NC NEWSLINE - When state regulators ordered a nonprofit run by the wife of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to repay $132,000 in disallowed expenses from a federal child care meal program in July, it marked the largest repayment request demanded from a “sponsoring organization” in the past five years. The amount also exceeds the total disallowed expenses in each of those fiscal years, according to NC Newsline’s analysis of DHHS records. But records also show that the agency’s demand for repayment was not unusual and reveal no indication that Balanced Nutrition was targeted for political purposes, as Robinson has alleged.
Yolanda Hill, who until this year operated Balanced Nutrition Inc., a sponsoring organization that contracted with the state to help child care centers file claims for federal meal reimbursement and ensured compliance with program requirements, abruptly announced that she was shuttering the nonprofit in April as the state prepared to conduct a compliance review.
The review of Balanced Nutrition was one of many that DHHS has conducted. Between 2019 and 2024, DHHS ordered repayments from at least 50 sponsoring organizations, totaling more than $180,000 for disallowed expenses. This included a $4,000 request from Balanced Nutrition in 2023.
But no other sponsoring organization came close to the $132,000 DHHS ordered Balanced Nutrition to repay. The second highest disallowed amount during that five-year period was a $30,528 finding for Ramsey Peele Corporation, a Charlotte-based child care provider, in 2019. After a lengthy process that involved appeals and additional findings, Ramsey Peele was terminated from the program and placed on a “National Disqualified List.” DHHS reports that the disallowed expenses were repaid in full in December of 2019.
Hill and Robinson, who worked for Balanced Nutrition before commencing his political career, have said that the scrutiny directed at the organization is “politically motivated.” DHHS is run by the administration of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is term-limited and cannot seek reelection. Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein is running against Robinson for governor.
Last month, Robinson alleged that Stein’s wife, who has worked for the state’s Division of Public Health since 2011—a different division within DHHS from the one that oversees Balanced Nutrition—may have played a role in the compliance review of Balanced Nutrition.
Robinson provided no evidence to back his claim, and Stein called the accusation “ridiculous and completely false” in a statement last month to NC Newsline.
An NC Newsline analysis of DHHS audits of sponsoring organizations since 2019 shows no evidence that Balanced Nutrition was singled out. In the 2023 fiscal year, DHHS reviewed 12 facilities sponsored by Balanced Nutrition and found $4,000 in disallowed expenses. In the 2024 fiscal year review, DHHS reviewed 10 facilities and requested $132,000 in repayments.
Other sponsoring organizations have faced similar scrutiny. For example, EC Canada & Associates in Greensboro had 12 of its sponsored centers reviewed in 2021 and was ordered to repay nearly $3,000. The YMCA of Southeastern NC in Wilmington had 14 centers reviewed in 2022 and had more than $24,000 in disallowed expenses.
Since 2019, nearly 40 sponsoring organizations, including Balanced Nutrition, have closed for various reasons.
Balanced Nutrition was sponsoring 41 centers when it closed earlier this year. The number of centers sponsored by Balanced Nutrition remained relatively steady over the past five years, except for fiscal year 2021 when it was 34.
DHHS conducts compliance reviews of sponsoring organizations in the Child and Adult Care Food Program every two to three years, randomly selecting centers for inspection.
Since 2017, when it contracted with the state to become a sponsoring organization, Balanced Nutrition has undergone at least four audits: in 2018, 2021, 2023 and 2024. State auditors found compliance issues in all of those audits, but none drew a “notice of serious deficiency,” the most severe finding, except for 2024.
The 2024 review was initiated due to findings from the 2023 audit, which identified issues at some centers working with Balanced Nutrition.
The 2023 review found that some centers working with Balanced Nutrition reported serving more meals than were provided to participants—issues that Balanced Nutrition should have identified as a sponsoring organization. The review also noted that Hill’s nonprofit failed to detect violations at some centers it was responsible for monitoring.
The most serious violations were found in the latest review, prompting DHHS officials to declare Balanced Nutrition seriously deficient. The review identified a list of missing documents required to administer the program and claims filed for payment for centers that hadn’t requested or received money.
Balanced Nutrition also violated program regulations by employing Kimberly Cephas without disclosing that she is Hill’s daughter. The program requires DHHS approval for such hirings.
In July, Robinson campaign spokesman Mike Lonergan said the nonprofit plans to appeal and criticized the state agency’s action as “politically motivated.”
Hill did not respond to a request for comment for this report.
