Real WA daycare owner ‘flabbergasted’ by alleged Somali fraud: ‘How are they getting that money and we’re not?’

According to Center Square, the outlet went to a number of Washington-based daycare centers run by Somalis, and only one of the daycares had any children inside. “Anyone who's in the industry is, like, flabbergasted,” said daycare owner David McMullan. “How are they getting that money and we're not?”

McMullan, who is also the chair of the Pierce County Republicans, said that his wife has been in the daycare center business for a few years, but is not getting anywhere near the payments from the government.

“We have Little Patriots Academy. We have two currently functioning daycare centers. We also have a preschool called Buttons and Bows that's in Puyallup. We've spent a lot of time with DCYF (Department of Children, Youth & Families) and all the different regulations that make it very difficult to actually operate a daycare center,” he said.

“They're quite responsive and good to work with. So, I don't have anything to say about the department itself,” he explained. “But we have to jump through a lot of hoops just to get the things we need to function and stay profitable, especially when they're not increasing our subsidies, but demanding that we pay our teachers more.”

He explained that while he does not have issues with the Somali community, he was shocked to see the massive government subsidies many have received while allegedly committing massive fraud. “The bottom line is per head, per child, it's about $1,500, $1,600 tops, so how are they getting that much?”

In the case of some of the home-run daycare centers in Washington, the amount per child is in the tens of thousands of dollars, the outlet reported. "I want to see which program gets them that much money per head because I want to get involved in it," McMullan said.

The DCYF said that they investigate all reports of alleged fraud seriously. “Washington state utilizes a variety of measures to minimize fraud. For example, DCYF conducts unannounced site visits at every licensed childcare provider at least once per year," a spokesman said.

The report comes as allegations of fraud in the Somali community of Washington have not cropped up since an investigation by Nick Shirley in Minnesota of Somali-run daycares appeared to show several government-subsidized daycares as non-functional.