Today’s Issue: The Largest ECE Strike EVER; Improper Payments Deep Dive; ECE in the News = 2 cups of coffee.

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✊ History Was Made — Did You Show Up?

On May 11th, ECE had biggest work stoppage in child care history. Over 3,850 providers and parents across 30 states closed their doors, marched on capitol steps, and demanded what we've always known: this industry is the backbone of the economy, and it's been underfunded and overlooked for far too long. From Philly to Columbus to Salt Lake City, the message was the same, child care isn't a wish list item, it's a necessity. What was the trigger? Recent government calls to roll back federal rules that made care more affordable and boosted provider pay. The movement's response? Show up louder. This fight is just getting started.

👉 READ THE FULL STORY HERE

📊 Quick Reader Poll:

🚨 It’s Serious: Improper Payments — What They Are (and What They're NOT)

With fraud headlines dominating ECE news lately (more on that below 👇), it's time to get crystal clear on something that affects every provider receiving CCDF funds: improper payments. Here's the deal, the term gets thrown around a lot, but most providers don't fully understand what it means for them.

Key Findings:

• Improper ≠ Fraudulent. Not every improper payment is fraud. Most result from administrative errors, missing documentation, or eligibility timing issues, not bad intentions.

• CCDF is federally regulated under the Payment Integrity Information Act (PIIA). States are required to measure and report improper payments to ACF/HHS every three years.

• States sample 276 cases drawn over a 12-month period to calculate error rates. If a state hits above a 10% improper payment rate, a corrective action plan is required.

• Fraud is a narrow subset — it involves deliberate misrepresentation, and it makes up only a small fraction of total improper payment cases.

Immediate Takeaways for Providers:

• ✅ Keep your documentation airtight. Eligibility records, attendance logs, and payment authorizations must be accurate and up to date.

• ✅ Know your state's CCDF State Plan. It spells out exactly what's required of you, and ignorance isn't a defense.

• ✅ Train your team. Staff who handle subsidy paperwork need to understand what "correct" looks like and what to flag when something seems off.

• ✅ If you spot a potential error, address it proactively. Self-correction before a review goes far better than a finding after one.

And yes, the fraud cases highlighted in ECE in the News below are real, they're serious, and they're a reminder that bad actors do exist in our space. The best thing the rest of us can do is run tight, compliant operations and not give anyone a reason to take a second look.

👉 Read the Full Article | 📥 Download the Full Report: "Understanding Improper Payments"

📰 ECE In The News

🔒 42 Years. No Joke. The leader of Minnesota's Feeding Our Future nonprofit just got handed a nearly 42-year prison sentence for her role in what prosecutors called the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in U.S. history, a staggering $250M operation that falsely claimed to feed millions of kids during the pandemic. Fake meal sites, phony lists of children, kickbacks, luxury travel. The same week, new charges were filed against the CEO of a Minneapolis childcare center connected to the same network, accused of collecting millions in CCAP subsidy funds without requiring required parent co-payments. The scale of this case is jaw-dropping, and it's a big reason why federal oversight of ECE funds is under a microscope right now. 👉👉 READ HERE

💸 Minnesota Strikes Again. This time in Rochester and Kasson. The owner of three childcare centers, Creative Stars Academy and Tree of Life Academy, now faces federal wire fraud charges after allegedly inflating staff hours and submitting false applications to the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program. According to court documents, she filed fraudulent paperwork on behalf of at least 23 people who never worked at her centers, pocketing roughly $425k in the process. This case is tied to the broader Feeding Our Future investigation and is another loud reminder: program funds have paper trails, and investigators are following them. 👉👉 READ HERE

🌐 The Internet is a Playground:

📅 On this Day in History: On June 2, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting full U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born on American soil. It was a landmark moment for civil rights, though voting restrictions in many states meant it would take decades more for that promise to be fully realized. A powerful reminder that the fight for equal recognition is rarely won in a single signature. 🪶

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