As federal agents fanned out across the Twin Cities this week, executing search warrants at child care and autism therapy centers, thousands of Minnesota families were left wondering: will we still have care for our kids?

The Child Care Assistance Program helps about 23,000 low-income children in Minnesota afford the care they need while their parents work. It is a lifeline — not a loophole. But every time fraud allegations dominate the headlines, it is the innocent families and legitimate providers who pay the price through program cuts, funding freezes, and political backlash.

We understand that fraud in publicly funded programs is serious. When bad actors steal Medicaid dollars meant for vulnerable children and families, they must be held accountable. But the response to fraud cannot be to dismantle the programs that working families depend on. Cutting child care assistance to punish a few would hurt thousands of kids who did nothing wrong.

We are calling on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Minnesota Legislature to do two things at once: vigorously pursue anyone who defrauded the Child Care Assistance Program — and explicitly commit to protecting the families and providers who play by the rules. That means no broad funding cuts to the program, no guilt-by-association enforcement that shuts down legitimate centers, and no political grandstanding that leaves 23,000 kids without a safety net.

Fraud investigations take time. Families cannot wait. We urge Minnesota's leaders to protect innocent children and families while the legal process runs its course.