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The nonprofit operated by Yolanda Hill, the wife of former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, has until Saturday to repay the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services $101,142 following a year-long dispute that dogged Robinson’s failed campaign for governor. 

Last year, the DHHS sought to recoup more than $100,000 from Balanced Nutrition, which it accused of violating federal regulations and failing to keep records. On March 24, an administrative law judge sided with the agency. Under state law, Hill had 30 days to appeal. 

The deadline appeared to pass on April 23 without an appeal being filed, according to a search of court records. A DHHS spokesperson also told The Assembly that the agency had not received a notice of appeal.

On March 26, the DHHS sent Balanced Nutrition a demand letter giving it 30 days upon receipt to pay, according to documents obtained by The Assembly. (Balanced Nutrition received the letter a day later.) If it fails to do so, state and federal regulations say the agency must assess interest and eventually pursue “legal remedies.” A DHHS spokesperson said Balanced Nutrition’s deadline is April 26. 

Hill and attorneys for Balanced Nutrition did not respond to requests for comment by publication.  

In January 2024, as Robinson vied to be the Republican nominee for governor, The Assembly reported that Hill’s nonprofit had aroused some conservatives’ suspicions. 

Hill had accepted $57,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans that the federal government later forgave, even as the nonprofit’s revenues (and her salary) rose, which critics said conflicted with Robinson’s denunciations of “government charity.” She also reported on tax filings that no family members were “key employees,” though her mother, adult son, and Robinson himself had worked there at different points.

Most important to Robinson’s conservative critics was the nature of Hill’s nonprofit. It operated under the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which helps low-income children access healthy meals in daycare centers and other facilities. As a program sponsor, Balanced Nutrition assisted participants in securing reimbursements. Its revenue was based on the amount its clients received from the government.

“One could infer the Robinsons’ business specializes in recruiting customers for the social welfare state,” conservative activist Brant Clifton wrote on his website, The Daily Haymaker. 

Despite those misgivings, Robinson easily defeated his primary rivals in March 2024. Less than a month later, on April 2, Hill abruptly announced that she was closing Balanced Nutrition, citing the “obligations” of her husband’s campaign. 

“One could infer the Robinsons’ business specializes in recruiting customers for the social welfare state.”

Brant Clifton, The Daily Haymaker 

It soon emerged that there was more to the story. Weeks earlier, the DHHS, which administers the federally funded child food program, told Hill that they planned to review her operations to ensure she was complying with federal rules and regulations—the third such review in four years. (According to findings of fact from the administrative law judge, the DHHS revisited 13 sponsoring organizations in early 2024, including Balanced Nutrition, that had significant problems during previous reviews.) 

That review, completed in July, documented numerous shortcomings. It found that Balanced Nutrition failed to maintain critical documents, monitor the daycares it sponsored, or file valid reimbursement claims. The DHHS also said that in 2023 and the first months of 2024, Balanced Nutrition obtained about $8,500 in reimbursements for a Durham daycare center, though “the facility reports not filing a claim with Balanced Nutrition.”

In addition, the DHHS reported problems with Balanced Nutrition’s payroll in the first quarter of 2024. Federal rules required Hill to get the state’s permission before hiring her daughter, Kimberly Cephas, but she hadn’t. What’s more, Hill and Cephas were approved by the state only for claims related to specific types of facilities, but they sought reimbursements for others. Balanced Nutrition also failed to provide required time sheets and pay stubs, as well. 

The DHHS told Balanced Nutrition that it had to repay more than $132,000 in reimbursements, including Hill’s and Cephas’ salaries for the first three months of 2024. After Hill presented additional documents during an “informal conference” with DHHS officials last September, the DHHS reduced her balance by about $31,000.  

“The agency attempted several times to schedule an exit conference with [Hill], in which she could have raised questions about these concerns. However, [Hill] refused to respond.”

Michael Byrne, administrative law judge

Hill argued that she was targeted for political reasons. The DHHS is part of the state’s executive branch, and then-Gov. Roy Cooper was an ally of Robinson’s Democratic opponent, Josh Stein. Robinson also insinuated without evidence that Stein’s wife, formerly a part-time attorney for the DHHS’s Division of Public Health, had orchestrated the compliance review. (The DHHS said Anna Stein primarily worked on tobacco litigation and never had anything to do with the child food program.) 

Hill contested the DHHS’ determination to the Office of Administrative Hearings. Administrative Law Judge Michael Byrne heard the case on February 13. According to his final decision, published on March 24, Byrne found that Hill’s “misgivings” about the DHHS’ motives were “not unreasonable.” 

During a compliance review in 2023, the lead reviewer texted her co-workers “claiming Hill had lied about being married to Lt. Governor Mark Robinson and lied about her son being on the budget,” Byrne wrote, adding that the reviewer’s conduct was “grossly inappropriate and unprofessional.” 

However, Byrne determined that conduct “did not unfairly taint or influence the review process.” He also wrote that some of Hill’s concerns about how the DHHS determined the reimbursement amounts stemmed from her “difficulty understanding [DHHS’] audit findings. … The agency attempted several times to schedule an exit conference with [Hill], in which she could have raised questions about these concerns. However, [Hill] refused to respond.”

Byrne said that Hill appeared to act “in good faith.” But her nonprofit’s participation in the child food program had gone “awry due to a failure to fully comply with regulations, almost completely federally promulgated, and that are almost tailor-made for bureaucratic nit-picking.” 

On the other hand, he continued, “these are the regulations of the program in which [Hill] voluntarily made the decision to participate.” 

Since losing to Stein in a landslide, Robinson has largely disappeared from public view. In January, he dropped his defamation lawsuit against CNN about an article linking him to inflammatory posts on a pornography website.  

Robinson also announced that he did not “have plans to seek elected office in the future,” ending speculation that he would challenge U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in next year’s Republican primary. He does, however, continue to weigh in on politics on social media, where he first drew a following as a conservative firebrand.  

Jeffrey Billman reports on politics and the law for The Assembly. Email him at jeffrey@theassemblync.com.

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