May 19, 2026
Via e-mail Return Receipt Requested
Marie E. Noonan, Director
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
129 Pleasant Street
Concord, NH 03301
MARIE.E.NOONAN@DHHS.NH.GOV
Dear Director Noonan,
Thank you for your letter of May 8, 2026. While Disability Rights Center-NH (DRC-NH) shares your wish to continue to work collaboratively with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), our focus and priority will continue to be on the rights and safety of the children being held at the Sununu Youth Services Center (SYSC). Given our disagreement with many of the statements in your May 8th letter, we thought it important to respond in brief, as our investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at SYSC continues. DRC-NH is empowered under federal law and granted unique authority to access facilities and programs servicing individuals with disabilities. We also have an obligation to educate individuals residing in those settings about their rights and legal protections.
We are particularly troubled by the suggestion in your May 8th letter that our advocacy on behalf of children at SYSC, and our efforts to inform these children of their rights, has caused “real and negative impacts” within SYSC. Negatively characterizing DRC-NH’s efforts to educate children about their legal rights shifts attention away from the serious concerns being raised about the leadership and practices at SYSC, including restraints, seclusion and the lack of education. Furthermore, such unfounded negative characterizations risk undermining the important investigative responsibilities entrusted to DRC-NH under federal law. It also reflects a concerning unwillingness within State leadership to meaningfully engage with issues that have now been repeatedly corroborated by staff and children at SYSC as well as multiple independent entities. Children learning about their rights is not a problem; credible allegations that those rights are being violated is a problem.
DRC-NH remains focused on our responsibility to ensure the safety, well-being, and rights of children at SYSC. We are hopeful that moving forward, rather than wasting valuable time and resources blaming children for issues created by poor leadership and practices, DHHS will focus on change, including how it utilizes restraints and seclusion and ensuring compliance with the therapeutic and education requirements in 2023 N.H. Laws ch. 2 (H.B. 49).
DRC-NH continues to hope that, notwithstanding the dismissive tone and inaccurate assertions reflected in your May 8th letter, DHHS will implement active, trauma-informed practices.
Sincerely,
Michael Todd, Director of Special Projects
Disability Rights Center-NH
Cc:
Honorable Kelly A. Ayotte, Governor of NH (governorayotte@governor.nh.gov)
Lori Weaver, DHHS Commissioner (lori.a.weaver@dhhs.nh.gov)
Jennifer Dougherty, Esq. (jennifer.dougherty@dhhs.nh.gov)
Susan Larrabee, Esq. (susan.n.larrabee@dhhs.nh.gov)
Samuel Garland, Esq. (samuel.rv.garland@doj.nh.gov)
Cassandra Sanchez, OCA Director (cassandra.l.sanchez@childadvocate.nh.gov)
