To the over 1,900 surviving victims of sexual and physical abuse suffered at the Youth Development Center, first and foremost, we, a group of compassionate and proud New Hampshire Granite Staters, wish to apologize to each one of you who survived the horrific sexual abuse and violations you endured while in the custody of the State of New Hampshire.
After 50 years, not one of our elected leaders in Concord have apologized to you as representatives of the state. Their silence is deafening. So let us be the first to offer our written apology. We hope this is one of many. Your childhoods define a dark part of New Hampshire’s history. After 50 years, the state finally stepped up to offer you a way to heal and receive compensation for the abuse to which you were subjected.
We are simply horrified with the current treatment you are experiencing as claimants
against the very state that abused you. The New Hampshire Legislature committed $75 million per fiscal year through FY2032 and set out a detailed framework to award damages. You accepted that if you used that framework that you would give up any further challenges to the state, saving time and potentially millions in costly litigation.
Now, the rug has been pulled out from under you. We see it and we don’t condone it. The Youth Development Center Settlement Fund was set up by the legislature, and former Chief Justice John Broderick was appointed to serve as the independent claim’s administrator of that fund.
Justice Broderick’s position was abruptly eliminated, without notice. He did not resign as purported by some media outlets. He was immediately replaced by the state legislature with an “at will” position. With that, the promises given to you from our state have been broken.
We believe that you are being wronged again by the State of New Hampshire.
The promise and commitment to the claims process as well as the funding of the YDC Settlement Fund has been rescinded. Money is not going into this fund as promised. The process created by the prior legislature has been broken.
We are all appalled and angry at the message that you are now receiving from our
state. That you don’t matter. That promises made don’t matter. We request and support the immediate reinstatement of Justice Broderick’s role as special administrator to the fund. We request that the legislature provide the promised funding that abruptly ended.
We want you to know that the abuse you endured then and now matters to us and a lot
of other Granite Staters. You have been wronged before, and you are being wronged now.
We intend to keep speaking out — to tell the truth of what happened to you then and what is happening to you now. We will continue to beat the drum, share your stories, and beg for justice for you all. We want to help right these wrongs and give you the chance to heal.
Barbara Bates Sedoric is a former estates and trusts paralegal and author of “The LastingMatters Organizer,” a guide related to end-of- life planning. Barb is a former CASA NH volunteer, serves on the CASA NH Advisory Board and resides in Rye.
This My Turn was co-signed by Danielle and Alain Ades, MD; Ellen Arnold, Esq.; George Bald; Mary Johanna Brown; Stephen Byrne and Brian Terkelsen; Patience and Tom Chamberlin; Dan Chartrand; Martha Fuller Clark; Chris Cole, Esq.; Jacquie DeFreze; Joe Diament; Shari Soffen Donnermeyer; Mary Ann and Guy Esposito, MD; Thomas G. Ferrini, Esq.; Jameson and Priscilla French; Robert Hickey, MD; David and Catherine McLaughlin Hills; Joe Keefe; Andy and Donna Lietz; Steve and Marci King; Terri Lareau; Lydia and Scott Meade; George Moore, Esq.; Terie and Allen Norelli; Renee Plummer; Tom Sedoric; Lisa and Tom Sherman, MD; Ken Snyder; Betty Tamposi; and Holly Tennent.