A YDC Settlement Fund has been established by act of the Legislature to administer and settle claims of abuse at New Hampshire's Youth Development Center in prior decades, and is intended to provide a trauma-informed, victim-centered alternative to litigation for the efficient and fair resolution of those claims (See, H.B. 1677, signed by the Governor on May 27, 2022, enacting RSA 21-M:11-a.):

Claims Administration Process

Access the Administrator's website, obtain claim forms, and get information.

Official Notice of YDC Settlement Claims Process

Attorney General John M. Formella herby 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.

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.

Additional Information

Do you anticipate that out-of-state attorneys (i.e., not licensed as NH Bar members) will be authorized to participate in claims to the Fund?

We have not attempted to survey the professional responsibility rules of the other 49 states, and so will leave it to each practitioner to make their own independent judgment regarding whether they may ethically represent clients in connection with the settlement fund insofar as their home state's rules are concerned. For our part, we do not view representing a client in what is essentially an ADR process, as violating the New Hampshire Rules of Professional Conduct and do anticipate that out of state attorneys may be, appropriately, involved. See RPC 5.5 (c)(3).