Going soft on child care fraud is a betrayal of working moms

Recent headlines uncovering massive child care fraud in Minnesota and elsewhere have shocked and enraged working moms like me all across America.

Fraudsters aren’t just stealing our tax dollars — they’re driving up the cost of child care, which is already unaffordable for too many families.

Moms are looking to our leaders for action.

Child care costs have grown for decades, but since the pandemic, they have become a crisis.

In the biggest cities, child care consumes up to 20 percent of family incomes. The median cost of child care for two kids exceeds the average rent in all 50 states. Child care is more expensive than in-state college tuition in 38 states — and parents have to pay for four years before the child can even go to school.

These enormous costs come in addition to massive government spending on child care.

The Trump administration is putting a freeze on federal funds to Minnesota, Illinois, California, Colorado, and New York so that they can conduct a review to ensure that the funds are not being lost to fraud. LP Media for NY Post

The federal government spends some $30 billion per year on child care — more than it would cost to build two or three Trump walls.

These costs are not happening because child care workers are getting rich: On the contrary, the median pay for childcare workers is $15 an hour.

Policymakers, child care workers, and parents alike are asking: Where does all our money go?

One reason child care is so expensive is that, in major cities like Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., or Dallas, where I live, child care is difficult to find.

Some 4.2 million kids in America can’t get into child care programs. An even higher number can’t get in somewhere their parents can feel good about.

That is why it is even more infuriating that criminals have been exploiting the system, stealing our hard-earned tax dollars and using up resources that families need.

Child care fraud in Minneapolis has been in the headlines, but it is a national problem. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is aware of at least $162 billion in erroneous payments made by the federal government last year toward child care.

And that is just what we know about: The real number is likely much higher.

For decades, liberal politicians have told us that they could help with “affordability” by cutting larger and larger government checks.

But creating an enormous pot of government money attracts fraudsters like honey attracts flies.

What working moms want is real action: Fraudsters need to be put in jail, funds clawed back, and free market reforms made so that child care won’t strain family budgets.

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That is why I am grateful that the Trump administration is putting a freeze on federal funds to Minnesota, Illinois, California, Colorado, and New York so that they can conduct a review to ensure that the funds are not being lost to fraud.

President Trump is also taking steps to crack down on child care fraud by shifting federal funding (1) for kids in attendance, not just kids enrolled, and (2) after the service is provided, not beforehand.

I’m also grateful for the Department of Justice’s new fraud division — but it needs to get moving right away.

We don’t just want more bureaucracy: We want results, including new policies to make it more difficult for fraudsters. We need reform at both the state and federal levels.

Working moms are exhausted, and our patience with politicians’ excuses is running out.

Anyone who turns a blind eye to childcare fraud — whether in blue states or red ones — is betraying working moms and driving up the cost of living.

Working moms are waking up to the fact that the worst fraudsters of all are complicit politicians.

Victoria Eardley is the Marketing Director at the Foundation for Government Accountability.