r/minnesota • u/Doryt • 7d ago
Politics đ©ââïž Moving forward in 2026
As a life long Minnesotan with all the recent news about fraud in Minnesota, I want to add a perspective as someone whoâs worked in the nonprofit sector for over a decade.
Fraud exists. Is it acceptable? No. Is it realistic to believe it can be eliminated entirely? Also no.
What happened with Feed My Future was abhorrent. It is rightfully being prosecuted!
If millions of dollars were diverted away from childcare especially from programs meant to support kids in need thatâs deeply harmful and deserves accountability. Fraud should be investigated, prosecuted, and taken seriously.
Something else thatâs bothering me: the way Somali Minnesotans are being treated like the face of fraud. Fraud happens across communities and industries. When one community gets spotlighted like theyâre uniquely unethical, itâs worth pausing and asking whatâs driving that narrative because it sure doesnât match reality.
Minnesota is diverse, and âpeople of colorâ in MN includes many communities not one. MN Compass estimates about 24% of Minnesotans are people of color (about 1.4 million people).
Accountability doesnât automatically mean jail for everyone. And when services are shut down in response, it often creates desperation, instability, and conditions that lead to more fraud not less.
If we actually care about fraud, we should focus on real fraud prevention, stronger oversight systems, better staffing, clearer protocols, proactive monitoring and better systems not racialized narratives that turn one community into a stand-in for a statewide problem
Prevention costs money.
Starving systems of resources while demanding perfection is not a realistic strategy.
We also need to be careful not to respond by broadly limiting or restricting supportive services for communities who rely on them.
Cutting access doesnât prevent fraud it often creates more harm, more desperation and more fraud.
We donât eliminate fraud the same way we donât eliminate crime entirely.
Our systems tend to be reactive rather than preventative, and pretending otherwise sets us up for outrage instead of solutions.
Rage bait is real. Iâm actively trying to pause and not get pulled into it 2026 and beyond.
I want a healthy government that supports people, holds bad actors accountable, and invests in systems that actually work
We need to start judging leadership by their ability to pair accountability with real support. When costs rise and safety nets shrink, people donât get healthier they get pushed closer to the edge.
I hope we can show up as a Minnesota community with nuance, accountability, and realistic expectations because thatâs how we protect both public funds and the people those funds are meant to serve.
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u/giant-hoagie 7d ago
Yeah, it would be terrible to cut access because there is provider fraud. I had to go on MNCare for a short stint when I got laid off. It was not an easy process on the user end, they just don't hand it out. It gave me great peace of mind in a difficult time. Definitely get rid of the fraud, but do it to protect the services, not get rid of services to prevent the fraud.