MN Public Tools, independent public-records research by Dan Swenson.
What the programs were
Every case in this section started as a program built to do something worthwhile, such as feeding children, housing people in crisis, treating autism, or keeping seniors at home. This page explains each program as it was designed, how the money moved, and the history that turned it into a case, before you read the case pages. The child-nutrition programs were run by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), and the Medicaid programs are run by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).
Feeding Our Future (federal child nutrition)
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) are federal programs that reimburse meals served to children at day cares, after-school programs, shelters, and summer sites. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pays for the meals. In Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) administers both programs. Most meal sites are too small to handle federal paperwork, so nonprofit sponsors sit between the state and the sites. A sponsor signs up sites, submits their reimbursement claims to MDE, passes the money through, and keeps an administrative fee. Feeding Our Future was one of those sponsors. By 2021 the state checkbook shows it receiving far more than Partners in Nutrition, the other sponsor whose payments this site charts. Primary source:Legislative AuditorPrimary source:USDA Food and Nutrition Service
How the money moved
1USDA Food and Nutrition Service funds the programs and sets the rules
2MDE approves sponsors, disburses reimbursements, and monitors
3The sponsor (Feeding Our Future) enrolls sites and submits their claims, keeping an administrative fee
4Meal sites and vendors claim to buy, prepare, and serve the meals
History
November 2016 to June 2017Feeding Our Future is established as a nonprofit in November 2016, and MDE approves it as a CACFP sponsor in June 2017. It stays largely inactive until mid-2018 and receives its first reimbursements that August.
June 2020MDE approves Feeding Our Future for the Summer Food Service Program as well, the decision that preceded the sponsor’s largest growth. Pandemic-era federal waivers had loosened where and how program meals could be served and had made routine onsite monitoring optional for states that elected the relief.
2019 to 2021The sponsor’s claim volume multiplies across two years. The year-by-year state checkbook payments behind that growth are charted on the money-flow page.
November 2020 to 2022Feeding Our Future sued the department in November 2020 over slow site-application decisions. MDE’s payment stop came later, in March 2021, and was fought inside the same case. The civil case ended without a trial after the January 2022 raids and has its own page, the lawsuit page, including the April 2021 hearing transcript.
January 20, 2022The FBI executes search warrants across the Twin Cities, bringing the investigation into public view. The nonprofit dissolves under court supervision weeks later.
2022 to 2026Federal prosecutors charge waves of defendants. The founder is convicted at trial in March 2025 and sentenced in May 2026 to 500 months. The court attributes $242 million in losses to her.
The Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) benefit covers early, intensive therapy for Minnesotans under 21 with autism spectrum disorder and related conditions. Families get treatment plans through enrolled providers, and the providers bill Medicaid for therapy hours, including one-on-one work billed under staff categories such as behavioral technician. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) administers the benefit, and its Office of Inspector General screens the providers. Primary source:Legislative Auditor
How the money moved
1The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pays the federal share of Minnesota Medicaid
2DHS administers the benefit and enrolls providers
3EIDBI providers bill Medicaid for therapy hours under each treatment plan
History
2020 to 2024Total program cost grows from $38.1 million to $324.9 million per the Legislative Auditor, while recipients nearly quadruple. Growth is spending, not fraud. The charged amounts are on the case page.
November 1, 2025With federal approval, DHS stops enrolling new EIDBI provider agencies. This freeze (called a moratorium) is later extended through October 31, 2026. Every existing agency must apply for a provisional license by May 31, 2026 or be dropped from the program.
December 18, 2025A second EIDBI provider, the operator of Star Autism Center, is charged with wire fraud over more than $6 million in reimbursements. He pleaded guilty in March 2026.
May 2026A grand jury indicts two defendants tied to Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center for a $46.6 million billing scheme, the largest EIDBI case to date. The program keeps operating under the freeze on new agencies, the provisional-license requirement, and prepayment review (claims checked before they are paid).
August to September 2026DHS acknowledges a backlog of about 1,000 fee-for-service treatment-plan authorizations awaiting review. Families and providers report waits for care.
Housing Stabilization Services, a Medicaid benefit
Housing Stabilization Services paid for help finding and keeping housing (locating an apartment, dealing with a landlord, or staying housed after a crisis) for Medicaid enrollees with disabilities, mental illness, or substance-use conditions. Minnesota was the first state to make this a standard Medicaid benefit (a state-plan benefit) rather than a pilot run under a demonstration waiver. Pilots get a federal budget-neutrality review before approval, but standard benefits do not. Providers enrolled with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and billed Medicaid directly for the services. Primary source:Minnesota Dept. of Human ServicesSecondary source:CSG Midwest
How the money moved
1The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pays the federal share and approved the benefit
2DHS administers the benefit, enrolls providers, and pays claims
3Enrolled providers bill Medicaid for help moving in and help staying housed
History
July 2020The benefit launches, projected to cost about $2.6 million a year.
2021 to mid-2025Claims grow far past the projection. They reach more than $21 million in 2021, $42 million in 2022, $74 million in 2023, $104 million in 2024 (about 40 times the annual projection), and $61 million in the first six months of 2025, about $302 million in all by this site’s sum. The growth is charted below.
August 1, 2025DHS asks the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to end the benefit, citing widespread fraud. It says it has suspended payments to 77 providers on credible allegations of fraud. A payment suspension is a temporary action, not a finding.
September 2025The first wave of federal charges names eight people. Prosecutors describe operators signing up vulnerable people, many leaving drug or alcohol treatment, and billing for help never provided.
October 31, 2025Citing widespread fraud, DHS terminates the program with federal approval, saying it intends to build a replacement with stronger safeguards.
January 2026The Governor’s supplemental budget asks the Legislature to align statute with the termination and to have DHS deliver recommendations for a redesigned housing benefit by September 15, 2027. No replacement benefit existed as of September 2026.
February to July 2026Guilty pleas accumulate. Two Philadelphia residents who enrolled as Minnesota providers plead in February. All four Brilliant Minds Services defendants from the first wave plead in July.
Personal Care Assistance (PCA), a Medicaid benefit
Personal Care Assistance pays for in-home help with daily living, dressing, bathing, meals, and errands, for seniors and people with disabilities, so they can stay out of institutional care. It is one of Minnesota Medicaid’s oldest and largest home-care benefits. Agencies employ the aides, and the agencies bill Medicaid for the hours worked. Primary source:Minnesota Attorney General
How the money moved
1The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pays the federal share of Minnesota Medicaid
2The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) administers the benefit and enrolls PCA agencies
3Agencies employ personal care assistants and bill Medicaid for hours
History
August 2023The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit charges the owners and managers of MN Professional with $9.5 million in fraud, then the largest case in the unit’s history. The charge alleged hours billed but never worked, concealed through a check-cashing scheme.
December 2025PCA is among the 14 service types DHS places under prepayment review by an outside firm, meaning billed services are checked before payment. The first claims were held for review in mid-December 2025.
Beyond the named cases, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) flagged 14 Medicaid service types as high risk for fraud, waste, and abuse, including nonemergency medical transportation, adult day services, peer recovery support, and integrated community supports. These are real services for real needs. In all of them, providers bill per service, and until recently almost anyone could enroll as a provider. Secondary source:Minnesota ReformerPrimary source:Minnesota Dept. of Human Services
How the money moved
1The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pays the federal share of Minnesota Medicaid
2DHS enrolls providers across the flagged service types
3Providers bill per service, and claims are now checked before they are paid
History
January 27, 2026A six-month freeze on enrolling new providers, approved by CMS, takes effect across the high-risk services not already frozen. In July 2026 CMS approves an extension through January 27, 2027.
February 2026A state-commissioned Optum review of $9.4 billion in claims across the flagged services marks about $1 billion as needing closer review and $52.3 million as clear policy violations. The report says those figures do not necessarily imply fraud.
May 2026A federal takedown charges 15 defendants across seven programs (four of them Medicaid benefits) with more than $90 million in alleged intended loss. As of October 2026, most of those cases are pending. Takedown defendant Fahima Mahamud pleaded guilty in July, and Sharmaine Meadows was convicted at trial on October 7.
September 24, 2026At a legislator’s request, the Legislative Auditor publishes a summary of Optum’s January 2026 vulnerability assessment of the 14 high-risk programs, recommending recurring fraud risk assessments. The auditor notes it did not independently verify Optum’s work.
Total program cost in the two years documented by the Legislative Auditor. Program growth is spending, not fraud. Recipients also nearly quadrupled over the same years.
People charged but not convicted are presumed innocent, and amounts labeled alleged come from charging documents, not proven losses. Method and corrections