Live in the video player above at 11 a.m.: Officials are holding a news conference about the report into the handling of the Harmony Montgomery case. Read the full report here.See the previous story below. –A report regarding how Massachusetts officials handled the Harmony Montgomery case was released Wednesday morning. >> Read the full report hereHarmony, who has not been seen in two years, had been in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) until February 2019, when a judge awarded custody to her father, Adam Montgomery. Adam Montgomery has been held since January on multiple charges including felony assault for allegedly hitting Harmony in 2019.This latest investigation cites many flaws in the handling of the case.FLAWS IN HANDLING OF CASEOfficials with the Massachusetts office of the child advocate came to several key findings through the report, including that DCF failed to focus on Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, and instead spent much of their assessment and case management on Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey. Furthermore, DCF never completed an assessment of Adam Montgomery, and he was “not held accountable for starting and completing the tasks on his action plan.” In addition, the report found that Harmony’s medical and special needs weren’t “central to the decision-making” regarding placement with her mother and father. Harmony “was also not prioritized” in the legal case regarding her care, officials said. “The OCA estimates that Harmony spent a total of approximately 40 hours over the course of 20 supervised visits with her father from her birth to age four and a half, yet there was no discussion on how Harmony could safely transition to Mr. Montgomery’s care, given the limited time he had spent with her,” officials wrote in a report summary. “This lack of a focus on Harmony resulted in a miscalculation of the risks to Harmony when she was placed in Mr. Montgomery’s custody, and there was no planning to ensure that the custody arrangement would be successful.”DCF officials opposed Harmony being placed in Adam Montgomery’s care, but they didn’t present a strong legal case largely because they didn’t fully assess Adam Montgomery, officials said. An attorney representing Harmony before the Juvenile Court did not give any evidence of her needs, officials said. The attorney agreed with the girl’s placement with her father, and “therefore did not present any evidence or question Mr. Montgomery on Harmony’s specific medical needs, her educational needs, her behavioral needs, nor Harmony’s daily routine or support system,” officials wrote. “Harmony’s best interests and welfare were not presented to the Juvenile Court Judge by her attorney,” officials wrote in their summary. The report also highlights that the court awarded custody of Harmony across state lines, which it says was not in compliance with the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.”The OCA believes that the procedures outlined in the ICPC, if applied in Harmony’s case, would have helped to address safety and risk concerns for Harmony in Mr. Montgomery’s care,” officials wrote in the report’s summary. “This would have included confirming the family’s living situation and Mrs. Montgomery’s sobriety, continued oversight of the placement by New Hampshire DCYF, and ensuring that Harmony was connected to services and resources in New Hampshire, including school.”REPORT’S RECOMMENDATIONSOfficials said DCF should work on building a plan to ensure both parents are “adequately addressed” in cases involving young children. Furthermore, DCF should review their training procedures, support for and supervision of their attorneys.Members of several organizations, including DCF, the OCA, the Juvenile Court, the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) and the state legislature, should form a “Working Group” to discuss a child’s welfare and ensure their needs are properly met, officials wrote. Officials added that a parent’s rights should be “appropriately balanced” with the child’s needs. The CPCS, meanwhile, is encouraged to review the “suitability of the standards of advocacy” of children in similar situations. Officials said DCF and the Juvenile Court should work to identify all the barriers for permanently placing a child in someone’s care. Massachusetts officials were advised by the OCA to improve communication with border states in child protection cases. REACTION TO REPORTDCF officials released a statement addressing the report’s recommendations:”Harmony Montgomery was last seen in New Hampshire in October 2019 and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) remains deeply concerned about her disappearance. The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) report illustrates the grave responsibility of balancing the child’s safety and best interest and a parents’ legal rights to have custody of their child. The Baker-Polito Administration agrees with the OCA that the safety of the kids in DCF care, and servicing their needs, should be the priority not only of DCF but of all the participants in our child protection system. As the OCA report states, the Department continues to make meaningful and lasting reforms to addresses these complex issues when a case comes before the court. As is pointed out in this case, the Baker-Polito Administration recently proposed legislation that would assign every child a Guardian ad Litem to ensure all children have a voice that advocates singularly for their best interests during court proceedings. DCF policy reforms dating back to the administration’s sweeping system wide reforms begun in 2015 are responsive to the case practice issues raised in the OCA ‘s report. The Department remains committed to engaging with the court to increase timely permanence for children and to assure safety and for the child’s best interest to remain paramount.” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told WMUR before the report’s release that it’s important to know what happened. “I know they want to keep things confidential and sealed up, but at the end of the day, if we’re going to bring Harmony home safe we need to know what happened there,” Gov. Sununu said. “We need to know the hows and whys of those cases, not just on the DCF side but on the court side as well.”Anyone with information about Harmony should call or text the dedicated tip line, monitored 24/7, at 603-203-6060.
Live in the video player above at 11 a.m.: Officials are holding a news conference about the report into the handling of the Harmony Montgomery case. Read the full report here.
See the previous story below.
—
A report regarding how Massachusetts officials handled the Harmony Montgomery case was released Wednesday morning.
Harmony, who has not been seen in two years, had been in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) until February 2019, when a judge awarded custody to her father, Adam Montgomery. Adam Montgomery has been held since January on multiple charges including felony assault for allegedly hitting Harmony in 2019.
This latest investigation cites many flaws in the handling of the case.
FLAWS IN HANDLING OF CASE
Officials with the Massachusetts office of the child advocate came to several key findings through the report, including that DCF failed to focus on Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, and instead spent much of their assessment and case management on Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey.
Furthermore, DCF never completed an assessment of Adam Montgomery, and he was “not held accountable for starting and completing the tasks on his action plan.”
In addition, the report found that Harmony’s medical and special needs weren’t “central to the decision-making” regarding placement with her mother and father. Harmony “was also not prioritized” in the legal case regarding her care, officials said.
“The OCA estimates that Harmony spent a total of approximately 40 hours over the course of 20 supervised visits with her father from her birth to age four and a half, yet there was no discussion on how Harmony could safely transition to Mr. Montgomery’s care, given the limited time he had spent with her,” officials wrote in a report summary. “This lack of a focus on Harmony resulted in a miscalculation of the risks to Harmony when she was placed in Mr. Montgomery’s custody, and there was no planning to ensure that the custody arrangement would be successful.”
DCF officials opposed Harmony being placed in Adam Montgomery’s care, but they didn’t present a strong legal case largely because they didn’t fully assess Adam Montgomery, officials said.
An attorney representing Harmony before the Juvenile Court did not give any evidence of her needs, officials said. The attorney agreed with the girl’s placement with her father, and “therefore did not present any evidence or question Mr. Montgomery on Harmony’s specific medical needs, her educational needs, her behavioral needs, nor Harmony’s daily routine or support system,” officials wrote.
“Harmony’s best interests and welfare were not presented to the Juvenile Court Judge by her attorney,” officials wrote in their summary.
The report also highlights that the court awarded custody of Harmony across state lines, which it says was not in compliance with the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.
“The OCA believes that the procedures outlined in the ICPC, if applied in Harmony’s case, would have helped to address safety and risk concerns for Harmony in Mr. Montgomery’s care,” officials wrote in the report’s summary. “This would have included confirming the family’s living situation and Mrs. Montgomery’s sobriety, continued oversight of the placement by New Hampshire DCYF, and ensuring that Harmony was connected to services and resources in New Hampshire, including school.”
REPORT’S RECOMMENDATIONS
Officials said DCF should work on building a plan to ensure both parents are “adequately addressed” in cases involving young children. Furthermore, DCF should review their training procedures, support for and supervision of their attorneys.
Members of several organizations, including DCF, the OCA, the Juvenile Court, the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) and the state legislature, should form a “Working Group” to discuss a child’s welfare and ensure their needs are properly met, officials wrote. Officials added that a parent’s rights should be “appropriately balanced” with the child’s needs.
The CPCS, meanwhile, is encouraged to review the “suitability of the standards of advocacy” of children in similar situations.
Officials said DCF and the Juvenile Court should work to identify all the barriers for permanently placing a child in someone’s care.
Massachusetts officials were advised by the OCA to improve communication with border states in child protection cases.
REACTION TO REPORT
DCF officials released a statement addressing the report’s recommendations:
“Harmony Montgomery was last seen in New Hampshire in October 2019 and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) remains deeply concerned about her disappearance. The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) report illustrates the grave responsibility of balancing the child’s safety and best interest and a parents’ legal rights to have custody of their child. The Baker-Polito Administration agrees with the OCA that the safety of the kids in DCF care, and servicing their needs, should be the priority not only of DCF but of all the participants in our child protection system. As the OCA report states, the Department continues to make meaningful and lasting reforms to addresses these complex issues when a case comes before the court. As is pointed out in this case, the Baker-Polito Administration recently proposed legislation that would assign every child a Guardian ad Litem to ensure all children have a voice that advocates singularly for their best interests during court proceedings. DCF policy reforms dating back to the administration’s sweeping system wide reforms begun in 2015 are responsive to the case practice issues raised in the OCA ‘s report. The Department remains committed to engaging with the court to increase timely permanence for children and to assure safety and for the child’s best interest to remain paramount.”
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told WMUR before the report’s release that it’s important to know what happened.
“I know they want to keep things confidential and sealed up, but at the end of the day, if we’re going to bring Harmony home safe we need to know what happened there,” Gov. Sununu said. “We need to know the hows and whys of those cases, not just on the DCF side but on the court side as well.”
Anyone with information about Harmony should call or text the dedicated tip line, monitored 24/7, at 603-203-6060.