Child Advocates Blast NH AG Report, Say SYSC Resisting Reform

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

As the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office investigated alleged mistreatment and abuse of children inside the Sununu Youth Services Center, one of the children was placed in handcuffs and isolated for up to 12 hours as punishment.

“This is not a child who ever assaulted anybody,” said Assistant Child Advocate Jason Taylor.

The revelation of the excessive punishment came to light Tuesday as members of the legislative ad hoc committee met with outgoing New Hampshire Child Advocate Cassandra Sanchez.

Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, said it is time to push for real changes at the Division for Children, Youth and Families. That starts with pressing Gov. Kelly Ayotte to replace leadership at DCYF and the Department of Health and Human Services as necessary.

“We have agencies that are not following the law and getting away with it,” Sullivan said. “How do you cut out the cancer of these agencies?”

Sullivan is considering a bill for the next legislative session that would remove DCYF from DHHS and make it a standalone agency. This would increase accountability for DCYF, she said, by stripping away a layer of bureaucratic administration that looks out for itself rather than the children.

Many good people inside DCYF and at SYSC leave because they see no hope of reforming the failing agency, Sanchez said, especially when the state continues to protect its failures.

“The state could do a better job if they chose to,” Taylor said.

Sanchez and committee members expressed frustration with the attorney general’s investigation, which cleared SYSC staff and administrators of criminal wrongdoing.

“The old-school mentality is alive and well, and they are very resistant to change,” said Rep. Kimberly Rice, R-Hudson.

Sullivan complained that Ayotte virtually ignored the ad hoc committee’s report, which called for the removal of current DCYF administrators, while praising the attorney general’s report that blamed children for the chaos inside SYSC. Sullivan said DCYF ultimately reports to the attorney general, calling into question the validity of the entire investigation.

“This is the AG investigating themselves,” Sullivan said.

Last week, Ayotte pushed back on some of the criticism, reaffirming her commitment to “strong leadership” at both agencies. She is also expediting the process of getting body-worn cameras with audio into the facilities.

“I think that will be important to protect not only the residents but also the staff,” Ayotte said. That is important, she added, because there have been allegations of violence by residents directed at staffers.

“We are not going to tolerate criminal conduct by anyone, whether it is a staff member, which we take very seriously, or a resident,” Ayotte said. “Everyone there deserves to be safe and treated with dignity and respect.”

Lisa Wolford of the Children’s Law Center of New Hampshire said the attorney general’s report ignored the correct legal standards in its investigation. The attorney general used criminal law to assign blame to the children inside SYSC when the situation should have been reviewed under juvenile delinquency statutes, she said.

“These are not criminal cases. It’s irresponsible for the Attorney General’s Office to wade into an area where they are not qualified,” Wolford said.

But whatever legal standard was used, the report gave the agency cover to continue resisting changes, according to Taylor and Sanchez. They told the committee that SYSC staff and administrators at the Manchester facility are taking a victory lap following last week’s report. Staffers and administrators are telling children that conditions inside the facility are going to return to the harsh environment that prompted Sanchez to report alleged abuses earlier this year.

DCYF is currently refusing to hand over video records of activity inside SYSC, as it is legally required to do for the Office of the Child Advocate, Sanchez said.

“The last time I got any footage was May. We’re in July,” Sanchez said.

The OCA is supposed to be the independent agency providing oversight of DCYF, but Sanchez said the current leadership, protected by the attorney general, is ignoring her office. The attorney general’s report contains half-truths and outright misinformation, Sanchez said.

“There is misinformation that is not factual in this report,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez suggested legislation funding a staff attorney for the OCA. As it stands, she must go to the Attorney General’s Office for legal services. That includes asking an assistant attorney general to take legal action to compel DCYF to follow the law.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.