In 2021, Cassandra Sanchez was working for the Massachusetts Department for Children and Families in Lowell and growing frustrated with red tape and ineffective bureaucracies. She decided she needed to find a new role — one where she could enact systemic change. “I felt at a certain point that I wasn’t helping families by doing […]
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U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander waded into the ongoing controversy at the Sununu Youth Services Center this week as she called on federal prosecutors to open their own investigation into the Manchester juvenile justice facility. The Office of the Child Advocate first raised concerns about staff being potentially abusive toward the facility’s underage detainees in a […]
Jason Taylor, one of New Hampshire’s two assistant child advocates, said the Office of the Child Advocate’s final report on its investigation into potential abuse and neglect at the Sununu Youth Services Center could take “certainly weeks but maybe months” to complete. “Really, what I hope our report will talk about is the impacts of […]
Gov. Kelly Ayotte said Friday she would nominate former Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg to be the state’s acting child advocate, a role he would fill temporarily until the state can find a permanent person. The announcement came on Cassandra Sanchez’s final day in the role. Sanchez, who was appointed by Gov. Chris Sununu in […]
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office says a multi-month review found no evidence of recent systemic abuse at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester and concluded that the facility is “operating within legal boundaries” — contradicting concerns by a state watchdog. In a 56-page report released Tuesday, the Attorney General’s Office said that while […]
Joshua Nye, who ran New Hampshire’s youth detention facility in Manchester for less than six months, has resigned, the Department of Health and Human Services announced this week. “Joshua Nye submitted his resignation on May 20, 2026, effective immediately, and it was accepted by DCYF Director Marie Noonan,” Jake Leon, spokesperson for the department, wrote […]
Cassandra Sanchez packed up her desk at the Office of the Child Advocate weeks ago, but her final day still hasn’t arrived. Sanchez has served as New Hampshire’s child advocate, the official watchdog that oversees the state’s youth-focused systems, such as the foster care or juvenile justice, since 2022. She’s the second person to hold […]