Starting Jan. 1, children who are removed from their parents and placed in group homes or other institutions during abuse and neglect proceedings in New Hampshire will be assigned an attorney to advocate for their interests.
The change follows a bipartisan law passed in 2024 that aims to provide some minors an additional advocate during what supporters describe as lengthy and sometimes complex legal cases. Supporters say the new representation is intended to ensure courts and state agencies hear more directly from children about what they want, particularly when they are placed in institutional settings.
Lisa Wolford of the Children’s Law Center of New Hampshire, one of the groups that advocated for the change, said children can experience institutional placements harshly. “Kids experience these facilities as punitive,” Wolford said. She added that removing children from their homes and placing them in group settings, along with possible disruptions to education, medical care and family connections, can be “very, very traumatizing.”
Under current practice, every child involved in an abuse or neglect case in New Hampshire is assigned a guardian ad litem, or a trained volunteer overseen by CASA of New Hampshire. Those adults are tasked with advocating for what they believe is in the best interests of the child.
The new law adds attorneys for children in certain cases, with a different focus. According to the report, lawyers will be charged with pressing the court and state social workers to consider what the child wants, which in some circumstances may differ from what a guardian ad litem believes is in the child’s best interest. Supporters of the policy change argue that a child’s attorney could be an additional voice to push back against institutional placements, including when a child does not want to live in a group home or other institution.
New Hampshire previously was one of about a dozen states that did not guarantee a legal representative for every child involved in the abuse and neglect system, according to the report.
The law does not automatically provide attorneys to every child in the system. Under the new policy, children who remain with a parent or guardian, or who are placed in foster homes, will not automatically receive legal representation in addition to a guardian ad litem. The measure does, however, make it easier for a judge to appoint a lawyer when the judge believes it would benefit the child.
Although the law passed in 2024 and was signed by former Gov. Chris Sununu, its implementation was delayed until January 2026.
The rollout begins with older teens already living in institutional settings. Under the phased timeline described in the report, minors ages 16 and 17 in institutional placements become eligible for attorneys starting Jan. 1. Children ages 14 and 15 are scheduled to receive counsel beginning Jan. 31. On April 30, 10 and 11 year olds already in group homes will qualify for legal counsel. By July 31, children under age 10 who are already in an institutional placement will also receive a lawyer.
State health officials estimate there are about 150 New Hampshire children placed in institutional settings who will qualify for legal counsel under the new law, according to the report.
In preparation, the New Hampshire Judicial Branch and the Children’s Law Center have held training sessions for lawyers interested in taking these cases. The report says participating attorneys will need to learn the intricacies of the state’s child protection laws.
The state also recently raised the rate attorneys will be paid to as much as $125 per hour, according to the report. Even with the higher rate and training efforts, officials and advocates have raised concerns about whether enough attorneys will be available.
“There’s certainly a fear that there won’t be sufficient attorneys available,” said Jay Buckey, executive director for the New Hampshire Judicial Counsel. Buckey said New Hampshire, like other parts of the country, has struggled in recent years to find attorneys willing to accept other voluntary assignments, including defense counsel for indigent defendants.
For now, the new attorney appointments begin with children already in group homes or other institutions, with eligibility expanding by age over the first seven months of 2026. The report did not specify how quickly attorneys will be assigned to qualifying children beyond the dates in the phased timeline. For more coverage of policy developments affecting New Hampshire communities, explore our regional reporting.
