Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. (Photo: Morgan Trau.)
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the head of the state Department of Children and Youth Services say they are partnering with the Trump administration to make the case that Ohio’s child welfare system is strongly protected and worthy of federal funding.
DeWine and department director Kara Wente said they have not yet received final word that they will continue to receive federal funding for the publicly funded child care program, but the state has eight to 10 weeks before that “would be problematic for the program we currently have,” according to Wente.
“We certainly know that we need federal funding to keep our program as it is,” Wente said at a press conference with DeWine on Monday.
“We know we are implementing all the measures set out by (the Trump administration).”
State leaders then spoke to the media child welfare fraud allegations in Minnesota resulted in a freeze of federal funds to the state at the behest of Trump administration officials.
The allegations came from a right-wing social media influencer and focused on facilities run in the state by Somali immigrants. While this issue has been widely discussed in 2022, the latest allegations from a social media influencer have brought it back to the forefront.
Child care providers in Minnesota say Trump’s funding freeze will lead to their businesses closing
Ohio, like Minnesota, has one of the largest Somali populations in the country, but DeWine said the conversation should shift away from citizens running the centers and toward protecting the public from fraud.
“We have to look at this not as a Somalia problem, but as a fraud problem,” DeWine said.
The governor said the “vast majority” of Ohio’s Somali population “has been here a long time.”
He declined to speculate on whether race or ethnicity plays a role in child care fraud allegations.
“Many of them are citizens, many of them run businesses,” DeWine said. “That’s why we can’t focus on one population, we have to focus on the problem.”
State leaders responded to calls from Republican state Rep. Josh Williams, who took to social media to demand that the Ohio Department of Children and Youth Services “investigate all Columbus-area preschools suspected of potential fraud.”
“We need 24/7, unannounced inspections of all child care facilities receiving public dollars to ensure that not a single Ohioan is stealing taxes,” Williams wrote in a post on X.
Wente said Monday that her office contacted Williams and told him that the measures he requested were already methods the department uses to police child care centers.
DeWine also condemned efforts by citizens to enter child care facilities, saying the facilities’ security measures include preventing entry to people who do not work there or have children in their care.
“The fact is, there is a reason why citizens who are going to videotape something and are trying to see what’s going on behind the doors are not allowed in,” DeWine said, adding that it should be no surprise that those people are denied entry.
“Well, hell no, no one should let them in,” he said.
At Monday’s news conference, DeWine and Wente outlined much of the information provided by the governor’s office last week in a press release responding to headlines in Minnesota, including specific measures the state is taking to prevent and identify child care center fraud.
This includes attendance-based financing, site-by-site ID verification via PIN and QR codes, and regular inspections.
So do child care advocates defended the state’s child care sector last week and reiterated the governor’s stance that facilities are being closely inspected.
Wente also provided data on 61 child care facilities that were ordered by the ministry to return overpayments.
In total, the overpayments amounted to “a little over $2 million,” the director told reporters.
In 2025, the department received 124 citizen reports of child welfare fraud.
DeWine is confident that the Trump administration will overhaul Ohio’s child care program and continue to send federal funds to the state.
“We have about eight weeks and we have confidence that this issue will be resolved and the federal government will be happy with what we are doing,” DeWine said.
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