HHS freezes $10 billion in child care funding for 5 Democratic states, including New York
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Department of Health and Human Services is freezing $10 billion in federal funds in five Democrat-run states over allegations of fraudulent child care programming, an HHS official confirmed to ABC News.
The HHS official confirmed that the five states are California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.
"For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch," a health department spokesperson wrote in a statement to ABC News.
The five states will be required to provide attendance records and inspection reports for child care facilities.
Gov. Kathy Hochul responded to the freeze.
"Why is there such a frontal assault on children in this nation from this administration? Just back in November they just stopped feeding our kids. Now they won't vaccinate our kids. They are not allowing their parents to have their health care premiums covered without going up dramatically to make sure that our kids are raised safely and healthy," Hochul said. "And now they don't give a damn about child care for kids... we will fight this with every fiber of our being because our kids should not be political pawns in a fight that Donald Trump seems to have with blue state governors."
Economists who study low-income families in the area say the cuts would be devastating for parents of the roughly 123,000 kids in New York City who currently rely on the programs.
"The funds that they are threatening to freeze go directly to families, poor families, low-income families that need child care vouchers in order to go to work or school," said Lauren Melodia, Director of Economic & Fiscal Policies at The Center for NYC Affairs at The New School. "And so freezing those funds will mean that those families won't be able to get to work, get to school, get their kids to child care programs."
New York senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand both blasted the move.
"What kind of heartless person uses innocent kids as political pawns? This goes beyond targeting blue states. It is upending the lives working families and making our children pay the price for the sake of political games," Schumer said.
Another complaint cited by the Trump administration is that the funds are going to undocumented families.
"That's absolutely not true, this funding is not going to families that don't qualify for federal assistance," Melodia said. "Families that access the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program and the child care voucher program, are U.S. citizens or have permanent resident status."
Family advocates say the federal government appears to be creating a perfect storm for working families -- as the job market softens, the so called "Big Beautiful Bill" kicks in this month with more stringent work requirements for benefits like SNAP, but fewer child care programs, making it harder for those parents to get to work.
(ABC News contributed to this report.)
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