The new administrator of the fund used to settle claims with victims abused at the state-run youth detention center is asking lawmakers for $55 million to resume hearings with nearly 1,700 claims pending.
The request comes amid new abuse allegations at the center and skepticism about past payouts to victims.
Retired Circuit Court Judge Gerard Boyle, recruited to the job by Gov. Kelly Ayotte, told NHPR he’s prepared for tough questions during his Friday budget meeting with a legislative committee.
Lawmakers on the committee, including its chairman, Rep. Ken Weyler, of Kingston, have been critical of the fund and spending decisions made by its prior administrator, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick.
“If we can get that [$55 million] it shows the claimants and claimants' counsel that the Legislature is serious about making sure that this process is funded and that it works,” Boyle said.
Nearly $13 million of that is already committed to cases that have been settled and are being paid over time. Administrative costs for Boyle's office and the Attorney General’s office will consume $5 million. That would leave $38 million for settlements.
Without it, the fund will be out of money by October, Boyle said. So far, lawmakers have invested $160 million for settlements. Since then, the state has settled 425 of the 2,175 claims filed.
Lawmakers established the fund in 2022 to encourage the nearly 2,000 former residents of the state-run-Youth Development Center to settle their lawsuits with the state rather than pursue them in court.
At the time, Attorney General John Formella told lawmakers the fund would show that the state is committed to “doing the right thing.” Two years later, Formella opposed new investments in the fund because he disagreed with Broderick’s financial decisions. A state review found no wrongdoing.
Boyle will tell lawmakers Friday that he intends to halve Broderick’s administrative costs, which totaled $4.6 million over the last four years, by eliminating four or five positions, including a personal secretary and general counsel.
“I don't want to build an empire at the state's expense,” Boyle said, “because every dime that is spent on the administration is a dime less than we have to pay the claimants.”
Boyle is repairing relationships that had frayed under Broderick. He’s met with Rep. Ken Weyler, of Kingston, who heads the committee that will decide his $55 million request, and Formella.
Boyle said Formella will join him at Friday’s Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee to support his funding request.
“I've had several conversations with him, and he's told me that he's on board with it 100%,” Boyle said.
And Boyle is proposing a mediation option to resolve cases to avoid a resolution hearing with him.
Currently, claims go to a resolution hearing if the Attorney General’s office and claimant cannot agree on a settlement. Those hearings slow down the settlement process and can be difficult for survivors, who must recount their abuse.
Boyle wants to give the parties a chance to work with a mediator if they can’t initially agree. He said he saw mediation resolve difficult cases during his time as a judge.
“I would tell [the parties] that if you can mediate this thing and work it out together, then everybody comes out a winner,” Boyle said. “But if I have to make the decision, one party is going to leave the courthouse very happy and the other is going to leave the courthouse very disappointed.”
The youth facility at the center of the fund, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center, has come under new scrutiny for allegations of illegal restraints and neglect made by the state Office of the Child Advocate, an independent watchdog, and the Disability Rights Center in New Hampshire.
The Attorney General’s office said Thursday that it expects to release the results of its investigation into those allegations “very soon.”
