The Nebraska State Auditor’s office released a scathing report about abuses within the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Service Child Care Aid Payments Program.
In an early Tuesday morning news release it is reported that nearly $93 million in Federal and State funds spent by DHHS on child care subsidies over a nine-month period in late 2023 and early 2024 were reviewed and as much as $12.8 million in billings to the agency may have been, if not outright fraudulent, at least inordinately inflated by various providers.
One example cited claimed DHHS paid double and triple billings for the same child during the same period of service. One child care provider billed and was paid by DHHS for a child under the “toddler” rate and then billed and was paid again for that same child under the “preschool” rate for the same two weeks during February this year. The audit team cited another child care provider for 13 instances of similar multiple billings.
Read the news release here 7-9-24 DHHS Child Care Press Release. July 2024
The full audio report is available here https://auditors.nebraska.gov/APA_Reports/2024/SA2514-07082024-July_1_2023_Through_March_31_2024_Attestation_Report.pdf