WATCH: TCS investigating potential child care center fraud in WA

By Carleen Johnson
The Center Square

Daycare centers that receive hundreds of thousands in taxpayer subsidies did not appear to have any children when The Center Square visited the facilities this week and were either openly hostile or told journalists that they were hoping to have children in their care, but did not have an application available or anyone to talk with about enrolling a child.

The focus on Washington’s taxpayer subsidized daycares comes at the time federal authorities are conducting what they call a “massive” investigation into fraud in Somali-run facilities in Minnesota.

According to fiscal.wa.gov, a home-based daycare on 6th Avenue SW called Eyow Childcare Inc., received $158,931 in taxpayer subsidies and grants from July to November of 2025.

When The Center Square returned to that home for a second time on Tuesday, the homeowner immediately called police, and was videotaped as she refused to respond to questions posed by independent journalist Jonathan Choe.

Three Federal Way Police officers arrived within seconds but told the woman reporters were allowed to be on the sidewalk and urged her “to calm down.”

An officer did enter the home and indicated there were three children in the home but did not verify if those children were daycare attendants.

Brightstar Early Learning on S. 317th received $141,686 in taxpayer subsidies from July to November of 2025.

When The Center Square stopped by on Monday, a woman refused to answer questions about whether or not there is a daycare inside.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“Do you have a daycare here?” asked TCS.

“What are you looking for?” the woman again asked.

“Do you have children that you take care of here?” we asked again.

That’s when the woman pulled out her iPhone and began filming The Center Square.

“Do you have a daycare that operates here?”

“I don’t have to answer. Where do you come from?” she said, before closing and locking the front door.

Another Federal Way daycare called Wonder Kidz located on 19th Ave. S. received $258,199 between July and November 2025. The Center Square did not visit that home. Other locations not visited by The Center Square that have received much larger taxpayer contributions include include the Asal Family Daycare in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood receiving more than $690,000 in subsidies and grants in the five months from July to November this year.

People who answered the door at a Federal Way home on SW 326th on Tuesday called Halimo Daycare said they currently had no children but were hoping to get some soon.A Facebook post from the city of Federal Way shows an Oct. 29, 2025, ribbon cutting ceremony for the daycare, indicating it was one of three newly opening centers receiving grant funding. “The City of Federal Way provided funds to Imagine Institute, a national organization that works with the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) in the State of Washington, to provide training and resources to help potential childcare providers open spaces in cities like Federal Way,” wrote Federal Way Communications Manager Ben Miller via email. “The total contract was worth $80,000 and signed in 2024. The majority of the funds provided 480 hours of training to three different childcare providers in our city that included hands-on learning and mentorship.”Miller indicated some of the money was also used to buy materials and furniture. He said it was one time funding, but did not respond to further questions about the expected operational date for the center.

Of the 25 home-based daycare providers within a one-mile radius in Federal Way, 12 of the providers listed on Child Care Aware of Washington are identified as Somali and accept multiple state subsidies.

The Center Square spoke with Washington State Republican Party Chair and state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, about the potential fraud allegations and how state lawmakers may respond.

“The far left has been using childcare as a focus-group talking point for the last few years,” he said indicated it “ends up being a grift. And when they talk about wanting to support childcare, this is something that clearly resonates with people. But they have treated it like a grifting enterprise similar to the carbon tax, where money allocated for a good purpose, in this case, subsidizing childcare for working families, ends up not actually doing what it purports to do.”

Walsh said the full picture of potential fraud in Washington isn’t yet known, but he noted parallels to what has been happening in Minnesota.

“The story is still emerging here in Washington, but there are structural similarities. So it may be a little premature to say that the depth and breadth of the grift here is as bad as Minnesota, but it’s troubling,” he said.

Other independent journalists, including Cam Higby and Kristen Magnuson, are also working to uncover potential fraud. Posts on X and Facebook regarding the issue, along with comments, indicate a desire for any misuse of taxpayer funds to be exposed.

Some comments on The Center Square posts on X have suggested that the daycares visited were empty due to the holiday period, while another daycare provider told TCS they are extra busy during the two-week holiday period because many parents are still working, but schools are closed.

Walsh said the legislative solution to ending this type of potential fraud is simple.

“The solution would be to require the same kind of reporting by non-governmental organizations that political campaigns have to make currently through the PDC, or Public Disclosure Commission,” Walsh said. “So, if an NGO is receiving money from a state agency, often the State Department of Commerce or other agencies, if they are receiving grant money from these state bureaucratic agencies, they have to make the same disclosures that a political campaign has to make about how it brings in money and how it spends money.”

The Department of Children, Youth & Families, which distributes funding for childcare subsidies to providers, told The Center Square that it would investigate any of the questionable locations TCS visited this week.

“I am working to gather how much has been provided for child care subsidies,” DCYF Director of External Communications Nancy Guitierrez told The Center Square.

She pointed out a website where information on subsidy participation is noted for each daycare, though the subsidies they are receiving are not indicated.

DCYF put out a news release on Wednesday regarding media coverage that states, in part, “The safety of children and the people caring for them is a top priority for DCYF. Video recording in public spaces is not illegal, however, if an interaction appears threatening in nature or puts children at risk, please call law enforcement.”