Defunct nonprofit run by Mark Robinson's wife misses deadline to pay more than $100,000 owed to NCDHHS

Yahoo

28-04-2025

RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — A shuttered North Carolina nonprofit run by the former lieutenant governor's wife has missed the deadline to pay money owed to the state or submit an appeal.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, a final decision was issued in the case of Balanced Nutrition Inc.'s disallowances on March 24.
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. Balanced Nutrition Inc.'s disallowances are separate from the , which deal more with operational issues rather than financial issues.
The document, which is 25 pages long, outlines the steps that the NCDHHS took to determine how much money Balanced Nutrition Inc. owes after it improperly assessed and represented its services of connecting child care centers with federally funded meal programs.
Their initial disallowance was calculated at $132,118.86, but, upon appeal and review, that amount was adjusted to $101,142.05, and the Office of Administrative Hearings' final decision affirmed that amount.
After the final decision, a demand letter was sent to Balanced Nutrition Inc. on March 26, giving them 30 days to pay the money. As of April 28, no money has been paid, NCDHHS confirmed on Monday morning. Additionally, the window for BNI to appeal the final decision closed on April 23, and no appeal was received.
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Balanced Nutrition Inc., which was closed by Yolanda Hill in 2024 during her husband's failed gubernatorial campaign, was officially terminated by NCDHHS on April 24. Hill, along with other people involved with BNI, including Renee Matthews-Jones and Hill's daughter Kimberly Cephas, are now disqualified from working with NCDHHS's Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Hill, Matthews-Jones and Cephas are noted as being 'responsible for the serious deficiency' for which the NCDHHS cited BNI during its closure.
In the final decision, the Office of Administrative Hearings notes Hill's concern that the scrutiny on BNI was politically motivated, which it disputes.
The final decision also noted that a review consultant texted others working on the compliance review, claiming that Hill 'had lied about being married to Lt. Governor Mark Robinson and lied about her son being on the budget.' The consultant apologized for that text, and, while OAH describes the comments as 'grossly inappropriate,' the final decision states that it did not seem to have any bearing on the findings of the nonprofit's review.
Hill's nonprofit, 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.'
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 'Balanced Nutrition and Mrs. Hill respectfully decline to meet with NCDHHS 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.
The scheduled compliance review, conducted by NCDHHS following the 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.
Balanced Nutrition Inc. filed to terminate its agreement with the NCDHHS on April 30, 2024.
Nevertheless, the nonprofit was still beholden to the scheduled compliance review despite the agreement termination, according to the NCDHHS. The nonprofit had been told on March 1, March 18 and April 1, 2024, about the upcoming compliance review and what documents nonprofit leaders would need.
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 took this perspective as well, characterizing the investigation and subsequent findings as a political attack directly tied to Robinson's gubernatorial aspirations. The campaign accused because then-gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein's wife, Anna, worked as a legal specialist for the Chronic Disease and Injury Section of the NCDHHS's Division of Public Health.
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.'
'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.'
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