Senate Republicans Risk Children’s Safety, Defund Protective Service Workers
Contact Name: Marina Altschiller
Phone: (603) 271-3207
CONCORD - Today, Senate Republicans put the safety and welfare of New Hampshire’s children at risk when they voted against full funding for 22 child protective service workers within the Division for Children, Youth and Families. These positions had previously been left unfunded in both the Governor’s and Republican controlled House budget proposals, but were a critical part of the child welfare reforms in the last biennial budget.
After the vote, Senator Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua) and Senator Becky Whitley (D-Hopkinton) issued the following statement:
“Over the past year, children from abusive households have been cut off from outlets for reporting and their resources for safety. As we emerge from this tumultuous period of time, we need to be doing everything in our power to protect the health and safety of our children. Child protective service workers play a critical role in resolving cases of abuse and neglect and in keeping children safe. All 22 positions requested by the department should have been funded today.
Our Republican colleagues are quick to applaud the Governor for prioritizing child safety. If this were truly a priority for the Governor, he would be doing absolutely everything in his executive power to ensure positions at DCYF were filled. This includes working with the Department to pay livable wages, provide a sustainable working environment for these critical workers, and do everything possible to attract workers to our state to protect children. Words without these actions are hollow and meaningless. We are extremely disappointed that Republicans turned their backs on the bipartisan reforms from 2019 and on the children of New Hampshire.”
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