NH child advocate delays Sununu Youth Services Center report

The New Hampshire Office of the Child Advocate is still finalizing its investigation into alleged abuse and neglect at the Sununu Youth Services Center, the state’s juvenile detention facility in Manchester. Assistant child advocate Jason Taylor said the report could take “certainly weeks but maybe months,” noting the focus will be on “the impacts of isolation and a lack of activity on children’s health.”

The investigation, launched in March after a child raised concerns, has uncovered allegations of overly restrictive lockdowns, children forced to urinate on cell floors, illegal restraints that caused at least one broken bone, unnecessary strip searches and blood on walls. Multiple bodies—including the Attorney General’s Office, the Disability Rights Center‑NH and a state Senate ad‑hoc committee—have conducted parallel inquiries. Former child advocate Cassandra Sanchez, who was forced out last week, said, “Leadership has failed that facility. The children have not been safe, and what has gone on in that facility is extremely harmful and dangerous to these children, both physically and mentally.”

Following Sanchez’s departure, former Manchester police chief Allen Aldenberg was appointed acting child advocate by Governor Kelly Ayotte. Aldenberg now oversees the office as it works toward completing the report amid ongoing scrutiny of the facility’s practices.