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Child advocate describes surge in incident reviews and staff comp time; seeks staffing stability
Summary
The state child advocate told the committee the office processed nearly 3,000 incident reports in the last fiscal year, opened several hundred citizen complaints and is staffed at nine full-time positions but had to leave one office coordinator position unfunded; staff are accruing compensatory time to meet workloads.
Cassandra Sanchez, the state Child Advocate, and Associate Child Advocate Alyssa Macchio briefed the committee on the office's oversight role and recent workload.
Sanchez said the office reviews child welfare and juvenile justice incidents across executive-branch child-serving agencies and that in the most recent fiscal year the office reviewed 2,937 incident reports and 86 critical incident reports, plus 1,500 restraint/seclusion reports. The office handled 349 citizen complaints and said it responds to every complaint.
Sanchez said the office is fully staffed with nine full-time positions (one classified position and eight unclassified), but the budget presented left an office coordinator position unfunded; the office coordinator had been vacant during prior budgeting and the office would like that position refunded to support purchasing, procurement and budget functions. She said staff had accrued compensatory time during payroll system changes and that the office had added overtime as a prioritized need for the next fiscal year.
Sanchez described the office's work on critical incident review, coordination with DCYF and other agencies, and public reporting. She said the office does not have the authority to order agencies to take specific actions; instead the office makes recommendations, escalates serious safety concerns publicly if the agency does not respond, and consults with the legislature on statutory changes.
Committee members asked about open caseloads: Sanchez said the office had 255 open critical-incident reviews on the date shown in the packet and that some reviews remain open while awaiting autopsy reports, court actions or other investigatory steps.
Sanchez said the office was pursuing internal cost savings such as reducing leased office space through telework and would continue to seek restoration of the office coordinator position as a prioritized need while noting the tight statewide budget environment.
Sanchez provided the committee with statutory references for the office's authority (RSA 21-V) and offered to provide further details on specific budget lines when requested.
