MANCHESTER – The Attorney General’s Office confirmed that one of the juveniles incarcerated at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, formerly and widely known as the Youth Development Center or YDC, has been hospitalized after a serious assault by another youth being held there.
“Friday night there was a serious incident at the Sununu Youth Services Center that involved an assault of one youth by another youth. The youth who was the victim of the assault was transported to the hospital with serious injuries,” according to an email response from the Attorney General’s Office Sunday.
The assault occurred 10 days after Attorney General John Formella issued a 56-page report of his investigation into allegations of abuse by staff at the facility by New Hampshire’s Child Advocate and the Disability Rights Center-NH, both alleging mistreatment and abusive confinement of the 15 or so children ages 13 to 18 being held there.
“Criminal charges have been filed against one youth in connection with this incident. Because the defendant is a juvenile, the law precludes any further information from being released at this time.
“However, the State is considering whether to initiate proceedings to have this defendant certified as an adult for purposes of this case. If such certification is sought and granted, further information may be released at that time,” according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Formella’s investigation did not find child abuse as alleged by the OCA or DRC-NH, both of which stand by their allegations and are in the midst of their own investigations into the facility. But Formella concluded systemic problems exist at the youth detention facility.
YDC has been the subject of a continuing scandal as hundreds of adults have claimed they were physically and sexually abused at YDC over the last five decades.
The scandal prompted lawmakers to create a YDC Settlement Fund and a process for claimants to be compensated outside of filing civil lawsuits in Superior Court.
The most recent twist to the settlement fund controversy is the state’s efforts to pay victims and their lawyers less money after luring more victims to join the settlement fund instead of going to court. Settlements for the two victims who have completed civil trials in Superior Court were awarded large settlements by juries. One was awarded $38 million, which the state is fighting, and the other $16 million.
The average award in the settlement fund is in the $500,000 range.
“Overall, we conclude that SYSC is operating within legal boundaries and that claims that youth are currently being abused are unsupported. We did not identify any instances of physical or sexual abuse of youth, nor did we find any evidence of systemic abuse or lack of access to independent reporting mechanisms. We found clear evidence of youth causing several serious
injuries to staff,” according to Formella’s recent report.
Formella’s report noted the staff told them “the youth run the facility and (they) know it.” His investigation was criticized because none of the children were interviewed.
The Attorney General’s report found “significant operational challenges and dysfunction” and calls for operational changes. A copy of the 56-page report can be found here: https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Report-of-the-Attorney-Generals-Office-Regarding-its-Investigation-into-Reported-Concerns-at-SYSC-07.7.2026-FINAL-1.pdf
Then last week the state issued a request for information to assess operations at the troubled facility raising questions about why it hasn’t acted on changes some advocates say need to be made immediately.
The state Department of Health and Human Services issued a Request for Information on conducting a comprehensive assessment of the Sununu Youth Services Center’s operations and recommendations for improvement, according to a news release last Monday.
“DHHS seeks input from organizations with a track record in evaluating residential treatment and secure youth facilities as well as juvenile justice and trauma-informed care programs,” the release said.
New Hampshire’s Child Advocate Cassandra Sanchez said after the DHHS release she “would rather see our state funds going to immediate action to take steps for the facility like seeking out training for staff.”