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<\/a> <\/p>\nEngage with our community-funded journalism <\/a>as we delve into child care, transitional kindergarten, health and other issues affecting children from birth through age 5.<\/p>\n Trump has justified the action in comments posted on his social media platform Truth Social, where he accused Newsom of widespread fraud. <\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office dismissed the accusation as \u201cderanged.\u201d The president\u2019s announcement came amid his administration\u2019s broader push<\/a> to target Democrat-led states over alleged fraud in taxpayer-funded programs. It follows sweeping prosecutions in Minnesota, where federal officials allege that as much as half of the roughly $18 billion paid to 14 state-run programs since 2018 may have been fraudulent.<\/p>\n In California, it\u2019s not clear when the funding freeze would begin. And elements of Trump\u2019s effort in the state appear to have been hastily formulated. One letter to Newsom that announced the restrictions asked for data about Minnesota.<\/p>\n Several observers said they expect California to file a legal challenge over the freeze. <\/p>\n \u201cThese funds are not optional \u2014 they are critical lifelines for working families across California,\u201d said Jason Montiel, a spokesperson for the California Department of Social Services. \u201cThe State of California aggressively investigates and prosecutes fraud. Using unsupported allegations to withhold child-care funding only from states that didn\u2019t vote for the President doesn\u2019t stop fraud \u2014 it harms struggling moms and dads President Trump claims to be fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n The prospect of a funding collapse has jolted families and child-care providers, many of whom operate on thin margins and could be imperiled by even the temporary halting of payments. <\/p>\n \u201cIt could impact tens of thousands of families [locally] who are currently relying on assistance to pay for child care so they can maintain their employment,\u201d said Donna Sneeringer, president of the Child Care Resource Center,<\/a> a nonprofit that helps connect families in Southern California with child care and subsidies. <\/p>\n Trump claims<\/p>\n Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social on Tuesday that under Newsom, California is \u201cmore corrupt than Minnesota, if that\u2019s possible???\u201d In the post, Trump used a derogatory nickname for Newsom that has become popular with the governor\u2019s critics, referring to him as \u201cNewscum.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Fraud Investigation of California has begun,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n The president also retweeted a story by the New York Post that said his Department of Health and Human Services will freeze taxpayer funding from the Child Care Development Fund, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which is known as CalWORKS in California, and the Social Services Block Grant program.<\/p>\n \u201cFor too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch,\u201d said Andrew Nixon, a department spokesperson. \u201cUnder the Trump Administration, we are ensuring that federal taxpayer dollars are being used for legitimate purposes. We will ensure these states are following the law and protecting hard-earned taxpayer money.\u201d<\/p>\n The department announced last month that all 50 states will have to provide additional levels of verification<\/a> and administrative data before they receive more funding from the Child Care and Development Fund after a series of fraud schemes at Minnesota day-care centers run by Somali residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump Administration is using the moral guise of eliminating \u2018fraud and abuse\u2019 to undermine essential programs and punish families and children who depend on these services to survive, many of whom have no other options if this funding disappears,\u201d Kristin McGuire, president of Young Invincibles, a young-adult nonprofit economic advocacy group, said in a statement. <\/p>\n California pushes back<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s office has brushed off Trump\u2019s post about fraud allegations, calling the president \u201ca deranged, habitual liar whose relationship with reality ended years ago.\u201d The governor said he welcomes federal fraud investigations in the state, adding in an interview on MS NOW that aired Monday night: \u201cBring it on. … If he has some unique insight and information, I look forward to partnering with him. I can\u2019t stand fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Newsom said cutting off funding hurts hardworking families who rely on the assistance.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to support families? You believe in families? Then you believe in supporting child care and child-care workers in the workforce,\u201d Newsom told MS NOW.<\/p>\n In the current state budget, California\u2019s child-care spending is $7.3 billion, of which $2.2 billion is federal dollars, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the California Department of Finance. According to the state\u2019s Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office, about $1.4 billion in federal child care funding would be frozen per the letters from Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n Newsom is set to unveil his budget proposal Friday for the fiscal year that begins July 1, which will mark the governor\u2019s final spending plan before he terms out. <\/p>\n Palmer said while details about the potential threat to federal child-care dollars remain unclear, what is known is that federal dollars are not like \u201ca spigot that will be turned off by the end of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no immediate cutoff that will happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Since Trump took office, California has filed dozens of legal actions to block the president\u2019s policy changes and funding cuts, and the state has prevailed in many of them. <\/p>\n What happened in Minnesota<\/p>\n Federal prosecutors say Minnesota has been hit by some of the largest fraud schemes involving state-run, federally funded programs in the country. Providers are accused of billing for services never delivered and diverting money for personal use.<\/p>\n The scale of the fraud has drawn national attention and fueled the Trump administration\u2019s decision to freeze child-care funds<\/a> while demanding additional safeguards before doling out money. Gov. Tim Walz has ordered a third-party audit and appointed a director of program integrity. Amid the fallout, Walz announced he will not seek a third term.<\/a> <\/p>\n Outrage over the fraud reached a fever pitch in the White House after a video posted online by an influencer purported to expose extensive fraud at Somali-run child-care centers in Minnesota. <\/p>\n California officials have acknowledged fraud failures in the past, most notably at the Employment Development Department during the COVID-19 pandemic, when weakened safeguards led to billions of dollars in unemployment payments later deemed potentially fraudulent.<\/p>\n An independent state audit released last month found administrative vulnerabilities in some of California\u2019s social services programs but stopped short of alleging widespread fraud or corruption. <\/p>\n The California state auditor added the Department of Social Services to its high-risk list because of persistent errors in calculating CalFresh benefits, which provides food assistance to those in need \u2014 a measure of payment accuracy rather than criminal activity \u2014 warning that federal law changes could eventually force the state to absorb billions of dollars in additional costs if those errors are not reduced.<\/p>\n What\u2019s at stake locally<\/p>\n A funding freeze would be a big blow for Danielle Svihovec, who runs Woodbury Preschool Village in Altadena. <\/p>\n She is still struggling to get her child-care center on its feet after the Eaton fire ravaged her community last January. A quarter of the families enrolled at Woodbury Preschool Village rely on state subsidies, a percentage that has increased due to fire hardships. <\/p>\n \u201cThe families that lost their homes are struggling financially, and they need help,\u201d Svihovec said. \u201cWe just keep getting one hit after another. We need a break.\u201d<\/p>\n Where it once had a waitlist of one to two years, Woodbury Preschool is still struggling to reach capacity a year after the fires, she said. Losing low-income families would be an additional obstacle to those enrollment losses as well as those felt by the increased competition from California\u2019s new grade, transitional kindergarten, she added.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how much more we can withstand,\u201d Svihovec said. <\/p>\n