By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – The Executive Council approved $5 million more for the Youth Development Center Claims Administration & Settlement Fund for the 2025 fiscal year Wednesday.
When it was created by the legislature in 2022, the settlement fund received $100 million to pay out to the victims of childhood rapes and beatings while incarcerated in the state’s juvenile detention center by state employees.
The YDC Settlement statute created the dedicated, non-lapsing Fund in 2022 until 2032, with $100 million of initial appropriations. Amendments in 2024 anticipated appropriations of $75 million each fiscal year. To date, the Legislature has appropriated a total of $160 million and has not yet determined to provide the full $75 million for FY25, according to the most recent fund quarterly report.
The $5 million approved Wednesday was approved by the Fiscal Committee in March.
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, speaking to the press following the meeting said she is aware that the Fiscal Committee has asked for an audit of the fund and all are trying to understand where things are, as time is running out to file claims. The deadline is June 30.
“Obviously, victims have to have a mechanism to adjudicate their claims, whether it is in a courtroom or whether it is through the fund, and I am committed to that because that is our system. And it is an important one that we can make sure that the victims who are harmed have an appropriate mechanism to receive compensation if they have been harmed,” the governor said.
She noted that an audit of the fund is being done and retired Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick, who is the fund administrator, will address the audit findings when they come out.
Since it became operational, the YDC fund has received 1,135 claims from men and women who were sexually and physically abused by state employees when they were incarcerated as children. Of those claims, 296 have been settled, leaving 808 pending cases.
“The first three months of that first year (2023 Q1) we received just 38 claims. Two years later, 261 claims were filed in a single quarter,” Broderick wrote in his quarterly letter to Ayotte and legislative leaders. “I expect another busy quarter before the June 30, 2025, deadline for filing claims arrives.”
Ayotte said the audit will be an important tool for the state to look at and it will likely address compensation to lawyers and third parties.
“What we are looking at is where are we with the fund, how should these claims be adjudicated, how is it most effective as to make sure they are adjudicated,” she said. “But it is a fair question to ask how much compensation is going directly to the victims – because that is the goal of the fund – versus how much compensation is directly going to the lawyers, or also these third party litigation funds some of which have purchased the actual judgment in advance from these victims and then they charge pretty high interest rates. So these are all important questions because however we adjudicate these claims whether it is in the fund or outside in the court system we do want to make sure that if someone is harmed that the resources go to them, that others aren’t getting more resources than the victims who have actually incurred the harms themselves, that is important to me,” Ayotte said.
During the meeting Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, asked a number of questions related to the fund and the state’s responsibilities.
As it stands, the fund has resolved $156,343,215 in claims to 296 survivors. There are 808 pending claims.
Attorney General John Formella criticized Broderick for the way he’s paid out settlements, which can be paid over time.
The YDC settlement amounts range from $500,000 to $2.5 million per claimant, depending on the nature of the abuse.
There has only been one case that has gone to trial through the courts.
The first YDC civil trial resulted in $38 million in damages awarded by the jury for the victim, David Meehan. As the state is contesting that amount, Formella’s office recently settled with survivor Michael Gilpatrick for $10 million.
Gilpatrick’s settlement still needs to be approved by the legislature.
If the settlement fund stopped paying out, New Hampshire could be forced to pay out hundreds of victims in civil damages at similar levels as Gilpatrick and Meehan in court cases. All of those damages will be paid by taxpayers, ultimately, since New Hampshire does not have an insurance policy to cover the decades of abuse.
Liot Hill said it is clear that teenagers were abused at the YDC and that the taxpayers are on the hook for abusive behavior by their own employees.
Formella told Liot Hill that he thinks the Meehan case will ultimately find its way to the State Supreme Court.
Liot Hill asked why the settlement fund was established.
Formella said it was to provide an alternative to litigation.
Liot Hill, asked if one of the aims was to reduce costs to the state. Formella said yes, and noted the ultimate cost is unpredictable if the cases go to court.
What happens if the YDC fund is unfunded, she pressed.
Formella said people would go to court and if the state lost, the state would pay.
Ayotte interjected “and that is how we handle claims every single day.”
Formella said the average settlement through the fund is about $475,000.
The governor’s proposed budget does not allocate funds to the YDC settlement fund.
Liot Hill said the point she wanted to make is by not putting the money in the state budget “that exposure does not go away. The victims are entitled to justice…we do a disservice to ourselves to not responsibly plan.” She called the abuse a “massive breach to…taxpayers who are on the hook.”
Executive Councilor Janet Stevens, R-Rye, said she would support the $5 million request asking “would it be a breach not to fund it.”
TASER CONTRACT FOR PRISONS TABLED
A $2 million lease contract for 10 years to provide tasers in the prisons was tabled to get more information about who was told that the state was going out to bid for the services.
Helen Hanks, commissioner, said in corrections facilities across the country corrections officers don’t care about firearms. The proposed lease agreement with the firm Axon Enterprise Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona, will come up again for consideration in two weeks.
Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said he spoke to officials for a competitor who said they were unaware of the state going out to bid on the matter when the paperwork indicated there were seven companies asked to bid.
Wheeler said a similar contract was before the council last year and was not supported.
WHITE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE GETS HELP FROM LIGHTHOUSE KIDS
The Executive Council accepted a donation of $25,676 from the Lighthouse Kids Inc. to restore the generator room at the White Island Lighthouse Station at the Isles of Shoals.
The lighthouse, on the southernmost of a cluster of islands off the Atlantic coast, is a state historical site.
On behalf of Lighthouse Kids, its founder, Susan Reynolds wrote to the state department of Natural and Cultural Resources that in 2024 Rye Elementary School raised $5,678 in a walkathon for the preservation of the lighthouse and together with $20,000 more in savings and with the help of the Portsmouth Rotary Club are hoping to complete the partially restored generator room.
An exterior door for the generator room, purchased by the Lighthouse Kids has been sitting at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown and with these funds the door can be attached to help protect the generator room and the island’s lighthouse from further damage.
Currently, the park is unstaffed and there is no dock or safe landing area.
The first lighthouse at the Isles of Shoals was erected on White Island in 1820. It was made out of stone and wood shingles. The White Island Lighthouse Station is one of New England’s great historic landmarks.
In 1993, White Island and a couple other islands in the group were transferred to the New Hampshire State Parks system and is now managed by the Bureau of Historic Sites.
A triangular wooden walkway connected the keeper’s cottage to the lighthouse from 1850 until 2007 when a wave washed it away in a storm.
Thanks to a combination of federal and state funding, the $200,000 project to replace it was completed in 2013.
http://www.lighthousekids.com/about-us.html
LOON MOUNTAIN DIESEL BUYBACK
A settlement agreement with Volkswagen which helps the state reduce old diesel machinery and is available to private-for profit entities as well as municipalities will allow Loon Mountain in Lincoln to replace a 2008 diesel snow groomer with a 2024 hybrid electric groomer which will cost $456,758.
The grant program provides for 25 percent of the replacement costs and Loon will get $114,190.
Wheeler opposed the grant.
The old groomer is noisy and there are impacts to local residents and it has been subject to increasing repairs which this winter led to closing a ski trail for it to be towed, according to the explanation supporting the recommendation from the Department of Environmental Services.
Executive Councilor Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield, asked about the fund.
Wheeler called it “totally inappropriate to use that fund to a for-profit company” which he noted happens to be a competitor to the state’s ski area, Cannon Mountain near Lincoln in Franconia.
Stevens noted that said government entities have weighted power when a grant is considered.
INDIAN STREAM ROAD REPAIR
Following a catastrophic rain event last summer which damaged roads in the Connecticut Lakes Headwater Working Forest in Pittsburg, the council approved $160,000 Wednesday to repair the Indian Stream Road. While the land surrounding it is owned privately, the state maintains the roads in the headwaters tract.
CAMPTON BOG PRESERVATION
The council approved a request for the State Conservation Committee to enter into a grant with the Society for the Protection of NH Forests in the amount of $30,000 toward an easement to preserve about 454 acres of the Campton Bog using federal funds.
$2M TO FIGHT SPRUCE BUDWORM
The council approved $2 million from the federal government to reduce the risk related to spruce budworm outbreaks in Northern New Hampshire which are devastating trees in the boreal forest.
PLAN TO REDUCE DISTRACTED DRIVING-RELATED DEATHS
Almost half a million dollars was approved by the council toward grants aimed at eliminating distracted driving deaths on state roads.
The funds are available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Federal Grant Program for providing grants to state and local law enforcement along with media campaigns with a focus on eliminating the number of deaths on roadways caused by distracted driving.
On Tuesday, Ayotte joined New Hampshire State Police for a ride along during Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
This month, State Police have increased patrols and enforcement of the state’s hands-free law to discourage distracted driving.
In a press release, Ayotte said, “I was glad to join the New Hampshire State Police for a ride along to learn firsthand about the critical work they’re doing during Distracted Driving Awareness Month to enforce our hands-free law.
“I thank our Troopers for their efforts to keep people safe on our highways each day, and I urge everyone to put the phone down and pay attention while driving.”
“Our State Troopers are on the frontlines of public safety in New Hampshire, and we appreciate Governor Ayotte’s willingness to see their dedicated efforts firsthand,” said New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark Hall. “This experience highlights the important partnership between law enforcement and state leadership to keep our roadways, popular visitor destinations, and communities safe.”
MEALS ON WHEELS NH HONORED
Those across the state who provide home delivered meals to older adults through Meals and Wheels programs were honored by the governor with a proclamation at the council meeting.
She noted her own grandmother benefited from the nutrition and kindness of those who deliver the meals.
They estimate 1.8 million meals were delivered in 2024.
Ayotte said the organization provides a gateway for other services as well and help in immeasurable ways with companionship.
“Just the visit means so much,” she said. “Thank you for providing that compassion and love.”
WILDFIRE AWARENESS WEEK
April 21-27 is now designated Wildfire Awareness Week in the 603, the governor proclaimed during the meeting in which Smokey Bear attended along with wildfire safety officials.
–Damien Fisher contributed to this report