This corruption didn't begin with the Somalis

Before tracking down "root causes" and supply chain history of the Somali day care fraud, I hope Congress stops and looks at two basics: Head start (turned 60 in 2025 in the failed War on Poverty which we lost ) and the corruption in the nonprofit arena (got really bad during Bush I who wanted to reduce federal employment with "faith-based" solutions).

By any definition and all the studies, Head Start has failed miserably--40 million children, their parents and the tax payers. Not every daycare is a head start model, but it's been ingrained in generations that children will be better off if mom leaves home to work and someone not family takes care of the kids. That's the old south slavery model, isn't it? By 2nd grade all academic gains are lost.

 
The whole nonprofit grants from the federal government model so the money is controlled locally is riddled with corruption, nepotism and graft, The Somali thing is the tip of the iceberg, and it's not just day care. It's good intentions gone bad.

https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/fbci/qr3.html?

Some think the Head start failure is a result of this year's fraud investigation (60 years), but it was declared a failure at 50 years and 40 years,  It's never passed the smell test. Head Start is in turmoil - The Hechinger Report

Family support vs. public policy

JD Vance ponders at the close of his book, "Hillbilly Elegy," whether there is a public policy that can correct/assist/compensate for his disastrous, difficult childhood. Why did he make it from the socioeconomic "hillybilly" bottom rung of the culture to the top--high school, university, Yale, law career, good marriage, high income--when so many don't?

He attributes a great deal of his success to his grandparents (he took their surname as an adult) who were a stable presence, and even his mother with her drug problems, many husbands and revolving door of boyfriends instilled in him the importance of education and learning. His older sister always protected and advised him, several aunts and uncles opened their homes and loved him through the tough spots. Even when he didn't follow them, he had good role models. "I was often surrounded by caring and kind men. . . Remove any of these people from the equation, and I'm probably screwed."

But he also acknowleges the tough, hillbilly, working class culture as giving him and others he knew the strength to work out solutions when the main stream culture and elites were totally foreign to them. For instance, if he hadn't lied for his mother when he was 12, he could have gone into foster care, removing him from all the people who loved him and helped him succeed.

After a successful career in California, Vance has returned to Columbus (he's an OSU graduate) to start a non-profit to address some of the problems like job training, the opioid crisis in Ohio and the crumbling social structures. It is reported his next book is on the decline of community churches.
http://radio.wosu.org/post/hillbilly-elegy-author-jd-vance-back-ohio#stream/0

Project Home Again

Here's a man who used his wealth for good before Obama could destroy it. Project Home Again is a nonprofit, housing development organization created by The Leonard and Louise Riggio Foundation shortly after Hurricane Katrina to build high-quality, energy-efficient homes for low and moderate-income NOLAns. The city and federal government bogged down in various plans to make it smaller, greener, more chocolate, more market friendly--and more bound up in red tape. Meanwhile, Riggio, founder of Barnes & Noble, just rolled up his sleeves. Project Home should have 100 houses by the end of summer.

Project Home Again

In her own back yard

Condi Rice was a Professor at Stanford University, a world traveler, a news analyst, an author, but most importantly for her, the daughter of two educators who sacrificed for her education, piano lessons, and her involvement in sports like skating and tennis. So she was shocked to discover when asked to deliver an elementary school graduation address that the ceremony was elaborate because 70% of the children would not finish high school. She was embarrassed that she'd lived in Palo Alto for a decade and knew little about the community.

"In 1991, Peninsula philanthropist Susan Ford and then Stanford University Professor Dr. Condoleezza Rice co-founded the Center for a New Generation, an innovative after-school academic enrichment program. The goal of the program was to increase the high school graduation rate in the Ravenswood City School District by helping middle school students prepare for high school and college. To accomplish this, the program focused on core subjects including Math and Language Arts. Electives such Art and Music were offered to help students express their imagination and creativity. Since the mid-1990s, CNG has been located at the James Flood Magnet School in Menlo Park . 130 students are enrolled in the program at Flood this year.

In 1996 CNG merged with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula . Since that time, the program has continued to evolve. In recent years, 100% of graduating eighth graders have been accepted to prestigious private high schools including St. Francis, Sacred Heart, Eastside College Prep or other college matriculation focused programs in the community." Link

In her book (ch. 32) she points out that their efforts were not welcomed by the various nonprofits in East Palo Alto run by resident of the city. They were little more than job programs for the staffs of the organizations, money flowed to them from foundations and corporations, and there was little accountability. Misguided noblesse oblige, she says does little to help kids and is in fact guilt money.