REMINDER: Kelly Ayotte Still Hasn’t ‘Acted on Changes’ as Alleged Abuse at Sununu Center Continues Under Her Watch

REMINDER: Kelly Ayotte Still Hasn’t ‘Acted on Changes’ as Alleged Abuse at Sununu Center Continues Under Her Watch

It’s been four months since new reports surfaced of alleged abuse at the Sununu Youth Services Center under Kelly Ayotte’s watch. DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver is now requesting further information on the operations at SYSC, despite months of warnings regarding alleged abuse happening to children in state care.

It remains unclear why DHHS is “looking for further assessments of SYSC when they’ve ignored a number of recommendations” made by the independent Office of the Child Advocate. State funds should be used to take “immediate action steps,” including “training staff” and hiring more youth counselors.

Yet, Kelly Ayotte has continued to ignore repeated warning signs from the independent watchdog about the dangers of slashing its staff capacity by nearly half — and has dragged her feet on replacing the outgoing Child Advocate who shined a light on the alleged abuse. Her budget cuts have also led to a dangerous shortage of youth counselors at the facility.

The state has issued a request for information to assess operations at the troubled Sununu Youth Services Center raising questions about why it hasn’t acted on changes some advocates say need to be made immediately instead.
This comes after Attorney General John Formella issued a report last week on his investigation into allegations of abuse made by the state Office of Child Advocate and the Disability Rights Center-NH, which both have expressed concern for the safety of the children ages 13 to 18 incarcerated there.
New Hampshire’s Child Advocate Cassandra Sanchez wondered why DHHS would be looking for further assessments of SYSC when they’ve ignored a number of recommendations that should be implemented as soon as possible. “That’s not clear to me.
“I’d rather see our state funds going to immediate action to take steps for the facility like seeking out training for staff,” Sanchez said. Her office was first in late March to raise new abuse allegations at what was formerly called the Youth Development Center (YDC) in Manchester. Those mainly focused on “lock downs,” restraints, one in which a child’s finger was allegedly broken, and disruptions in education and scheduling.
“I am still very concerned for the safety of children at the facility,” Sanchez said, pointing to continued understaffing and lack of staff training.
As to the Request for Information, Michael Todd, special projects director at the DRC–NH, said: “DRC-NH has recommended that Governor Ayotte and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) immediately bring in an independent outside expert in juvenile justice and trauma-informed care to stabilize the Sununu Youth Services Center (SYSC).
YDC remains mired in the ongoing scandal as the state claims to have limited funds to pay claims to the hundreds of adults who say they were physically and sexually abused at YDC over five decades at the hands of state employees.
Sanchez said the recent investigation by her office is ongoing and already there were some new complaints since Formella’s report was made public. One involved forcing a child to remain in lockdown so long they were forced to urinate on the floor in their room.
Her office and the Disability Rights Center-NH have made recommendations with more likely to come as they are both involved in separate continuing investigations into SYSC.
Sanchez said her biggest takeaway from Formella’s report was placing the blame on the children incarcerated there when “the state is responsible” for the problems.
“There is definitely general resistance to accepting outside feedback by DHHS,” Sanchez said.

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