While independent journalist and YouTuber Nick Shirley blew the lid off Somali daycare fraud in Minneapolis, other journalists have been digging into widespread fraud across other programs in the state. This includes the autism programs.
Research shows that one in 28 (3.6 percent) of eight-year-olds in the state has an autism diagnosis, which is higher than the national average.
But here's where things get really interesting. Guess which demographic has had an "alarming" rise in autism diagnoses?
The Somali community. According to a PBS NewsHour report from October 2024, the overall rate of autism in four-year-olds is one in 53, but that number jumps to one in 16 for Somali four-year-olds.
"Autism is not widely understood in the Somali community, even though it is alarmingly prevalent," says the reporter Fred de Sam Lazaro.
"What they cannot answer," Lazaro said about the rising autism rates, "is why autism is so prevalent in the local Somali community, where they also found higher rates of intellectual disability than in the general population."
We all know why.
But if the rates of autism are "alarmingly high," you would think that the state-funded autism centers would be busy caring for autistic kids, no? The PBS NewsHour report even said "the first challenge is finding care providers" for those autistic kids.
Well, Alpha News did some good old fashioned shoe leather journalism and went to some of these autism centers and adult daycares.
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Guess what? They found empty rooms too, despite the fact millions of dollars go to these locations.
WATCH: Alpha News reporters Liz Collin and Jenna Gloeb visited more than a dozen autism centers and adult day care businesses across the Twin Cities during posted business hours on Monday, Dec. 15.
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) December 30, 2025
Just four of the locations have received nearly $7 million combined in taxpayer… https://t.co/lJi6Rkp432 pic.twitter.com/Tpi7ETUlq9
"Vacant rooms and autism therapy centers with no children present were among the findings as the reporters examined concerns raised by tipsters about Medicaid-funded programs," Alpha News wrote on X. "No children were observed at any of the autism centers visited. Only a few workers and a small number of elderly women were seen at the adult day care facilities. Many of the locations seemed empty."
Here's more from Collin and Gloeb:
Vacant rooms and autism therapy centers with no children present were among the findings as the reporters examined concerns raised by tipsters about Medicaid-funded programs.
No children were observed at any of the autism centers visited. Only a few workers and a small number of elderly women were seen at the adult day care facilities. Many of the locations seemed empty.
At one location, a luxury sedan circled the Alpha News reporters in the parking lot. Shortly afterward, police were called to report the journalists.
Just days after the site visits, federal officials revealed new details about the scale of suspected fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid system, announcing dollar figures that far exceed previous estimates.
There's also video of some of their visits.
WATCH: Alpha News reporters Liz Collin and Jenna Gloeb visited more than a dozen autism centers and adult day care businesses across the Twin Cities during posted business hours on Monday, Dec. 15.
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) December 30, 2025
Just four of the locations have received nearly $7 million combined in taxpayer… https://t.co/lJi6Rkp432 pic.twitter.com/Tpi7ETUlq9
At the Ausome Development Center in Edina, MN, they spoke to staff.
"Do you have openings here? Is this the autism center? Do you have openings for new clients?" they ask.
"So I have to check with my manager regarding that," the employee responds.
Employees say "we have kids here" and wouldn't let the reporters record, telling them to come back. No kids are seen or heard in the footage.
They then go to Taaj Daycare in Minneapolis and ask if there are openings. The hijab-wearing staff member at the door says, "I just came back today, so I will have to ask. I don't know."
She later comes back and says "we are full."
They then go to an adult day center, Amni Adult Day Center in St. Anthony. The door is locked, and it doesn't appear as if anyone is in the building until they knock and a woman answers.
Once again, the employee says, "We are at capacity. We have a small capacity." She says they only accept 35 adults and are at capacity.
They then visit Creative Minds Daycare in Minneapolis. No children are seen or heard on this video, either. When asked if they were open, the employee says, "We are open, but...we don't have enough children to open in the morning so now we open late." He says they have about 60 kids in the afternoon, seven days a week, but that they have openings for new kids.
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