Daycare Pirates of Somalia, image generated by AI using user prompts
By now, nearly everyone has seen, or at least heard of, Nick Shirley’s viral video uncovering fraud at several Minnesota daycare centers. The video has been viewed more than 100 million times and has triggered intensified federal and state investigations. The controversy has placed Governor Tim Walz’s administration under national scrutiny after First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson stated in December that half or more of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds sent to Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen.
Nick Shirley has been dismissed by some outlets as a right-wing video blogger and labeled an islamophobe pushing anti-immigrant hate. Meanwhile, Somali-linked fraud has been uncovered across multiple programs, ranging from immigration fraud to funding for daycare and food assistance, housing services, and autism programs.
Shirley’s video featured Quality Learning Center, a facility with a misspelled sign reading “Quality Learing Center,” that is licensed for 99 children. State records show Quality Learning Center received $7.8 million in federal taxpayer funds since 2019, with Shirley contending the center received $1.9 million in 2025 alone.
The facility accumulated 95 violations between 2019 and 2023, ranging from “failure to keep hazardous items away from children” to “no records for 16 children.” In 2022, DHS placed the facility on a conditional license for two years beginning June 8, 2022.
Commissioner Tikki Brown initially stated that Quality Learning Center had permanently closed, but a department spokeswoman later said the center had “decided to remain open.” KARE 11 cameras captured dozens of children being dropped off at the daycare, with parents claiming it was still operating.
According to one investigation, by August 1, 2025, a restaurant, Albi Kitchen, opened at the same licensed address, replacing the daycare’s physical operation. Yet as of January 1, 2026, the daycare license was marked “Renewed” and remains Active, preserving eligibility for CCAP payments.
Ibrahim Ali, a manager at Quality Learning Center who said his parents own the facility, told KARE that Shirley’s video was recorded when the business was scheduled to be closed, noting a sign on the door listing operating hours from 2 to 10 p.m. He claimed, “There’s no fraud going on whatsoever.”
Media attacks on Shirley, or claims that the story is untrue, ignore the fact that the Somali-linked daycare fraud had already been uncovered and reported by other outlets, including local media.
A 2018 Fox 9 report alleged as much as $100 million annually was being misappropriated and possibly diverted to terrorist groups in East Africa, though a 2019 Legislative Auditor report found “no evidence” to support those claims and determined the total stolen was between $5 million and $6 million.
KSTP Twin-Cities journalist Jay Kolls reported in January 2025 on 62 investigations underway involving federally-funded Minnesota child care centers. Kolls repeatedly visited facilities only to find locked doors and no people, much less children on site. The first company Kolls mentioned was Quality Learning Center, with DHS records indicating a licensing investigation has been underway since October 2024, with reviews and fines dating back to 2021. This is the same daycare that Nick Shirley featured prominently in his video.
State officials identified early signs of fraud as far back as July 2019. When Minnesota’s Department of Education attempted to stop payments in December 2020, Feeding Our Future sued the state, and a judge ruled that there was no legal basis to halt the payments. The lawsuit alleged racial discrimination, which discouraged further investigation and reporting on the issue.
The daycare revenue flowed through the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), a state-federal program that provides subsidies to help low-income families afford childcare. CCAP funding is based on the number of eligible children enrolled at a facility, not its total capacity. According to DHS rate tables for 2024, a Minneapolis daycare could bill between $70 and $110 per child per day, depending on the child’s age and the facility’s rating.
Between 2018 and 2025, CCAP funding rose from approximately $285 million to more than $520 million, while the total number of program-certified children rose less than ten percent, meaning the cost per child nearly doubled. Over the same period, DHS recorded a tripling of “serious violations” among licensed providers, from roughly 150 centers in 2018 to more than 450 by 2025.
The state Department of Human Services says CCAP payments to daycare facilities can be withheld for fraud, but not for “licensing violations alone.” Payment eligibility is tied to licensing status, not real-time verification of operations. As long as the license remains active, reimbursement eligibility remains intact unless the state intervenes.
Over the years, many people have been charged and convicted of defrauding CCAP, but whenever reporters or investigators raised questions about large-scale fraud, they were derided by state Democrats and much of the local legacy media. Reports were dismissed as exaggerated or outright racist. KARE-11 ran the headline, “Child care fraud exists, but doesn’t live up to claims,” while the Star Tribune reported, “Fraud in Minnesota’s child care program not $100 million but still troubling.”
The first major scandal involving fraudsters in the Somali community began in 2015, when three Minneapolis daycare centers were raided by police and accused of overbilling CCAP. Investigators discovered operators billing for more children than were actually present. By 2017, investigators had filed charges against 10 daycare operators.
Since 2021, the Child Care Audits and Investigations unit has referred about five cases a year to law enforcement and stopped payments to 79 child care providers. Despite a history of reporting and documented fraud, CNN described Shirley as a “YouTube content creator who has created anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim videos in the past,” and claimed the video “includes limited evidence for the creator’s allegations.” CNN said his rise reflects “the growing power of the right-wing media ecosystem, largely fueled by independent creators whom the president has favored over traditional news networks.”
Fox News fully embraced the story and interviewed Shirley multiple times. CNN, CBS, and NBC covered the story but characterized him as a “right-wing” or “MAGA” journalist with skepticism about his methods. The New York Times and Washington Post initially ignored his specific video investigation. Conservative media gave him extensive coverage. Newsweek did multiple articles and appears to have reached out to him.
In a post-truth world, if reality fails to match ideology, reality is rejected, and in the current climate of polarization, once a conservative says something, it becomes untrue. By the standards of the past five years, Democrats can claim that Wisconsin’s benefits oversight system is the most secure in American history, that diversity is our strength, and that we need the Somalis.
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