Service workers union falsely accuses Post Millennial reporter of ‘racist attack’ after she exposed millions in taxpayer funds going to WA Somali daycares in potential misuse scheme

The accusation came in a Sept. 22 email from SEIU 925 Political and Legislative Director Erin Haick to Washington lawmakers and “early learning leaders,” obtained by UnDivided host Brandi Kruse.

“I wanted to make early learning leaders aware that conservative media personality Katie Daviscourt spent her weekend harassing Somali child care providers in South Seattle and Tukwila,” Haick wrote. “This is part of a larger, sustained, racist attack on immigrant child care providers that makes providers and the children they serve less safe.”

Daviscourt's investigation identified more than $5 million in potential misuse of taxpayer funds among more than 20 providers in two Seattle-area neighborhoods.

At several facilities, no children appeared to be present, or nobody answered the door. Daisy Family Childcare had received nearly $2 million and was collecting approximately $70,000 per month, according to records reviewed by Daviscourt. Aboo Family Daycare was receiving approximately $40,000 monthly, while Star Family Home Daycare was receiving roughly $30,000.

Haick questioned the source of Daviscourt's numbers. “She claims that providers are bringing in tens of thousands a month in public dollars, and I honestly have no idea what publicly available data she could be basing this on,” she wrote.

Daviscourt responded on X, “I’m not going to be intimidated by the SEIU. Knocking on doors and nicely asking if they are daycares is not ‘harassment of immigrants.’”

“You have ‘no idea’ how I found that information? Well, it’s publicly available data in the state’s open checkbook. You can find it here: fiscal.wa.gov,” Daviscourt continued. “ALSO, this is just the beginning!”

The Washington State Fiscal Information website provides searchable state expenditure data.

Haick nevertheless claimed Washington has “a much more rigorous oversight, licensing, and ongoing monitoring program than Minnesota,” citing yearly licensing visits, audits, and visits from professional development coaches.

However, years of audits and records previously examined by The Post Millennial documented significant problems with the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families' ability to track and verify childcare payments.

More than $1.3 billion in childcare spending could not be fully audited over four years because DCYF lacked provider-level records necessary for auditors to trace the money. The problem had previously prompted the Washington State Auditor's Office to say missing provider-level data made it “impossible” to trace payments to individual childcare providers for four consecutive years.

In fiscal year 2024, auditors questioned all $415,579,473 in federal childcare costs examined because DCYF could not provide necessary provider-level documentation. After auditors finally received sufficient data, a subsequent audit estimated approximately $37 million in questionable childcare payments in fiscal year 2025. The finding did not mean $37 million was fraudulent; auditors identified payments lacking sufficient supporting documentation or records supporting what providers billed.

Auditors reviewing DCYF's own provider audits also found that 67 percent resulted in identified overpayments, with approximately 22 percent of payments examined determined to be overpayments. Separate DCYF records previously showed 1,372 childcare subsidy overpayments totaling $2,092,513 between July 2024 and June 2025. Among those cases, 265 providers lacked required attendance records.

DCYF's Office of Fraud and Accountability reported one consumer conviction, zero provider convictions, and $20,474 in restitution during fiscal year 2025.

SEIU's accusations also echo the response from Washington Attorney General Nick Brown when journalists previously investigated suspected misuse of childcare subsidies. After journalists visited daycare providers, Brown said members of Washington's Somali community reported being “harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking.”

“Showing up on someone’s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn’t an investigation. Neither is filming minors who may be in the home. This is unsafe and potentially dangerous behavior,” Brown said.

Brown directed providers who believed they were being harassed to contact local law enforcement, his office or Washington's Hate Crimes & Bias Incident Hotline. Brown separately said suspected fraud should be reported to DCYF and substantiated fraud should result in accountability.

During an interview with KOMO, Brown criticized “random vigilante people” showing up at providers' homes and characterized some rhetoric surrounding the investigations as “racist” and “hate.”

Brown later called many of the daycare fraud allegations “pretty baseless” while declining to call for an outside investigation of DCYF. At the time, state audits had already documented hundreds of millions of dollars in spending that auditors could not trace to individual providers.

Haick's email also revealed that SEIU prepared members for scrutiny following independent journalist Nick Shirley's viral investigations into alleged daycare fraud in Minnesota. SEIU “suspected that his visit might inspire copycats,” Haick wrote, and worked with members regarding “their rights to not talk, to ask people to leave their property, and to report threatening behavior to authorities.”

“Unfortunately, we were right to be concerned about copycat attacks on child care providers,” she added.

Haick told lawmakers that five programs mentioned in Daviscourt's reporting were SEIU 925 members. “It is extremely offensive that conservative media influencers are targeting low-income, immigrant child care providers to get clicks and attention,” Haick concluded.