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Robinson is the controversial Republican running for governor against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.

N.C. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Monday it has provided documentation to the Southeast Regional Office of the agriculture department’s Food and Nutrition Service division.

“It is standard practice to provide an email copy of any notice of serious deficiency to the Southeast regional office,� DHHS said.

Robinson’s wife, Yolanda Hill, is listed as owner and chief financial officer, while their daughter Kimberly Cephas is operations manager. They, along with Chairwoman Renee Matthews-Jones, are who the state cite as being responsible for the organization’s lack of compliance.

A notice of serious deficiency, disclosed by DHHS on July 24, is at the heart of the state and federal investigations of Balanced Nutrition, which helped day care centers apply for federal funding for meals for students.

Among the areas cited as being in “serious deficiency� and requiring corrective actions were administration, recordkeeping, income eligibility applications, enrollment documentation, civil rights, program training, monitoring, meal counts, meal review, fiscal integrity and verification of a valid claim.

Of those areas, four were listed as repeat findings from the 2022-23 review.

DHHS has said among its options is the potential to disqualify the nonprofit and the three officials from further participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program that could last up to seven years.

Hill, Cephas and other Balanced Nutrition officials have been notified of that determination, as well as documents from compliance reviews of the organization’s operations.

“The federal government has not requested interviews nor issued subpoenas to NCDHHS regarding Balanced Nutrition,� DHHS said in a statement.

Background

The Greensboro nonprofit, which ceased operations on April 30, provided services through the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

“CACFP sponsoring organizations are bound by legal and contractual obligations to participate in compliance reviews,� DHHS said. “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 nonprofit and three officials can appeal a potential disqualification determination, but not the serious deficiency determination.

According to the Robinson campaign, Balanced Nutrition is appealing the potential disqualification determination.

DHHS said it has not referred the Balanced Nutrition case “to any other body. NCDHHS is following the CACFP administrative process as outlined in federal regulations, and the federal Serious Deficiency, Suspension, & Appeals for State Agencies & Sponsoring Organizations handbook.�

Mike Lonergan, communications director for Robinson’s governor campaign, issued a statement in July that claimed an independent auditor issued a report on Balanced Nutrition “with no material findings.�

“Lt. Gov. Robinson is proud of the work his wife has done to help needy children get nutritious meals,� Lonergan said. “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.�

DHHS said that “when there are findings from the review that do not rise to the level of serious deficiency, the institution must complete a corrective action plan to address the findings in order to avoid the issuance of a notice of serious deficiency.�

DHHS said the frequency of reviews “increases for programs who have had findings in prior compliance reviews to ensure the sponsoring organization has corrected the findings and is complying with state and federal rules.�

The standard 2022-23 review of Balanced Nutrition resulted in findings. DHHS offered Balanced Nutrition the option of completing a corrective action plan to address the findings from the compliance review.

After the nonprofit fulfilled that requirement, DHHS put the nonprofit back on the review schedule for the next federal fiscal year to ensure continued compliance with state and federal rules.

“The 2022-23 findings led to the 2023-24 review,� DHHS said.

2023-24 review

A N.C. Division of Child and Family Well-Being review was announced to the nonprofit in early March and was slated to begin April 15.

— based on tax filings and state documents — that Balanced Nutrition collected roughly $7 million in government funding since 2017.

The nonprofit paid at least $830,000 in salaries to Hill, Robinson and other members of their family over the past seven years, according to the tax records and state documents.

According to the report, Balanced Nutrition “did not report expenses accurately and unallowable expenses were claimed� for four different child care centers.

DHHS has said the nonprofit received at least $24,400 in reimbursement for unverifiable client claims. DHHS is attempting to claw back those funds.

During Robinson’s run for governor, there has been heightened criticism and scrutiny paid to Balanced Nutrition’s operations and financial status, both by Democrats during the general election and by Republican primary challengers that the DHHS review addresses in part.

Robinson described in his memoir, as reported by AP, how the operation brought fiscal stability to his family, giving him the ability to quit a furniture manufacturing job in 2018 and begin a career in conservative politics.

“Robinson owes North Carolinians an explanation about his involvement in this series of major failures and exactly how this organization was using taxpayer dollars,� Devon Cruz, national press secretary for the Democratic Governors Association, said in a statement.