By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
New Hampshire’s bill for decades of physical and sexual abuse in its juvenile detention system keeps growing.
The latest quarterly report for the New Hampshire Youth Development Center Claims Administration and Settlement Fund shows the state paid $102 million so far out on 206 claims, with currently 448 more claims pending. The estimated payout for the currently pending claims is as high as $469 million.
Fund Administrator John Broderick said a looming June 2025 deadline for claims to be filed under the new fund administrative system could mean hundreds more new claims will be filed.
“If things go as anticipated, hundreds of additional claims that are currently pending in Superior Court will be filed with us in advance of that June 2025 deadline,” Broderick wrote.
The fund did not process many claims for three months this summer, from June through August, as staff worked on a new electronic Claims Management System that allows survivors to file claims online. The new system also takes into account expanded legal definitions for types of abuse that can be compensated, and for higher award amounts for cases of egregious sexual abuse.
“We are now back to being fully operational. In September, we issued approximately 30 decision letters,” Broderick said.
More categories of compensable abuse, and high award amounts is an effort to draw survivors away from civil courts where things could get beyond costly for the state.
More than 1,000 adult survivors of the YDC’s systemic abuse have filed civil lawsuits in state court, and some could get millions for their claims. The jury in the first civil lawsuit brought by David Meehan awarded $38 million, though that sum is being challenged by the state.
But even if the survivors are successful in getting an award worth a fraction of Meehan’s, New Hampshire could be in serious financial trouble. None of the claims are covered by insurance, leaving New Hampshire taxpayers to foot the bill for the decades of abuse of children who were incarcerated by the state.
The settlement fund was created by the legislature with the goal of paying out survivors with a pool of $100 million. It was clear early on that the amount is insufficient to pay all of the claims and still keep the survivors out of court.
After a change to the settlement fund law, Broderick now has the ability to pay out higher amounts per survivor with a $75 million annual cap. He’s also able to pay survivors over time instead of lump sums.
The survivors are averaging between $500,000 and $1.5 million per settlement from the fund, depending on the type of abuse they endured as children.
