JACKSON, Miss. — A new audit by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor found that millions in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds went to nonprofit childcare providers without requirements to track daily attendance or outcomes.
The report says nonprofits received the same payments whether a child attended one day a month or every day. In fiscal 2024, the nonprofits analyzed spent nearly $11 million in state TANF funds to provide childcare to low-income families, according to the audit.
The audit found the Mississippi Department of Human Services paid providers for offering childcare rather than for the number of children attending. Multiple programs served less than 50% of the children they committed to support every month but still received full funding. “The childcare fraud scandal in Minnesota has shown just how easy it is for nonprofits to receive government funds intended to help our poorest children and then light that money on fire,” said State Auditor Shad White.
MDHS did not collect daily attendance data from centers, the audit says. While the agency collected participant lists from nonprofits, auditors found duplicate entries, misspelled names and incorrect addresses. The Auditor’s Office also tried to assess whether children who attended made learning gains; it found MDHS did not reliably measure required outcomes such as literacy rates and teen pregnancy prevention.
The report is the first in a series on taxpayer-funded childcare programs in Mississippi. The full report is available on the auditor’s website under “Reports” (search “Afterschool care”). “Like most Mississippians, I pay for my own children’s childcare,” White said. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
