State auditor says local daycare owes Ohio millions

CLEVELAND -- Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor says Ministerial Day Care Association now owes more than $10 million to the state.

A state audit says that a Cleveland-based Head Start provider accepted more than $7.5 million in state education funding for hundreds of children it did not serve. "This is the largest order of recovery our office has had," Taylor said.

The review of Ministerial Day Care Association released Monday was conducted by Taylor at the request of the state's Department of Education. It says the group received state funding for 5,162 children for grant years 1998, 1999 and 2000 but only could document serving 3,415 children.

An earlier state audit, which is caught up in a court battle, identified an additional $3.8 million in similar overpayments to the association.

The attorney for the Ministerial Association bitterly complains the agency did nothing wrong and says this is racism and politics at work.

"Do you see any white agencies that they're going after ... no!" said Attorney Larry Zukerman.

The auditor's office says this is purely about an audit of irregularities.