Ayotte chooses former Manchester police chief as acting child advocate

Gov. Kelly Ayotte said Friday she would nominate former Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg to be the state’s acting child advocate, a role he would fill temporarily until the state can find a permanent person.

The announcement came on Cassandra Sanchez’s final day in the role. Sanchez, who was appointed by Gov. Chris Sununu in 2022, is leaving after Ayotte declined in January to nominate her to a new term. 

Aldenberg will need Executive Council approval to take the role; the body’s next meeting is July 29. If confirmed, he would serve for up to 90 days, according to the governor’s office. 

Aldenberg, who served as police chief for the Queen City from 2020 to 2025 and is currently a brigadier general in the New Hampshire National Guard, would bring an unusual law enforcement background to the role. 

Established by lawmakers in 2018, the Office of the Child Advocate is an independent watchdog agency originally charged with overseeing the Division for Children, Youth, and Families after a string of deaths of children under that agency’s care. In 2020, lawmakers expanded its mandate to investigate child welfare concerns over all state departments and agencies as well as contractors. 

New Hampshire’s first child advocate, Moira O’Neill, had previously served as the assistant child advocate in Connecticut. Sanchez, the second person in the role, had previously worked in the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. 

Aldenberg graduated from the FBI National Academy and earned a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College and a master’s in justice administration from Norwich University, according to the governor’s office. He has served in the National Guard for 34 years, previously served as chief military and veterans services officer at Easterseals New Hampshire, has worked on a police department crisis intervention team, and served on the board of the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester.

In her announcement, Ayotte called him “an outstanding public servant.” 

“As chief in Manchester, Al saw firsthand what happens when systems fail to protect children, and he will be a steadfast leader for the Office of the Child Advocate during this period of transition.” 

Ayotte said she would continue to search for a permanent director.

The governor’s choice to appoint Aldenberg contradicts previous assumptions that Sanchez’s deputy, Jason Taylor, would take the interim role. In an interview with the Bulletin this month, Sanchez said she assumed Taylor would be picked, and in his own email to the Bulletin this week, Taylor said: “I don’t think that I have any choice.”

Leadership in the office has been tumultuous in recent months. When Ayotte first announced in January she would not reappoint Sanchez, she did not give a direct reason, calling it a standard administrative change. Sanchez later told the Bulletin she believed she was being replaced due to her opposition to Republican legislation that would target transgender children and athletes; Ayotte has denied that claim.

In March, Ayotte’s first pick to succeed Sanchez, Diana Fenton, withdrew her nomination after a contentious public hearing and opposition from some on the Executive Council. 

In his email to the Bulletin Tuesday, Taylor expressed frustration with the changes and with what he said was a lack of transparency by the governor’s office. 

“We’re very disappointed by the lack of professional courtesy shown to our team, and we plan to take steps to address this,” he wrote. “The public is who we serve, and we will continue to do so, despite the frustrations we have regarding the forced changes in leadership for our office.”

Bulletin reporter William Skipworth contributed to this story.