assistance, periodic reports from childcare providers, and investigations of fraud allegations.
Neither Secretary Laura Howard, General Counsel Mark Altenbernt, nor DCF Communications chose to respond to our questions as to what measures are in place to prevent a repeat of the Minnesota experience.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a person familiar with how child care operates in Kansas provided examples of fraudulent activities engaged in by families receiving the benefits and those providing care in Kansas:
- Payments for Non-Enrolled Children, where child care providers receive subsidy payments for children who are not enrolled in or attending care.
- Cash-Back Schemes in which providers accept child care subsidy payments and return a portion of the funds to recipients in cash or other forms of value.
- False Household Composition Claims, where recipients falsely report that the other parent is not residing in the household in order to meet income or eligibility requirements
- Provider Self-Payment or Related Party Abuse, where providers pay themselves or related individuals for care that does not meet program requirements.
Our source tells The Sentinel that federal government rules from the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), the agency issuing child care subsidies, hamper detection and prosecution of fraud:
“Child care fraud in Kansas is driven in part by unclear CCDF regulations that lack specific definitions of fraud and misuse, leaving excessive policy discretion to states. The CCDF requirement to pay based on enrollment rather than attendance has increased Kansas’ exposure to fraud, compounded by the identification of child care provider deserts and state efforts to expand the provider pool that have, at times, resulted in more lenient enforcement actions and the reinstatement of providers with prior policy violations. While the Kansas Department for Children and Families Fraud Unit works tirelessly to identify, enforce, and recover funds related to fraud, clearer federal guidance and tighter state policy are needed to strengthen oversight and deterrence.”
