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The state of California handed an $18.2 million childcare grant to the William Law Foundation — a nonprofit that lists “over 40 locations” on its website but, in reality, runs one Bakersfield daycare with only a handful of kids. The story reads like a bad parody of government spending: big promises, flashy online videos made by artificial intelligence, and taxpayer dollars fueling a one-man show. If you want to know how the system fails, this is a pretty good place to start.
How $18 million landed in the hands of a one-site daycare
The California Department of Social Services awarded the largest proposed grant to the William Law Foundation during its 2022-23 grant cycle. Yet the foundation didn’t open its first daycare until years later and now operates a single licensed facility that is serving far fewer children than promised. The nonprofit’s 2024 tax return shows the group’s only revenue was government grants, and that the executive director paid himself roughly half a million dollars with additional deferred compensation. In short: taxpayer money paid for startup costs and a lavish salary while the big expansion never materialized.
Smoke, mirrors, and AI videos
On the foundation’s website you’ll find stock photos, a cartoon wolverine mascot, and AI-generated videos promising robotics, guitars, gardening and pickleball for preschoolers. None of that was present at the Bakersfield site when reporters showed up; staff said only one child was there that day. The site also claimed 40-plus locations across ten counties — a claim CDSS now confirms was false. So taxpayers funded a lot of talk, and apparently hired an AI marketing firm, while the on-the-ground reality was a single small center.
Where’s the accountability?
Outside experts called the situation alarming. An accounting professor raised questions about how the state justified such a large award to an unproven operator. Civil watchdogs and auditors are right to ask why the department did not require clear milestones, performance reviews, or tighter oversight before releasing millions. At a minimum, grants like this should come with strings: milestones to earn the money, regular audits, and clawbacks if expansion plans turn out to be fantasy marketing.
This isn’t just a bad press release. It’s a failure of process that wastes taxpayer money and weakens trust in public programs that serve vulnerable families. The Department of Social Services needs to explain how it picked this winner and what steps it will take to recover misused funds or enforce accountability. Lawmakers and local leaders should push for clearer rules — because every dollar that disappears into an unproven nonprofit is a dollar not helping a child. The state must stop rewarding empty promises and start protecting kids and taxpayers.
