A spokesperson for Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) said that “robust anti-fraud measures” are “unfortunately the cost of doing business” as state Republicans call for investigations into Columbus-area daycares suspected of fraud.
Columbus is the second largest home to Somalis in the country after Minneapolis, Minnesota, with roughly 30,000 Somalians in the Buckeye State.
State Rep. Josh Williams (R) and other state Republicans signed onto a letter urging the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to investigate daycares suspected of fraud.
Williams wrote on X, “We need round-the-clock, unannounced inspections of all childcare facilities receiving public dollars to make sure not a single Ohioan’s tax dollars are being stolen. What’s happening in Minnesota is almost certainly occurring in Columbus–and Ohio needs to use every power we have under the law to put a stop to it.”
Dan Tierney, a spokesperson for DeWine, said it is “not accurate that we’re seeing any sort of surge” in fraud; however, he said that the governor’s office is taking note of increased public interest.
“If people are out there who could not contemplate that people were trying to defraud the public through daycare centers, I understand it’s new to them … but it’s been known to the state for decades,” Tierney said, declining to comment on potential fraud perpetrated by Somalian communities in the country.
“So therefore, we have robust anti-fraud measures to try and stop this; this is something that is unfortunately the cost of doing business.”
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