A daycare in West Seattle received more than $229,000 between July 2025 and March 2026, but residents told the outlet repeatedly that no daycare operated there.
minute read
Washington state officials are refusing to investigate daycare providers that reportedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer subsidies after reporters found little evidence that children were being cared for at some locations.
According to a report from The Center Square, over the past six months, its reporters visited roughly three dozen daycare providers that had received large state and federal subsidy payments intended to support childcare for lower-income families, but only a small number appeared to have children present.
In one case, a daycare listed at a West Seattle address received more than $229,000 between July 2025 and March 2026, according to state fiscal records cited by The Center Square. But residents at the home reportedly told the outlet repeatedly that no daycare operated there. “Is there a daycare operated from here?” a Center Square reporter asked. “No," the person who answered the door responded. The resident also said there had never been a daycare at the address.
The outlet said it found a similar pattern during visits to other home-based daycares, including properties that received large sums in subsidies while showing little outward sign of children being cared for inside. At a Federal Way home-based daycare that reportedly received $223,247 over nine months, the homeowner called police when reporters and independent journalist Jonathan Choe visited the property. Officers told the woman that reporters were allowed to stand on the sidewalk, according to The Center Square.
Despite the findings, state officials have resisted calls for a broader crackdown. Attorney General Nick Brown previously demonized the journalists for investigating the allegations, saying in December, “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. I encourage anyone experiencing threats or harassment to either contact local law enforcement or our office’s Hate Crimes & Bias Incident Hotline.”
State Auditor Pat McCarthy also told The Center Square in January that her office was reviewing how childcare subsidy payments are processed by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, but that enforcement against specific providers would fall to other agencies. “No, that’s not what we’re doing. What we’re doing is an audit related to DCYF as to how the money is processed to the providers,” McCarthy said. “What we do is we do this audit work, and then we provide that information to the people that can do the enforcement, which would be the DSHS Fraud Investigative Unit or the AG's Office Fraud Investigative Unit, and then they would determine who would actually take the next steps.”
McCarthy’s office later released an audit estimating $37 million in questionable childcare subsidy payments made through DCYF using federal funds. The audit found weaknesses in prepayment controls, though it did not confirm fraud.
The daycare allegations come as Washington state and King County agencies face growing scrutiny over taxpayer-funded programs and weak oversight. A 2026 forensic review of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority found roughly $13 million unaccounted for, a $44.7 million negative cash position, and millions in unreconciled receivables. Separately, a King County Department of Community and Human Services audit found that county grants ballooned from $22 million in 2019–2020 to $1.8 billion in 2023–2024, with about half classified as high risk. A fired county program manager, Yolanda McGhee, was also accused of steering roughly $800,000 to family-connected entities through homelessness-related contracts.
The Department of Commerce also recently reversed course and released a full list of taxpayer-funded daycare providers receiving Early Learning Facilities grants after members of the media questioned why the information was not public. The grants totaled $57.8 million and were intended to create more than 2,000 new childcare slots. The agency initially cited privacy concerns before releasing provider names and addresses following “new guidance” from the attorney general’s office.
According to a report from The Center Square, over the past six months, its reporters visited roughly three dozen daycare providers that had received large state and federal subsidy payments intended to support childcare for lower-income families, but only a small number appeared to have children present.
In one case, a daycare listed at a West Seattle address received more than $229,000 between July 2025 and March 2026, according to state fiscal records cited by The Center Square. But residents at the home reportedly told the outlet repeatedly that no daycare operated there. “Is there a daycare operated from here?” a Center Square reporter asked. “No," the person who answered the door responded. The resident also said there had never been a daycare at the address.
The outlet said it found a similar pattern during visits to other home-based daycares, including properties that received large sums in subsidies while showing little outward sign of children being cared for inside. At a Federal Way home-based daycare that reportedly received $223,247 over nine months, the homeowner called police when reporters and independent journalist Jonathan Choe visited the property. Officers told the woman that reporters were allowed to stand on the sidewalk, according to The Center Square.
Despite the findings, state officials have resisted calls for a broader crackdown. Attorney General Nick Brown previously demonized the journalists for investigating the allegations, saying in December, “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. I encourage anyone experiencing threats or harassment to either contact local law enforcement or our office’s Hate Crimes & Bias Incident Hotline.”
State Auditor Pat McCarthy also told The Center Square in January that her office was reviewing how childcare subsidy payments are processed by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, but that enforcement against specific providers would fall to other agencies. “No, that’s not what we’re doing. What we’re doing is an audit related to DCYF as to how the money is processed to the providers,” McCarthy said. “What we do is we do this audit work, and then we provide that information to the people that can do the enforcement, which would be the DSHS Fraud Investigative Unit or the AG's Office Fraud Investigative Unit, and then they would determine who would actually take the next steps.”
McCarthy’s office later released an audit estimating $37 million in questionable childcare subsidy payments made through DCYF using federal funds. The audit found weaknesses in prepayment controls, though it did not confirm fraud.
The daycare allegations come as Washington state and King County agencies face growing scrutiny over taxpayer-funded programs and weak oversight. A 2026 forensic review of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority found roughly $13 million unaccounted for, a $44.7 million negative cash position, and millions in unreconciled receivables. Separately, a King County Department of Community and Human Services audit found that county grants ballooned from $22 million in 2019–2020 to $1.8 billion in 2023–2024, with about half classified as high risk. A fired county program manager, Yolanda McGhee, was also accused of steering roughly $800,000 to family-connected entities through homelessness-related contracts.
The Department of Commerce also recently reversed course and released a full list of taxpayer-funded daycare providers receiving Early Learning Facilities grants after members of the media questioned why the information was not public. The grants totaled $57.8 million and were intended to create more than 2,000 new childcare slots. The agency initially cited privacy concerns before releasing provider names and addresses following “new guidance” from the attorney general’s office.
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