The Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) is defending a decision to redact the names of home preschool and daycare providers receiving taxpayer subsidies as part of an expansion of early learning programs.
A press release issued by DCYF through the governor’s office on Sept. 21 announced $251 million in grants to daycare vendors for early learning programs. It lists 42 grant recipients, but the names of three of them are redacted.
State Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley, calls DCYF’s decision to redact provider names, “unbelievable.”
“Despite growing indications that daycare fraud is a genuine problem in our state, the Department of Children of Children, Youth and Families has quietly decided to conceal public records about in-home daycare providers who receive hundreds of millions of dollars every year in public funding,” wrote Christian in a news release.
The only detail provided for those three daycares are the grant recipients locations in Benton City, Kent and Renton.
An asterisk next to all three points to a footnote below that says: “Licensed Family Home Care site names have been redacted per WA Initiative 1501.”
Passed by voters in 2016, 1501 was promoted as a way to protect seniors and other vulnerable individuals from identity theft and fraud. But as reported by Freedom Foundation, the substance of I-1501 involved altering the state Public Records Act to “prevent state-paid individual provider home care aides (IPs) and family childcare providers from being informed of their recently recognized constitutional right to choose for themselves whether to pay union dues or fees.”
Now, 1501 is being used to justify the redaction of provider names receiving taxpayer subsidies.
“Neither the state nor any of its agencies shall release sensitive personal information of vulnerable individuals or sensitive personal information of in-home caregivers for vulnerable populations,” reads the amended statute.
As reported by The Center Square, this same issue happened back in May of this year.
The Department of Commerce issued a press release through the governor’s office announcing $57 million in grants to daycare providers for facility improvements. Twenty of 74 recipients went unnamed, citing 1501 as the rationale for hiding the names.
But when media outlets including The Center Square pressed Commerce to explain the redactions, the agency eventually caved and said based on advice from Attorney General Nick Brown they decided to release all the names of grant recipients.
The Center Square reached out to DCYF to further explain why they were redacting provider names, given that Commerce was instructed to include the names just five months ago.
“The names of the providers were redacted in compliance with Initiative 1501 (codified as RCW 42.56.640), which exempts sensitive personal information of in-home caregivers for vulnerable populations from the Public Records Act," wrote DCYF’s Communications Director Nancy Gutierrez. "Family child care providers are explicitly included in the definition of “in-home caregivers for vulnerable populations.” Therefore, we are required to redact this information in accordance with the law and will continue to do so as long as the statute is in place.”
Senate slams fraud, secrecy
“By some of these reports I'm seeing, there's clearly fraud in this state," said Christian in a Monday interview with The Center Square. "Clearly there’s daycare fraud. As a taxpayer, not as a senator, but as a taxpayer, I'm livid. I am furious about this.”
He shared being very concerned about state agencies concealing information from the press.
“When you are a business licensed in Washington state and they're trying to hide the fact that your business is taking money from the taxpayers, this is a concern," he added. "And what I'm really concerned about is that this is how socialist countries, communist countries, control the media. They have state-run media. And we're taking those steps where the government is deciding what's going to be aired and what message you're going to send out there."
Brown’s declined to comment on any guidance it provided to DCYF about redacting provider names.
“The legal advice the AGO gives its clients is attorney-client privileged," wrote AGO Communications Director Mike Faulk to The Center Square. "You would need to ask DCYF about their considerations.”
Christian said he intends to keep pressing for more transparency.
“That is our tax dollars that could be going to good programs," he said. "Programs that are helping people get off the streets and families that are hurting. Instead of giving it to some folks who have learned how to scam the system and then have politicians and unions hiding them.”
