CONCORD, NH – On Nov. 1 Attorney General John M. Formella released a statement related to the $100 million YDC settlement with victims of sexual abuse while residing at the former Sununu Youth Center in Manchester.
In the statement, Formella said notice was being sent to former residents of the state-run Youth Development Center (a/k/a the Sununu Youth Services Center), the State Industrial School, the Philbrook School, the Tobey Special Education School, the Youth Services Center, and any other facility that housed adjudicated delinquent or pre-adjudication detained youth.
On Tuesday a response by David Vicinanzo, Nixon Peabody partner and former First Assistant US Attorney, was issued:
“Rus Rilee and our Nixon Peabody team represent nearly 900 child victims horribly abused by the State in State custody. The State’s settlement process created to favor only the State is not a product of negotiation with the victims and is unfriendly to them. We did not agree to the terms, values or conditions, which set the dollar numbers at a mere fraction of the national averages for abuse cases like this, and require the victims to give up their right to sue in order to get in front of the administrator, BEFORE they ever learn whether they will receive an award or what it might be. Who wants to surrender their only leverage on a mere hope they might get some fraction of what they’re owed, or nothing? No rational person does, especially after the State has already abused the trust of victims by abusing them as children and covering up all these years. No process designed like this to favor only one side – the State – has ever succeeded, and this one won’t either. We look to the courts – and to the public, which is disgusted by the State’s outrageous abuse – for long-denied justice.”
The full statement issued by Formella is below:
Attorney John M. Formella hereby gives notice to former residents of the state’s YDC/SYSC and similar facilities that they may be entitled to file a claim with the state’s new $100 million-dollar YDC Settlement Fund, now up and running under the oversight of independent Administrator John Broderick, Jr.
“Today we are pleased to see Administrator Broderick sending out notice to former residents of the YDC/SYSC and similar facilities alerting them that they may be entitled to file a claim,” said Attorney General Formella.
The State of New Hampshire has created a fund to compensate former residents of YDC and similar facilities who were sexually or physically abused by or because of a staff member of the facility. Victims of sexual abuse may receive up to $1,500,000. Victims of physical abuse may receive up to $150,000: www.YDCclaims.nh.gov.
The covered facilities are: New Hampshire’s Youth Development Center (a/k/a the Sununu Youth Services Center), the State Industrial School, the Philbrook School, the Tobey Special Education School, the Youth Services Center, and any other facility that housed adjudicated delinquent or pre-adjudication detained youth.
Claims can be filed beginning January 1, 2023. All claims must be postmarked or received no later than midnight on December 31, 2024. Former residents are not required to use the claims process and may choose to file a claim in a judicial or other forum.
If you have questions or would like to submit a claim, you can get more information and find the forms you need on the Administrator’s website, or by contacting the Administrator’s office at:
John T. Broderick, Jr., Administrator
NH YDC Claims Office
PO Box 1930
Concord, NH 03302-1930
Fax: 603-798-3420
Telephone: 603-415-2136
Website: www.YDCclaims.nh.gov
The Administrator’s office can also assist in preparing claims or can refer you to volunteers who are willing to help. The Administrator’s staff is also authorized to accept collect calls from correctional facilities.
Any person with information regarding criminal conduct at the YDC is urged to contact the N.H. Attorney General’s YDC Task Force hotline at 603-271-4000.
