In Wake Of Missing Child, NH Officials Suggest Policy Changes

CONCORD, NH — While the search for a missing New Hampshire girl is ongoing, state officials have released a seven-page report offering changes that should be made to ensure more children in distressed homes do not fall through the cracks.

Most of the specifics that led to the creation of the Comprehensive Update on the Ongoing Case Involving Harmony Montgomery and Recommended Systematic Improvements were not released on Friday. Details “not pertinent to finding Harmony” were taken out to “remove personal details.” A Quality Assurance Review remains sealed due to a minor being involved and the case being an active investigation.

Montgomery, who is 7, was reported missing by her birth mother after having no contact with the girl since October 2019. During the course of the investigation, police learned there was an assault accusation made by family members against her father and he was arrested. State officials, also investigating the family, filed charges against the girl's stepmother, at first, for welfare fraud, although those charges were revised to include felony theft and other charges. At least one residence where the family lived, in the West Side of New Hampshire's largest city, has been extensively searched twice for evidence connected to the case. Police also requested information from the public about two cars the family was living in around the time Montgomery was last seen.

Two major policy shifts are being proposed in an effort to improve state family tracking systems.

New Hampshire officials are proposing improving the communication process between states. The system currently used, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, is more than five decades old and does not provide a framework for communication or dispute resolution. An updated process was drafted in 2007 but will not be in place until 35 states approve it. A number of state and federal recommendations were proposed to move the process forward.

The report also suggested strengthening the process by which officials ensure children are safe.

One proposal is to replace the “bridges” case management system, currently being used by the Division for Children, Youth, and Families in New Hampshire, to a more “modern, user-friendly” system. That system should allow the ability to share family history quickly and easily. The proposal also suggests the hiring of an assistant supervisor in the Manchester District Office since it is one of the busiest in the state and has a very high volume of cases that are high risk. Case workloads and community volunteers should also examined. Policies within the division that requires confirmation about child residency should also be amended.

Gov. Chris Sununu said the report was about “bringing Harmony home” and officials “left no stone unturned in our fact-finding mission to help determine what happened in the hopes that it will help bring Harmony home safe.” He said the recommended improvements “set the stage for an even better and safer child protection system here in New Hampshire — and across the country.”

The reward for information that leads to the whereabouts of Harmony Montgomery has risen to almost $150,000. Anyone with information about Harmony Montgomery is asked to call the Manchester Police Department's dedicated tip line at 603-203-6060, 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Read the full report, in PDF, here.

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