RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — The embattled nonprofit run by North Carolina’s second lady has caught the attention of federal agencies.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s wife, Yolanda Hill, ran a now-defunct nonprofit called Balanced Nutrition Inc. The nonprofit falls under the Child and Adult Care Food Program, part of the NCDHHS’s Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
In July, the NCDHHS notified Balanced Nutrition Inc. that it had identified “serious deficiencies” and discovered that the nonprofit owed more than $132,000 in disallowances. Robinson has characterized these findings as a political attack.
Now, NCDHHS has confirmed that the Southeast Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service asked the department to “provide documentation associated with the Notice of Serious Deficiency and the OIG complaint received related to Balanced Nutrition, Inc.,” according to a statement.
NCDHHS says it had sent the Notice of Serious Deficiency to the USDA per federal regulation, but it “has not referred this matter to any other body.”
North Carolina Lt. Gov. hopeful Hal Weatherman warns ‘day of reckoning is coming’ in Triad church speech “Our federal partners do not typically request additional documents related to administrative actions taken by the State agency,” NCDHHS said in a statement.
The health department says no one has been subpoenaed by the federal government but added that SERO has “asked to be kept apprised of any updates or any activities regarding Balanced Nutrition, Inc.”
NCDHHS attempts review of Balanced Nutrition Inc.
The NCDHHS said the recent review stemmed from issues found in its annual review of the 2022-2023 year.
The scheduled compliance review, conducted by NCDHHS in accordance with set USDA federal policy, is a standard review for all organizations participating in the North Carolina Child and Adult Care Food Program. Per federal regulations, reviews are conducted every two to three years at a minimum, depending on the size of an institution and previous findings.
The standard 2022-2023 review of Balanced Nutrition, Inc. resulted in findings, according to NCDHHS, leading the agency to request that Balanced Nutrition, Inc. complete a corrective action plan to address those findings.
“Balanced Nutrition, Inc. completed the corrective action plan and NCDHHS put the organization back on the review schedule for the next Federal fiscal year to ensure continued compliance with state and federal rules,” NCDHHS said.
The following year, Balanced Nutrition Inc. was scheduled to face another compliance review on April 15, 2024, but, on the morning the review was supposed to take place, NCDHHS received word from Balanced Nutrition Inc.’s attorney stating that “Balanced Nutrition and Mrs. Hill respectfully decline to meet with NCHHS officials without the presence of counsel. Furthermore, we are not available this week.” Documents provided by the state characterize Hill and others as uncooperative with this review.
Balanced Nutrition Inc. filed to terminate its agreement with the NCDHHS on April 30, 2024.
In documents obtained by CBS17, Hill said that the compliance review felt like an attack, writing, “As an organization, there are numerous things that have happened and been documented that makes us feel as if we are the target of some type of vendetta, be it personal or political.”
Robinson’s campaign has taken this perspective as well, characterizing the investigation and subsequent findings as a political attack directly tied to Robinson’s gubernatorial aspirations, including the NCDHHS of having a conflict of interest due to having employed Attorney General Josh Stein’s wife Anna in a different department .
‘Serious Deficiencies’
The notice of serious deficiencies was sent to Balanced Nutrition Inc. on July 24, the NCDHHS wrote that it identified “Yolanda Hill, Kimberly Cephas, and Renee Matthews-Jones as responsible for the serious deficiencies as a result of their responsibility for the overall management of Balanced Nutrition, Inc. operations.”
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign calls NCDHHS review of wife’s nonprofit ‘politically motivated’ “The state agency was permitted to begin the review on Balanced Nutrition, Inc., on April 22, 2024, and was able to make copies of some requested documents. However, Balanced Nutrition, Inc. did not provide all requested documents,” according to NCDHHS.
NCDHHS says it tried to contact Balanced Nutrition, Inc.’s employees, including Hill, to schedule an exit interview “by email, telephone, and written communication, with no response.”
“A letter dated June 14, 2024, was sent to Balanced Nutrition, Inc. requesting three dates and times that an institution representative would be available to participate in an exit conference. Balanced Nutrition, Inc. was unresponsive,” NCDHHS documents said.
Noncompliance issues include the “USDA nondiscrimination statement was not listed on the menus for all centers. Menus that were posted and obtained from Apple Tree Wee School, Inc. did not have this statement included,” “no documentation on file to verify that sponsoring organization staff received annual Civil Rights Training within the last twelve months,” and “monitoring records were missing; Income Eligibility Applications were missing; enrollment documents were missing.”
Money owed
On July 26, the NCDHHS shared letters sent to Balanced Nutrition Inc. that address disallowances owed by the nonprofit with a detailed breakdown of where it found inconsistencies between reported costs and verified costs for the operations and services provided by the organization to various daycares in the state.
Disallowances are deductions or monetary benefits that a person or organization files for but is not entitled to. When a disallowance is found during an audit, the individual or organization must give back the amount of money that was granted by the disallowed deduction or benefit. Disallowances are separate from the deficiencies outlined in July , which deal more with operational issues rather than financial issues.
Lt. Gov’s wife’s nonprofit owes NCDHHS thousands of dollars, documents show “NCDHHS has issued disallowance forms to Balanced Nutrition, Inc. resulting in the following: $24,400.29 in disallowances for the test facilities under the sponsorship of Balanced Nutrition, Inc. included in the compliance review. $107,718.57 in disallowances for the Sponsoring Organization ($86,560.57 for centers and $21,158.00 for day care homes).”
The full disallowance owed by Balanced Nutrition, Inc. to the State agency is $132,118.86,” the documents read.
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