By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – Calling them “deeply serious allegations that demand swift and decisive action,” Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, formed a subcommittee this week to look at new abuse claims at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester by the state’s Child Advocate.

House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, said, “House leadership is gravely concerned about the allegations expressed by the Office of the Child Advocate, and we have been treating this matter with the utmost urgency.”

But an adult survivor of child abuse at the former Youth Development Center, released a statement saying the new allegations show that the state cannot be trusted to investigate itself this time. He believes the state doesn’t care about survivors of the abuse that occurred over decades.

Chuck Miles, an abuse survivor and board member of Justice for YDC Victims said: “The Child Advocate’s report confirms New Hampshire continues to fail to protect its most vulnerable children. I was one of many children abused in State custody because of its institutional failures.

“The fact that grievous physical abuse and neglect are still happening—and on video, no less—at a time when the facility is under such intense scrutiny should be deeply troubling to all New Hampshire citizens, legislators, and government officials. At this point it is clear the State cannot credibly investigate itself,” Miles said.

A statement from Carson’s office said Friday, with state Senator Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, that Sullivan, and state Representatives Kimberly Rice, R-Hudson and Jodie Nelson, R-Derry, have visited the Sununu Youth Services Center and met with the Attorney General’s Office and the Disability Rights Commission and will soon meet directly with the children and staff at the child detention facility.

On Thursday, Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, shared with InDepthNH.org a document from Cassandra Sanchez, the state Child Advocate, giving the council notice that they have abuse claims they want the state to fully investigate at SYSC. She said this needed immediate action.

The letter to the five-member executive council alluded to a video and reports of staff holding down a child for more than three minutes, fracturing a bone and delaying treatment. It said the Office of the Child Advocate was in a heightened state of observation for the facility. It held 15 youths at the time of the investigation in March and Sanchez’s letter was dated March 30.

Other allegations in the letter which Sanchez alleges include a lockdown for long periods of time with no education time this winter.

Carson, chair of the Oversight Commission on Children’s Services, said she acted immediately—establishing a subcommittee to investigate.

“Let me be clear: Republicans have been on the ground since we were alerted to these latest issues at the Sununu Youth Services Center, and we will do everything in our power to protect these children and ensure they receive the support they deserve,” Carson said in a statement.