An insider who worked for two Somali-owned autism centers in Minnesota explained some of the shocking details of what he encountered on the job.
Grant Morgan is a former therapist in Minnesota’s autism program known as the EIDBI program, Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention. According to data from the CATO Institute, costs under the Medicaid program skyrocketed from about $1 million in 2017 to $343 million in 2024.
Morgan moved away from the state and says he finally feels safe to share his story. He joined Liz Collin on her podcast to talk about what he witnessed himself in the two years he worked in the program.
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Morgan worked for Milestone Development Center, owned by Nimco Ahmed — whom Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan once called a “friend for almost 25 years” while wearing a hijab in a video shared on social media. Morgan also worked for Spectrum Therapy Center. And he called both businesses “fraudulent autism centers.”
“At both Milestone and Spectrum, I noticed a lack of oversight and a low quality of services. At Milestone, for example, I did not see a QSP (Qualified Supervising Professional) or a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) at all when I worked there and it’s critical that you have a professional overseeing these services.”
“I saw practitioners at both centers that were unqualified to do the work. Practitioners that knew barely anything about ABA (applied behavior analysis) but were working with clients,” Morgan added.
Morgan said that he “was never asked to write a session note while working there. When providing these services directly, which I did six days a week when working for Milestone, it is essential that the practitioner directly working with the client write and sign a session note describing the services they provided because that is how these centers get billed or this is how they get paid.”
Nimco Ahmed and Milestone Development Center
Nimco Ahmed — a longtime DFL activist in Minnesota, a former DFL state director, and president of the Somali American Coalition — is listed as the CEO of Milestone Development Center, which is based in Minneapolis.
Morgan worked there for just two months from October to December of 2023. But that was long enough for him to see for himself that “they did not include comprehensive autism solutions,” as he said in his own words.
“I worked with practitioners who are mostly completely unqualified to do that kind of work … the treatments seemed very ineffective,” Morgan said.
While he was not involved with billing, Morgan said he “saw red flags as far as the possibility that there may have been billing fraud going on and additionally the clients there did not appear to be autistic.”
“I actually have an email conversation from 2023 stating that I did not believe their clients appeared to be autistic, and I also have a text message conversation from around that time telling someone that I was planning to leave that center because I had concerns related to fraud and that the owner, Nimco, didn’t seem to care,” Morgan remarked.
Collin asked Morgan about seeing Ahmed standing beside Lt. Gov. Flanagan — who is running to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate — in a viral video. Morgan said, “I was shocked to see that video because I knew Nimco.”
“She did not seem like someone that someone on the political stage should associate with. She seemed like a bad person,” he added.
“She did not seem like she cared about the quality of the autism center that she owned. She did not seem like she knew anything about applied behavior analysis as an autism intervention. And she didn’t seem to even have an interest in the field,” Morgan said.
“I think it’s very likely that Peggy was intentionally trying to help out bad actors. And I’ll even say I think there’s a chance that she was directly involved in the fraud herself. I think that is very possible,” Morgan remarked.
Alpha News reached out to Flanagan’s campaign but did not receive a response.
Ahmed’s response to Morgan’s allegations
Responding to Morgan’s allegations, Ahmed told Alpha News that even asking questions about the care at her autism center was “bias.”
She told Collin that Alpha News was only interested in doing the story because she is Somali. Ahmed also denied the allegations that there was no QSP or BCBA on site — and said that every child has an autism diagnosis before they begin working with them at the center.
Ahmed says she follows the steps from the state “very seriously” and is regularly audited.
The owner of Spectrum also denied the allegations.
Minnesota Department of Human Services investigations
However, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has confirmed there are open investigations into Milestone Development Center and Spectrum Therapy Center.
DHS also said if a provider is part of an open investigation, then, by law, the department cannot disclose details. However, the statement said that DHS terminated both agencies from participating in the Medicaid program as part of Minnesota Revalidate 2026.
“Revalidation is a process to verify that agencies have required credentials and are otherwise compliant with state and federal regulations,” DHS said.
Both providers have appealed their termination. Additionally, DHS said it has not issued provisional licenses to Spectrum Therapy Center or Milestone Development Center under new licensing requirements in Minnesota.
“If an agency did not submit a provisional license application by the deadline, receives a denial of their license application, or is terminated from enrollment, they are not able to bill or provide services to Medicaid recipients,” DHS said.
Morgan said that he thinks “improvements have been made with the new licensing standards” and that “it is a step in the right direction but considering that there is evidence that some of these bad actors are still operating, I don’t think it’s enough.”
“It does seem like there are a lot of these Somali-owned centers that went into this intending to commit fraud and intending to commit illegal activity that are still operational and are essentially being grandfathered into the system,” added Morgan, who said he felt compelled to speak out because of his Christian faith.
Morgan also said, “I do think more needs to be done and I do have concerns that not enough is being done in that respect.”
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
