Shift To Political YDC Administrator Causes Confusing; Settlement Hearings Paused

by Nancy West, InDepthNH

There are more unanswered questions about how the YDC Settlement Fund will operate during the transition from independent administrator John Broderick to how it will function under the revised law in which Gov. Kelly Ayotte will appoint an administrator who serves at her pleasure with the attorney general having veto power over claim amounts.

David Vicinanzo, who represents most of the victims who were physically and sexually abused while incarcerated by the state at Youth Development Center as children, said the changes to the settlement fund law were all done with no public hearing.

The process now by the executive branch, he said, will definitely "not be impartial, not be independent.

"Essentially, the perpetrator (State) gets to pick out the judge and jury to decide what is 'fair compensation,'" Vicinanzo said.

A memo posted Monday on the Settlement Fund page on the Attorney General's Website said; "There continues to be open questions about how the transition period will take place. YDCCA will work with both the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Attorney General's Office for a transition to a new term with an Executive Branch appointee. We will provide updates at the appropriate time as information is available," the memo says.

Two things are known with the revised law that went into effect as of July 1. YDC victim settlement hearings are going to be paused until Aug. 1, according a memo posted on the website. And the lawsuit that victims filed against the state to declare the revised law unconstitutional and a breach of contract will continue in Merrimack County Superior Court.

There will be a preliminary injunction hearing on the suit Aug. 12 at 8:30 a.m. in Merrimack County Superior Court.

The attorney general's spokesman referred questions to Broderick's office. Broderick declined comment and Gov. Ayotte didn't respond to a request for comment.

There were already concerns about potential conflicts of interest in the YDC matter because the Attorney General's Office was in charge of filing criminal charges against state employees who committed crimes against children incarcerated in the juvenile detention center, and also in charge of representing the Department of Health and Human Services against survivors who filed civil lawsuits seeking damages in Superior Court.

An amendment to the memorandum of understanding between the Attorney General's Office and
the Judicial Branch Administrative Office of the Courts was signed on July 1, as a first
step for a Transition Plan and expect a three-month period for a transition to the Executive Branch.

"YDCCA is considering appropriate restructuring (even if temporary) for handling all claims across the
whole, now that June 30 filing period is closed."

The state budget proved troubling for the large amount of money likely needed to replenish the Settlement Fund.

Vicinanzo called it "breach of solemn promise" by the government to change the fund administration after winning trust from many of the victims who gave up their right to sue in court to use the state's settlement process that lawmakers put together in 2022.

Lawmakers then scrambled recently to create a balanced budget. The budget crisis was brought on by a series of rate cuts to business taxes, lowering the rooms and meals tax rate and eliminating the interest and dividends tax, while federal COVID rescue and relief money used to fund many areas of government spending dried up.

Vicinanzo sees the revised law as double crossing more than 1,000 people who were physically and sexually abused as children when they were incarcerated in the Youth Development Center, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center.

When the legislature set up the settlement fund, it was supposed to provide a trauma-informed way to settle with the victims.

"For three years, the State has promised a victim-friendly, trauma-informed process with an impartial decision-maker. With the stroke of a pen, those promises have been broken and the child victims have been retraumatized by the perpetrator of the abuse - the State. The inhumanity and duplicity are obvious.

"We are wondering how this happened, without even the courtesy of consulting the victims, and who is responsible for this cruel decision," Vicinanzo said.

The state is now looking for a way to shortchange the victims to spare the budget.

"As a moral matter as well as legal matter, the State’s decision - without a public hearing or notice - to gut the YDC victim’s compensation process is a betrayal of all those kids abused in state custody," he said.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.