Somali Scams Prompt Nesbitt To Call Childcare Provider Subsidies Audit

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/05/2026) Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton), a Republican candidate for governor, wants an audit of state subsidies provided to childcare providers. His request follows reports in Minnesota of significant fraud schemes, where Somali residents have been accused of fraudulently collecting government funding intended for child nutrition, housing services and autism programming.

The audit Nesbitt has requested would be conducted by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), the Legislature's investigative body over the executive branch, looking into Michigan's "Child Development and Care Program" grants.

Nesbitt's office explained the state program, which aims to support low-income households with childcare expenses, "is receiving over $540 million in taxpayer support this year." The money is overseen by the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential (MiLEAP). The Governor created the program in summer 2023.

"Given the Whitmer administration's disastrous record of oversight failures, I've asked the state auditor to discover if Michigan's child care program is plagued by rampant fraud and abuse like we are seeing in other parts of the country," Nesbitt said. "We must make sure these taxpayer dollars are being spent to help Michigan families, not foreign scammers."

In response, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr. called the audit request a "desperate attempt from Aric Nesbitt to try and distract from his disastrous track record of making it harder for parents to get affordable childcare.

"Nesbitt voted against the state budget that expanded free pre-K access across the state, against increasing the Michigan Working Families Tax Credit, and he's celebrated the Republican cuts to health care and food assistance that are costing working Michiganders thousands of dollars," Hertel said. "It's obvious he doesn't actually care about helping middle-class families—he only cares about his own partisan politics."