Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign calls NCDHHS review of wife’s nonprofit ‘politically motivated’

(WGHP) — The lieutenant governor’s campaign has responded after reports provided by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services raised questions about the status of the nonprofit run by his wife.

The nonprofit, run by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s wife Yolanda Hill, describes itself on its website as “a private nonprofit organization dedicated to helping child care providers make the most out of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The food program is our only business. Our staff has over twenty-plus years of experience working with CACFP, making us well-qualified to serve the providers and the children in their care.”

Last week, the NCDHHS released documents following a compliance review of Balanced Nutrition Inc., outlining what the department describes as “serious deficiencies” and listing off disallowances now owed to the state totaling over $130,000.

NCDHHS conducts compliance reviews for all organizations participating in the North Carolina Child and Adult Care Food Program under set USDA federal policy. Per federal regulations, NCDHHS conducts these reviews at least every two to three years, depending on the size of an institution and previous findings.

Following NCDHHS’s review of Balanced Nutrition Inc. for 2022-2023, the department directed Balanced Nutrition Inc. to complete a corrective action plan due to “findings” that emerged during the review.

When findings like these emerge in compliance reviews, NCDHHS increases the frequency of reviews for that program “to ensure the sponsoring organization has corrected the findings and is complying with state and federal rules.”

Balanced Nutrition Inc. completed the corrective action plan, and NCDHHS put the organization back on the review schedule for the next fiscal year.

The nonprofit was scheduled to face a 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.

Then Balance Nutrition Inc. filed to terminate its agreement on April 30, 2024.

Robinson’s campaign describes the findings as a political attack, accusing the NCDHHS of specifically targeting Robinson’s family after he launched his gubernatorial campaign.

“These findings are politically motivated at the core,” Mike Lonergan, the communications director for Robinson’s campaign, said. “Last year, an independent auditor issued a report on Balanced Nutrition, Inc. (BNI) with no material findings. Yet as soon as Mark Robinson announced his campaign for governor in April 2023, the Democrat-run state agency started moving the goalposts. Just as they are doing against President Trump, Democrats are weaponizing the bureaucracy to grind a political ax against their opponents. Needless to say, BNI is aware of these findings, vehemently disagrees with them, and is looking forward to challenging them on appeal.”

Lonergan provided the independent auditor’s report he referenced. Conducted by Florida-based accounting firm BAS Partners, the report covers 2021 and was published in January 2023. It was not immediately obvious who ordered this independent audit.

“In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Balanced Nutrition, Inc. as of December 31, 2021, and the changes in its net assets and its cashflows for the year ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America,” the audit reads.

The campaign has not yet responded to clarifying questions regarding Longergan’s comments on NCDHHS “goalposts” or the audit report provided.

Lonergan’s response matches the tone of Hill’s comments on the NCDHHS’s scrutiny. In an email obtained by CBS17 , Hill said that the compliance review felt like an attack.

“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,” Hill said.

Disallowances

Following its compliance review of Balanced Nutrition Inc., NCDHHS outlined two separate issues: disallowances and deficiencies.

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.

In the case of Balanced Nutrition Inc., the nonprofit filed reported costs that were higher than the costs verified in its compliance review.

“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.

Deficiencies

In a letter sent to Balanced Nutrition Inc., 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.”

“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 attempted to schedule an in-person exit conference with Hill several times but received no response, according to its documentation.

“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.

It goes on to outline that the organization must provide documents that show it has taken corrective action for the deficiencies outlined by Aug. 7. If the nonprofit does not do this, NCDHHS will “propose to disqualify Balanced Nutrition, Inc., Yolanda Hill, Kimberly Cephas, and Renee Matthews-Jones from further participation in the CACFP.”

Noncompliance issues include failure to list USDA nondiscrimination statements on menus for all centers, lack of documentation verifying that staff received annual Civil Rights Training within the last 12 months and missing records pertaining to monitoring, Income Eligibility Applications and enrollment documents.

Background

While the IRS reports that Balanced Nutrition, Inc. has not yet filed tax forms for 2023, the nonprofit reported in 2022 that it received $1,768,649 in grants and contributions and $1,590,153 in expenses. According to the form, it spent $172,796 in employee salary. $23,048 of that was paid to Hill and Robinson’s son Dayson Robinson, who worked for the organization part-time. The nonprofit lists Hill and Cassaundra Spinks as its two other employees.

Balanced Nutrition, Inc., has reported steadily increasing contributions over the past five years. In 2018, the year Robinson found himself first in the public eye, it reported $581,730 in gifts, grants and contributions. The following year, that number doubled to $1,105,793 and has risen every year since.

ProPublica reports that Balanced Nutrition, Inc. received $28,610 in a PPP loan from the government in April 2020 , which was forgiven. A report from The Assembly notes that the nearly $30,000 loan matches a salary increase reported by Hill between 2019 and 2020.

Balanced Nutrition Inc. received another PPP loan for $28,312 in February 2021 , a few months before Robinson appeared on FOX News railing against “government handouts.”

Robinson has previously been accused of rent non-payment and vehicle tax non-payment .

Robinson has often discussed his troubled financial upbringing , jobs he said were lost due to the North American Free Trade Agreement and bankruptcies . He wrote in his 2022 memoir that he’s struggled with finances but that these were “the ups and downs of a man who is determined to make a go of it in the world without a steady stream of government charity.’”

His finances from his lieutenant governor’s campaign have been scrutinized as well.

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