After Harmony Montgomery murder trial, N.H. moves to close child welfare watchdog agency
The murders of 3-year-old
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Still, the tragic headlines continued. In 2019, 5-year-old
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Harmony's disappearance went largely unnoticed for two years before her father was arrested and charged with killing her and disposing of her remains, which still have not been found. That, combined with the fact that a Massachusetts judge
Amid further questions about what authorities should do differently, lawmakers expanded the New Hampshire Office of the Child Advocate's oversight role in 2020.
Cassandra L. Sanchez, who was appointed as New Hampshire's child advocate in 2022 to lead a team that independently
'We did not know that this was going to happen,' she said. 'It was not mentioned at all as a potential during our budget hearing, so it came as a shock.'
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There are now
With a 5-4 vote on Monday, a division of the New Hampshire House Finance Committee endorsed
The proposal still has a long way to go. If the full committee signs off, the legislation would advance to the full House, and it would still need approval from the Senate and the governor to take effect when the next fiscal year begins, on July 1.
The amendment was among several introduced by Republican Representative Dan McGuire of Epsom, who chairs Division I of the committee. McGuire said certain 'little agencies' should be nixed from the budget, not because they are doing poorly, but just because the state must find ways to reduce spending where it can.
'We need the money,' he said. 'I don't know how to put it any blunter.'
Although the roughly $16 billion budget plan that Republican Governor Kelly A. Ayotte
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Democratic Representative Rosemarie Rung of Merrimack said during Monday's meeting that the Office of the Child Advocate works to ensure, among other things, that children held in state-run youth detention facilities aren't being mistreated.
Considering how the state is now spending millions to settle decades-old allegations of physical and sexual abuse at such facilities, Rung said allocating $1 million per year to keep this watchdog office operating seems likely to save the state money in the long run.
'It's penny-wise and pound-foolish to get rid of this,' Rung said.
Sanchez said her team meets regularly with children and staff at the
'There was no oversight of that sort when all of the issues played out that have now led to lawsuits,' Sanchez said.
Representative Alexis Simpson of Exeter, the Democratic minority leader in the House, said the Office of the Child Advocate has proven itself useful in other areas, too, by revealing problems and helping to shape legislative solutions.
'It is outrageous,' Simpson said, 'that Republicans are attempting to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy by cutting essential government oversight designed to protect vulnerable children.'
This budget cycle is the first since New Hampshire
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Ayotte wasn't in the governor's office when Republican state lawmakers decided to phase out the I&D tax. But on the campaign trail last year, she
A spokesperson for Ayotte did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on whether the governor would support or oppose a budget plan that eliminates the Office of the Child Advocate. Republican leaders in the House, including Speaker Sherman A. Packard of Londonderry, did not respond to requests for comment either.
As the child advocate, Sanchez has sometimes found herself at odds with Republican lawmakers, including when she spoke out last year against
There may be fractures forming within the GOP caucus on whether to move forward with the recommendation. Republican Representative
Sanchez said she understands money is tight.
'But I don't see the value in eliminating something that comes at such a small cost and is protecting one of the most vulnerable populations in our state,' she said.
Sanchez and the eight employees in her office are far less worried about their own employment prospects than they are about what will happen if New Hampshire does away with an office that focuses on the needs of children who are at risk.
'If that doesn't exist,' she said, 'I worry what's going to happen with our children.'
Steven Porter can be reached at
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