Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and his wife Yolanda greet supporters at a campaign event in Elon, North Carolina on Nov. 3, 2024. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has revised its findings from a compliance review of Balanced Nutrition Inc. — the nonprofit that was led by former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s wife.
Balanced Nutrition was a “sponsoring organization” that contracted with the state to help childcare centers apply for and receive federal funding for children’s meals. Yolanda Hill, who led Balanced Nutrition Inc., announced in April that she was shutting down the nonprofit as the state prepared to conduct a compliance review.
The agency initially determined in July that Balanced Nutrition owed $132,000 in disallowed funds for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. At that time, Balanced Nutrition was cited for improperly billing the federal food program, including excessive administrative costs and inadequate documentation for some food purchases. The nonprofit also bought items not allowed for the childcare program.
DHHS also sought reimbursement for labor expenses claimed for Kimberly Cephas, Hill’s daughter. The agency said Balanced Nutrition violated program regulations by employing Cephas without disclosing the relationship. The program requires DHHS approval for such hires.
In a January 7 letter (see below), however, DHHS informed Robinson that after reviewing additional materials submitted by the organization, it has revised the amount owed to $101,142. The letter says Hill will receive an invoice soon and then have 30 days to repay the disallowed funds.
The decision comes after Hill and other representatives from Balanced Nutrition finally agreed to meet with DHHS officials in September to address the 2024 compliance review findings. Prior to the review, DHHS made repeated attempts to schedule a meeting with Hill and other representatives to address the compliance findings, but those attempts were unsuccessful.
During the September meeting, Balanced Nutrition representatives provided additional documentation in response to the state agency findings, which resulted in the revision.
“As a result of a review of the additional materials and a re-review of the overall case, the State agency has revised the findings from the Compliance Review conducted for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2024,” according to a letter DHHS sent to the organization.
The revised findings include $21,239 in disallowances for test facilities and $79,902 in disallowances for the sponsoring organization. “Balanced Nutrition, Inc., … remains out of compliance in multiple areas of CACFP [Child and Adult Care Food Program] administration at both the Sponsor and the Facility level. The non-compliance has resulted in monies being owed back to the CACFP,” according to the letter.
During the 2024 gubernatorial campaign, the DHHS findings on Balanced Nutrition became a point of contention. Both Robinson and Hill claimed the scrutiny was politically motivated. The Balanced Nutrition controversy was just one that dogged Robinson during a gubernatorial bid that he ultimately lost to Democrat Josh Stein by a margin of nearly 15 percent.
Balanced-Nutrition-Inc._Informal-Conference-Summary_Compliance-and-Disallowances_01.07.2025