Latest news with #OfficeoftheChildAdvocate
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
State senators try to salvage New Hampshire's child advocate amid budget cuts
Sen. Sharon Carson, photographed during a Senate Finance work session Thursday, plans to propose an amendment to restore the Office of the Child Advocate after the House voted to eliminate it. Still, her proposal pares the agency down. (Photo by William Skipworth/New Hampshire Bulletin) New Hampshire's Office of the Child Advocate has been on the chopping block this session as state lawmakers look to trim the budget during a difficult fiscal year. However, some senators, slightly more bullish on the state's economic outlook, have proposed a way to keep the office, albeit in a slimmed-down form. When the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed its version of the budget, it eliminated the Office of the Child Advocate. Established in 2018, the office serves as a watchdog for New Hampshire's youth, overseeing the state's child welfare, juvenile justice, and youth care systems, and advocating for the best interests of children in the state. Eliminating it would save the state — which has been experiencing lagging business tax revenues — around $2.2 million over two years. However, state senators — who projected a slightly less dire financial outlook and appear more interested in keeping the child advocate — have since come up with a proposal to restore it. 'I'm trying to find a middle ground that the House will accept,' Sen. Sharon Carson, who is spearheading the proposal, said. 'Keeping it but compressing it down for now and still allowing them the funds that they need to do the job I think is important.' Carson, a Londonderry Republican and the Senate president, said she plans to propose an amendment to the budget that would restore the Office of the Child Advocate but lay off four of its employees. The amendment also gives the office the option to request more money from the Fiscal Committee in the future should the state's finances improve over the course of the next two-year budget term. The committee is expected to finalize the budget plan on Tuesday. After that, the entire Senate will vote to create the Senate's final version of the budget. From there, the Senate and House will hash out the differences between their budgets before Gov. Kelly Ayotte gets the opportunity to review and either approve or veto it. Carson believes there's enough Republican support for her proposal on the child advocate. She hopes it's 'a path that the House can accept.' Carson serves on the Children's Oversight Committee and has been pleased with the office's work. 'After working with the office for a number of years, I know how valuable it is,' Carson said. 'And I know the value of the work they do, so we had to try to figure out a way to save it.' Cassandra Sanchez, who heads the Office of the Child Advocate, said she has 'really mixed feelings' about the proposal. 'It's a really difficult time to look at reducing the office in the way in which that amendment would,' Sanchez said. 'But, of course, seeing an amendment come forth that continues funding to our office and does not eliminate the office altogether is a big win for us.' Sanchez said the four positions to be eliminated are an office coordinator (which is currently vacant), a public relations and training officer, the associate child advocate (her second-in-command), and a case aide. As the budget cut threats have loomed, she's conceded to lawmakers that if they have to cut positions, losing the public relations and training officer won't impact their caseload management and she asked that it be removed first. She's most fearful of the case aide being laid off because that position reviews all restraints and seclusions of children, and the state has been seeing rising numbers of these tactics being used, she said. In April, the state saw approximately 450 instances of children being restrained or secluded by a state worker, according to her office's most recent numbers. Sanchez's office is the only agency that reviews such instances to ensure they're necessary and in the best interest of the child. She said the office would 'be able to function quite well' with the other three positions removed 'but (the case aide) is the one critical position being cut that is truly going to have an impact on the children of New Hampshire.' The amendment also includes a provision that prohibits the office from partisan advocacy. Sanchez has been vocal in support of trans youth in the state. In April 2024, she participated in a press conference speaking out against bills targeting LGBTQ children, which ruffled feathers among Republicans. State Sen. Victoria Sullivan told New Hampshire Public Radio the advocacy is 'distracting from the actual good work that's happening with the children, with the systems.' Other lawmakers have echoed the sentiment. Sanchez said she's 'not extremely clear on what that means,' but 'could assume' it's a reference to that press conference and other LGBTQ advocacy. She wants more clarification from lawmakers, or even an interpretation from the attorney general. Regardless, she has not backed down on the issue. 'I have had conversations where I'm willing to talk about the way in which we engage with the Legislature around those issues,' she continued. 'But it would not change our viewpoint, which again, backed by psychological research, is that supporting a child and their gender identity, however they choose to explore that gender identity, supporting them in that exploration is healthy for their development. And so that is where I stand and where the office stands on those issues. And we will continue to advocate for protections of those vulnerable children and sharing factual information about the statistics and the outcomes for children when there is harmful legislation that attacks their ability to freely express themselves.' She said leading a team where employees are aware that their jobs are on the chopping block, through no control of their own, has been 'extremely difficult.' 'It's nothing I ever thought or had planned for having to manage,' Sanchez said. 'And now that it's here, I'm really taking it day-by-day. … But it is hard because the work we do already is so heavy and so difficult, and then to add that burden of the unknown on top of it, for their own lives, their own jobs, it's a lot for folks to deal with.' Still, she said, the team is 'not gonna let pessimism sink in.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
New Hampshire to pay $2.25M to mother of 5-year-old killed by father
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire has agreed to pay $2.25 million to the mother of Harmony Montgomery, a 5-year-old girl whose father was convicted of murdering her. Crystal Sorey filed a negligence lawsuit against the state last May accusing social workers of ignoring signs that her daughter was being physically abused by her ex-husband after he was awarded custody in early 2019. Adam Montgomery is serving a minimum of 56 years in prison after being convicted of murdering Harmony and moving her corpse around for months before disposing of it. Police believe Harmony was killed by him nearly two years before she was reported missing in 2021. Her body has not been found. The state does not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement reached last month. The attorney general's office declined to comment on the settlement Friday or on other similar settlements reached in the last year. In July, the state agreed to pay $5.75 million to the mother of a Laconia boy the state placed with a grandmother who is now charged with his 2019 death. In December, it settled with the father of 5-year-old boy Merrimack killed by his mother in 2021. In 2018, the state created an Office of the Child Advocate to serve as an independent watchdog agency, but lawmakers are considering eliminating it in the next state budget.
Winnipeg Free Press
23-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
New Hampshire to pay $2.25M to mother of 5-year-old killed by father
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire has agreed to pay $2.25 million to the mother of Harmony Montgomery, a 5-year-old girl whose father was convicted of murdering her. Crystal Sorey filed a negligence lawsuit against the state last May accusing social workers of ignoring signs that her daughter was being physically abused by her ex-husband after he was awarded custody in early 2019. Adam Montgomery is serving a minimum of 56 years in prison after being convicted of murdering Harmony and moving her corpse around for months before disposing of it. Police believe Harmony was killed by him nearly two years before she was reported missing in 2021. Her body has not been found. The state does not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement reached last month. The attorney general's office declined to comment on the settlement Friday or on other similar settlements reached in the last year. In July, the state agreed to pay $5.75 million to the mother of a Laconia boy the state placed with a grandmother who is now charged with his 2019 death. In December, it settled with the father of 5-year-old boy Merrimack killed by his mother in 2021. In 2018, the state created an Office of the Child Advocate to serve as an independent watchdog agency, but lawmakers are considering eliminating it in the next state budget.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
No homeschooling bill this session, Dems say. Republicans cheer ‘victory' for parents rights
No legislation to regulate homeschooling will be introduced this session, despite the subject's recent attention and the urging of child advocates. Rep. Jen Leeper made the announcement in response to a reporter question Tuesday at the House Democrats news briefing ahead of the session Tuesday. 'There won't be any legislation this session on homeschooling,' Leeper said. 'I think we, in an effort to be publicly transparent brought everyone to the table to listen from all of our agencies that interact with students and children and their wellbeing about where there are gaps in the system and now we're going to do the public and methodical work to explore all those places where kids are slipping through and see what we can do next session to ensure all the children of Connecticut are safe.' CT Senate Republicans on X responded to the news, calling it a win for parents rights and Republicans. 'Thanks to the strong voices of CT Republicans and passionate homeschooling families and advocates, the proposed legislation imposing new mandates on homeschoolers will not move forward this session,' they said. 'This is a major victory for parental rights and educational freedom in our state!' The legislature's Education Committee and the Committee on Children held a joint hearing May 5 to hear from experts regarding the state's homeschooling policies. Speakers called to address legislators included state experts Department of Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker, Department of Children and Families Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly, Office of the Child Advocate's Acting Child Advocate Christina Ghio and Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents Executive Director Fran Rabinowitz. Homeschooling group leaders included National Home Education Legal Defense Attorney Deborah Stevenson, Connecticut Homeschool Network's Diane Connors and Coalition for Responsible Home Education's Beau Triba. Homeschool families showed up in droves to the event and joined Republican legislators in criticizing the joint hearing, with both groups decrying implied connections between homeschooling and the recent case of a Waterbury man which prompted the hearing. The 32-year-old man recently freed from a Waterbury home was reportedly found malnourished after being withdrawn from school at age 11 and then reportedly held captive for decades. The homeschooling community, which had staged consistent protests at the Capitol have said that legislators are using the case as an opportunity to restrict their freedom to teach their children. In addition, homeschooling families dispute a report from the state Office of the Child Advocate that claims high rates of abuse and neglect among families who have withdrawn their children from school, prompting the OCA's calls for oversight. 'Nearly one-quarter of families of students withdrawn for homeschooling had at least one accepted DCF report and approximately 8% had four or more accepted DCF reports,' the report states. 'In our 2025 data review, we found that approximately 10% of the families had at least one substantiation, including substantiations for physical abuse, physical neglect, and educational neglect.' Christina Ghio, acting child advocate for the Office of the Child Advocate, told the Courant that the Office is not trying to 'stop people from homeschooling, people who are doing high quality homeschooling, providing instruction and regularly engaging their children in activity. 'But because we have no regulations at all, there are parents who use that freedom to withdraw their children under false pretenses and hide them and that is what we are trying to address,' she said. Connecticut currently has no oversight of homeschooling. Parents are not required to notify their home districts that they intend to homeschool and no follow-up is ever done to ensure children are keeping up with grade level standards. Connecticut's education commissioner and head of the superintendents' group also argued that more oversight is needed to ensure children are safe and learning. Fran Rabinowitz, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, called for strengthening of regulations around homeschooling, perhaps through an academic evaluation or a portfolio or a standardized test. 'We do not want in any shape or form to want to control homeschooling,' she said. 'We want to safeguard every child in Connecticut and ensure we are upholding our obligation to the state constitution that all students must be educated. 'We want to know you are educating your children,' she added. Senate Republicans also issued a statement Tuesday about the announcement. 'Homeschoolers have nothing to do with the tragic situation in Waterbury. Instead of focusing on DCF and the Waterbury public school system on how and why that child fell through the cracks of the system, Democrats targeted the thousands of homeschoolers in our state who do an amazing job of educating their students outside of Connecticut's education system. … 'The last thing state government should do is get in the middle of something that is working. Homeschooling is working – and working tremendously well. This was once again the majority Democrat party in Connecticut trying to take control of people's lives. It's destructive and it's wrong. Together, we stood up to it and we spoke out. Our voices were heard.' Reporting from Courant reporter Livi Stanford is contained in this article.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
If New Hampshire appreciates its teachers, now is a good time to show them
"At the state and federal level, anti-public education politicians are trying to turn public funding into blank checks for private schools." (Photo by Dave Cummings/New Hampshire Bulletin) Every day, teachers are nurturing and supporting our precious students in classrooms across New Hampshire. Teachers dedicate their careers and their lives to providing young Granite Staters with the tools they need to build bright futures and live out their dreams. May 5-9 marks Teacher Appreciation Week nationwide — an important moment to ensure the teachers in our lives know how much they mean to us and our communities. It's important to show — and tell — our gratitude. I am so grateful for every New Hampshire teacher. To those who taught me how to teach, to my colleagues in the classroom who supported me and guided me throughout my career, to the dedicated professionals who I trust to teach my three sons — thank you! You inspire me every day, and you inspire the next generation to be their best selves. This year, I hope you'll join me to show your appreciation and show up for teachers. We can drop off a gift card and we can drop by a school board meeting. We can tell teachers how much we care about their work. And we can tell our policy makers to protect our neighborhood public schools. At the state and federal level, anti-public education politicians are trying to turn public funding into blank checks for private schools. They want to give more handouts and tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires while breaking our public schools and taking resources away from teachers and students. We can't afford to let them turn funding for public school students and teachers into private school vouchers. We can't afford to let them slash programs like Medicaid and children's health insurance that keep students healthy and ready to learn. We can't afford to let them cut programs that keep our kids safe, like the Office of the Child Advocate. These harmful proposals — and more — are all contained in the current state budget draft. We know what appreciation would look like in action. Teachers would have classrooms that are stocked with supplies they need and full of the joy that students deserve. Teachers would come to work at schools that are safe, welcoming, and well-funded. Teachers would have the careers they deserve that can support their families and support our communities in every corner of this state. Whether you speak out on your social media accounts or call your lawmakers, when we transform our appreciation into support for teachers we protect and strengthen public schools. Teachers go above and beyond for their students every day — even in the face of anti-public education politicians' attacks on their profession and their school. They bring joy and determination to their work to ensure every student — no matter the color of their skin or the ZIP code they live in — has the resources they need to succeed. We know the overwhelming majority of Granite Staters support the teachers at their community public schools, which are attended by nearly 90% of students and 95% of students with a disability. Now it's time for us to go above and beyond for teachers and turn our appreciation into actions that will protect our public schools and help teachers get the support and resources they deserve.
