State records obtained through a public records request detail years of false attendance reporting, grant repayment demands and repeated supervision failures at multiple Minneapolis child care centers.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A trove of internal state documents obtained through a public records request outlines extensive billing discrepancies, licensing violations and child supervision failures across several Minneapolis-area daycare facilities.
According to Judicial Watch, the organization received 458 pages of records from the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families following a December 2025 Freedom of Information Act request. The materials document investigations by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) into facilities participating in the state’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
The records show DHS used surveillance video comparisons, attendance audits and financial grant reviews to identify discrepancies between reported attendance and observed child presence, along with improper billing and background study violations.
Minnesota Child Care Center was cited multiple times beginning in 2019. In August of that year, DHS issued a Correction Order citing staff qualification deficiencies, noting four staff members lacked required documentation. The order stated, “This is a repeat licensing violation. The license holder was cited for a similar violation in a Correction Order dated April 25, 2017.”
The following month, DHS ordered the facility to pay a $600 fine for three background study violations involving employees who began working before required screenings were completed.
In August 2022, DHS issued an Administrative Disqualification and Notice of Refusal to Pay, concluding the center “intentionally gave materially false information on billing forms and/or provided false attendance records.” The action immediately halted CCAP payments and disqualified the center and its principals from receiving assistance funds for three years.
Investigators identified numerous discrepancies between video footage and attendance records, including multiple 15-minute intervals in late 2018 where billing records reflected child arrivals not visible on surveillance. A review of six billing cycles from November 2018 through February 2019 found that in 361 of 4,711 billing dates examined, attendance documentation failed to meet recordkeeping standards.
DHS calculated that the center had been overpaid $24,480.38 and issued a Notice of Overpayment in August 2022. Additional enforcement followed. In October 2023, the facility was ordered to pay a fine of $1,200 for six further background study violations. In April 2024, a Notice of Overpayment required repayment of $8,991.36 after the center failed to submit required documentation tied to a Facility Revitalization Grant.
Subsequent compliance reviews documented additional staffing violations. An October 2024 Correction Order cited instances in which aides were left alone supervising infants and school-age children without required credentialed staff present. The order referenced a prior repeat offense. In November 2024, DHS ordered the facility to pay a fine of $1,600 for eight background study violations.
In October 2025, the state issued another Notice of Overpayment for $9,408 related to billing irregularities occurring more than two years after the facility’s CCAP disqualification. In December 2025, the center was ordered to pay an additional $200 fine tied to repeated failures to complete enhanced fingerprint background studies.
The records also detail enforcement actions against other Minneapolis facilities. Nuna Child Care Center was disqualified in August 2022 after DHS found materially false billing information. A Notice of Overpayment totaling $72,529.85 was issued covering a billing period from November 2018 through February 2019. In December 2024, a Correction Order documented multiple unsupervised-child incidents during a single inspection visit.
Mini Childcare Center received a Notice of Overpayment in April 2023 for $47,487.80 due to missing attendance documentation and billing discrepancies. ABC Learning Center was issued a Notice of Overpayment in July 2024 for $76,000 connected to Financial Hardship Grants, and later a Correction Order after inspectors observed children left without supervision.
Quality Learning Center was assessed a Notice of Overpayment in June 2020 totaling $69,364.55. In June 2022, the state placed the facility on conditional status after identifying 27 licensing violations. Sweet Angel Child Care received a Correction Order citing 25 violations and later a Notice of Overpayment for $9,830.80 tied to attendance documentation deficiencies.
“The number of violations and intentionally false reporting committed by these facilities is staggering,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.