Sununu names pick for Office of Child Advocate director

Gov. Chris Sununu announced Tuesday night his pick for a new top position tasked with overseeing the state’s Division for Children, Youth and Families.

Sununu will nominate Moira K. O’Neill during Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting to serve as the director of the Office of the Child Advocate. O’Neill previously held the position of assistant child advocate in Connecticut from 2000 to 2011, and worked as a community care coordinator at the Yale Center for children with special health care needs, according to her resume.

“As an assistant child advocate for the state of Connecticut for 11 years, Moira has the experience, expertise, and passion necessary to advocate for New Hampshire’s most vulnerable children,” Sununu said in a statement. “I commend the Oversight Commission for their hard work in leading this search, and I am confident that Moira will serve our state with distinction.”

Established last session by the House budget trailer bill, the Oversight Commission on Children’s Services was charged with recommending at least three candidates to the governor to lead the new oversight office.

The Legislature created the Office of the Child Advocate as an independent check of DCYF, which came under harsh scrutiny following the murders of 3-year-old Brielle Gage and 21-month-old Sadee Willott. The girls, who were killed by their mothers, were under the agency’s supervision.