State audit scheduled for Michigan child care subsidy program in 2026

• Youngster care subsidy applications are coming below growing scrutiny following claims of widespread program fraud by the Trump administration.
• A Republican state lawmaker known as for a program evaluation that the auditor common lately determined so as to add to his 2026 function.

Michigan’s auditor common plans to evaluation the state’s baby care subsidy program, and one of many elements behind this determination is a request for an audit from Senate Republican Chief Aric Nesbitt.

Nesbitt, who’s operating for governor, known as for an audit of this system after the Trump administration alleged widespread baby care subsidy fraud in Minnesota and throughout the nation.

Nesbitt’s request is one among a number of elements that prompted the Auditor Basic to place this system on the 2026 agenda. including approximately 30 other programs. Different elements that decide these kind of choices embody whether or not employees can be found to conduct the audit, this system’s audit historical past and general public curiosity in this system, Kelly Miller, spokesperson for the Workplace of the Auditor Basic, stated in an e mail.

The main points of what the audit will embody usually are not but identified, as a result of auditors should first determine areas of concern or enhancements earlier than determining what the scope of the evaluation will appear like, Miller wrote.

The Auditor Basic conducts annual monetary audits of each main state grant program utilizing federal {dollars}, however given restricted time and assets, the company should be selective in figuring out which applications obtain efficiency audits.

Monetary audits be certain that a program meets federal necessities tied to federal {dollars}, efficiency audits put a magnifying glass on a particular program factor, typically associated to insurance policies and procedures. Earlier efficiency audits of kid care subsidies in Michigan have revealed issues, together with an absence of methods to trace the accuracy of funds to baby care suppliers and inadequate background checks on licensed suppliers.

The final one The performance audit of Michigan’s child care subsidy system was released in November 2025though it didn’t give attention to evaluating how properly this system manages fraud and improper funds. As a substitute, it targeted on an issue that retains cropping up amongst suppliers and households who use this system: poor communication practices by the state early childhood company MiLEAP, which administers this system, leaving baby care suppliers and fogeys stranded when funds are late or kids cannot declare the subsidy.

MiLEAP didn’t reply to requests for remark, however division spokesperson Aundreana Jones-Poole stated in an announcement earlier this month that “MiLEAP has a zero-tolerance coverage for fraud or misuse of funds supposed to profit Michigan households.”

Sen. Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, stated in a information launch that he welcomed the audit, calling it “excellent news for reliable, law-abiding baby care suppliers and the various households struggling to seek out inexpensive baby care in our state. It is time to root out waste, fraud and abuse and maintain our authorities businesses accountable for everybody preventing to make it in Michigan.”

Auditor common investigations are two of many state oversight measures supposed to trace a program’s integrity and curb potential program fraud: MiLEAP randomly audits licensed suppliers throughout Michigan to confirm time and attendance knowledge and guarantee billing is correct, and the Inspector Basic of the Michigan Division for Well being and Human Companies conducts fraud investigations yearly.

The federal authorities’s Workplace of Youngster Care additionally displays every state’s grant program. States are grouped into cohorts which might be evaluated in three-year cycles. Michigan’s subsequent federal audit may even happen in March 2026. according to the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, a Michigan-based early childhood nonprofit. Federal audits take a look at how applications deal with fraud and deal with errors in grant fee.

MiLEAP didn’t reply to questions on how the division will put together for each a state and federal audit going down across the identical time.

Beki San Martin is a fellow on the Detroit Free Press protecting baby care, early childhood schooling and different points impacting the lives of youngsters 5 and below and their households in metro Detroit and throughout Michigan. Contact her at rsanmartin@freepress.com.

This fellowship is supported by the Bainum Household Basis. The Free Press retains editorial management over this work.