In January, the Trump administration announced that it would freeze federal child care payments to five states. Although “widespread fraud” was referenced by the Department of Health and Human Services as rationale for the move, the announcement was not accompanied by evidence proportionate to the action. 

For more on what happened and why it matters, read Hope&’s overview: Freezing Funds for Child Care.

For those who want to think proactively about the communications challenge posed by allegations of public fraud, read on. 

Grabbing attention

Words matter. Shouting “fraud” into our public life, without credible evidence, is like a heckler jeering at a concert. It grabs attention and degrades the mood, setting everyone on edge. 

This kind of fraud discourse – low on evidence, disproportionate in impact – places those who care about community services in an impossible position, attempting to disprove negatives and un-ring bells that have already sounded.

Why ‘fraud’ claims stick

Shouting ‘fraud’ is effective because it confirms and reinforces an underlying narrative that many people already hold: government systems are broken. They’re not worth our trust. 

In 2025, Pew researchers found that trust in government is at its lowest point in seven decades. Addressing distrust and cynicism requires investment in good government and changing the narrative around public life. 

Because a mood of distrust relates to a whole system, responses focused on individual impact of programs like the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) are important but not enough. The example of one family who benefited from CCDF can be viewed by skeptics as simply one instance while leaving the meta-narrative about broken, untrustworthy systems intact.  

Make fraud claims less sticky by building up stories of shared history.

Shared-history stories illustrate the experiences and values of a community. They help us understand how individual stories are part of a larger whole that extends over time.  

People are moved to compassion on the basis of personal stories. People build social trust on the basis of having - and remembering - a history together.

People are moved to compassion on the basis of personal stories. People build social trust on the basis of having - and remembering - a history together.

In the context of child care, shared history stories might illustrate how the services supported by CCDF came to be. They remind us that child care is a resource built up over time by committed people who care about kids, families, and their neighbors.

Thinking about shared histories child care in your community, you might start with prompts such as:

• Who started the preschool whose welcoming banner is prominently visible in our town? What role did these founders play in the community? What motivated their efforts? 

• What is the life story of the woman whose in-home child care helped nurture a whole neighborhood of kids? Where are these kids now? What impact did this care provider have on the community over time? 

We live in a social and media environment in which hecklers are holding a bullhorn. Personal impact stories can illustrate the harm done when allegations of fraud are lobbed with weak evidence. Building up shared history stories - narratives about how the systems we rely on came to be - can do preventive work, building up a resistance to sensational claims before they take hold. 

In hope, 

Rachel 

Dive Deeper: How funding freezes could affect the faith sector

• 2,730 child care centers that accept CCDF funding and are sponsored by churches or religious schools. Smaller-scale state surveys suggest that the total number of child care providers who are connected to faith is likely higher - nearer to 20 percent. 

• Among a sample of faith-connected child care providers surveyed in Georgia and Massachusetts, nearly half drew support from the Child Care and Development Fund to serve children ages 0-5 in their communities.  

• Child care payment freezes and new federal requirements will have an effect on these and many other child care providers whose mission is to serve kids. 

  From Hope&’s overview: Freezing Funds for Child Care.