DCYF head leaves after 8 months on the job
Apr. 12—CONCORD — The head of the state's child protection agency is stepping down after eight months on the job.
Jeff Fleischer is leaving his post as director of the Division of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to "pursue other issues closer to his family outside the state," according to a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services.
He started in the job last August after working with the Youth Advocate Program Inc. (YAP), a nationally known group that offered a cost-effective alternative to jail or other institutional housing for troubled youth.
Fleischer worked for 20 years as YAP's CEO, helping grow the program to 150 sites and 2,000 staff serving 20,000 youth and their families each year.
He retired from YAP in January 2023 after 38 years on the job.
"We thank Jeff for his service to the children and youth of New Hampshire and we wish him the best in his future endeavors," the DHHS said.
Child Advocate Cassandra Sanchez, the independent monitor of state child welfare services, said Fleischer's departure was unexpected.
"I am surprised. It is sad to see Jeff go because I feel that his vision is very much what I want the direction of our efforts to be in the future," Sanchez said.
Longtime HHS staffer Marie Noonan has been tapped as interim director, a role she filled before Fleischer's hiring.
"I do think it's a loss for our state and it's really important to ensure that the agency continues to move forward with his permanent replacement," Sanchez said.
"I'm not sure what the reason was, but I really have full faith that (HHS Commissioner) Lori Weaver will identify someone who will be the right fit," said Rep. Jess Edwards, R-Auburn, who chairs the House Finance Committee working group that reviews the DCYF budget. "Even in the best of times this is a very challenging job."
Rep. Mark Pearson, R-Hampstead, who chairs the House Children and Family Law Committee, said Fleischer helped the agency make progress.
"Jeff particularly contributed to developing a greater variety of appropriate care modalities for troubled youth," Pearson said. "I've seen good things happen in the short time he has been here. He's ready to go back to working near his family and to hand the torch off to one who will continue the improvement of DCYF."
Edwards said the stakes involved can make the job a stressful one.
"These are our most vulnerable children as a state so we can't afford to be right only most of the time," Edwards said.
"This is one of those situations that when everything is going well, then you are ignored. If there's slightest mistake in a case, even if it's not your fault, then you're under intense scrutiny."
Another advocate for children called the DCYF post a "pressure cooker job" not conducive to a long tenure.
Fleischer's predecessor, Joe Ribsam, lasted five years in the post before leaving to join the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The agency was in the news most recently during the trial of Adam Montgomery, convicted of second-degree murder of his five-year-old daughter, Harmony.
During the trial, some argued that DCYF officials failed to aggressively follow up on concerns about the little girl's care.
Gov. Chris Sununu and others blamed Massachusetts court officials for returning Harmony to Adam Montgomery's care.
Major changes underway
This change in DCYF leadership comes at a critical time for the agency.
One of Fleischer's top tasks was to oversee construction of a trauma-centered replacement for the Sununu Youth Services Center (SYSC) on the grounds of Hampstead Hospital, which the state bought from a private entity to convert into a cutting-edge mental health treatment program for juveniles.
Weaver said Fleischer he was uniquely suited to help the state's child welfare and juvenile justice agencies apply family-centered strategies to reduce the number of youth needing out-of-home placement or detention settings.
Fleischer chaired the National Human Service Assembly from 2019 to 2022.
State officials recently responded to a spike in the number of times first responders had to go to Hampstead Hospital to quell a disturbance.
Sununu said many of those calls were linked to one patient, and Weaver said recent meetings with stakeholders had improved the situation.
Before Fleischer was hired, hundreds of former residents filed lawsuits alleging they suffered sexual and physical abuse at the Sununu Center and its predecessor Youth Development Center (YDC) in Manchester.
The Legislature in 2023 used budget surplus to create a $100 million fund to compensate victims and named former Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick to administer it.
Lawmakers now are acknowledging $100 million won't make a dent in providing compensation to all the victims.
The State Senate already has passed over to the House of Representatives a bill that would set aside another $60 million and raise the limits on what damages the state would agree to pay in the worst cases of abuse.
The first major civil trial of a YDC victim began last week. David Meehan alleged he was raped hundreds of times while in the care of the YDC during the mid-1990s.
The lawsuit maintains the state is to blame for lack of oversight of the facility.
