Executive Council approves request to address staffing issues at Sununu Center

Story Produced by NH Bulletin

An increased need for juvenile mental health services and a historic challenge in recruiting youth counselors for the Sununu Youth Services Center has the Department of Health and Human Services looking to a staffing agency for help.

The Executive Council has approved the department’s request to pay Maxim Healthcare in Manchester nearly $847,000 in federal money to provide 18 youth counselors immediately.

The state spends about $13 million a year to run the Manchester center to serve children ages 13 to 17 who’ve been ordered to a secure institutional setting by the juvenile justice system.

While the facility has 144 beds, it has been averaging about nine children a day, according to a September report from a consultant hired to recommend steps for closing the center and transitioning youth to a more appropriate setting.

The department could not be immediately reached to say whether the population has grown. But the mental health needs of residents have been exacerbated by COVID-19.

In its request to the Executive Council, the department said nearly half the children there were in such danger of harming themselves, a single counselor could care for only one or two residents at a time.

The state has looked to Maxim Healthcare for help filling other positions. At its last meeting, the Executive Council approved a separate contract worth $6.34 million in federal money to fill approximately 70 temporary public health jobs.

This story was reproduced with permission under NH Bulletin’s Creative Commons license.