It can be confusing when there is a need for interpreters though your agency plus a family member on speaker phone who is interpreting, and many relatives present, but once you focus, it’s really not hard to verify a person’s ID. But people just won’t focus and blame the Somali community instead.

And it can sure be difficult having a similar name and DOB as another person, and then because a person thinks “oh, there are 15 Ahmed Omars showing up, let’s ask his DOB, ok, there are 2 that are 1/1/1989, have him verify his SSN” which makes them think “this person is inconvenient and fraudulent”

A lot of Somali folks have the same first name, last name, and DOB (since a lot of refugees are given a January 1 birthday since birth records may not be accurate in Somalia) so a provider probably didn’t verify the address, SSN, or A-number before notating the wrong chart. And then they continued.

I’ve also seen headlines about some suspected Medicaid fraud due to a Somali man who was in Kenya being billed for Medicaid healthcare (I think he returned to the USA, reopened his case, and the case worker reported activity while he was in Kenya) and I would bet money that it was a legit error.

It’s not necessarily a red flag to not see a child or to not have windows or playgrounds, especially if it is an overnight daycare. It wouldn’t be safe, practical, or quiet to be outside. It’s also not a red flag to have secure entry and not allow somebody who isn’t expected to enter the premises.

The child care assistance program (CCAP) is offered through Hennepin County and there are some daycares with a higher amount of CCAP kids. These daycares may also be exclusively open for second shift, so they may not be open during regular 9-5. It may also have many Somali children enrolled.

For example, this “fraud daycare” situation seems to be completely uninformed. I’m sure there are situations where fraudulent billing has occurred in daycares, but the videos showing that there are no children on premises, and that it is closed, aren’t as telling as they think.

It really seems like this “Minnesota fraud” angle is trying to paint Somalis as fraudsters and the thing is that Aimee Bock, the Feeding Our Future Fraudster, is a white woman.

Right, I just reposted a thread from almost a year ago with my thoughts about this “daycare fraud” an I really wanted to say that it seemed targeted against Somalis. People don’t understand a lot of things and make stupid assumptions.

Exactly. The contest rules probably said it was all ages and we don’t even know if the applicant knew she’d be in a category with kids. We have art competitions at county and state fairs for all ages, so it’s not that unusual.

We crave community!

They really should do a 13-18 bracket. I think it’s fine for adults to participate and it looks fun, but yeah.

Right, like God forbid somebody tells their doctor that they found themselves liking how they felt on pain meds a little too much and ask the doctor for a supervised taper, which is apparently too much of a liability...

Fentanyl is absolutely a danger to drug users but not to most people of the public. Harm reduction is the answer, not declaring Fentanyl a weapon.