YDC Survivors Blast NH AG's Office Report: 'They're Hoping Everyone Moves On'

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

Survivors like Michaela Jancsy see the same old cover-up in the New Hampshire attorney general’s report on the alleged mistreatment of children inside the Sununu Youth Services Center.

“I wish that I could say I was surprised by the AG’s report,” Jancsy told NHJournal.

Attorney General John Formella’s Office released its 50-page report on Tuesday, which cleared state employees of criminal misconduct and blamed the children for their injuries and harsh treatment by staff. For Jancsy, it is just another example of the state ignoring abuse to protect itself.

“I believe that the culture that never believes the child and always takes the word of the staff is still very much the same. Most of these children have already had traumatic experiences before entering state custody. These are extremely vulnerable children that no one believes. I find it extremely difficult to believe that there aren’t any children that are being abused,” she said.

Tuesday’s report is distinctive in a couple of ways. The assistant attorneys general and investigators assigned to the task did not interview any of the children who were allegedly abused or any of the families of those children. The report is also unusually anonymous; none of the attorneys or investigators who did the work are named.

Attorney David Vicinanzo with Nixon Peabody represents more than 1,000 adult survivors of physical and sexual abuse inside state facilities like SYSC and the Sununu Youth Development Center. He said the fact that the report is unsigned speaks volumes.

“That’s a sure sign people don’t want their name on this thing,” Vicinanzo said.

Career prosecutors rarely leave official public documents unsigned unless they feel it could taint their credibility later, he said. One notable flaw, according to Vicinanzo: none of the children or their families were interviewed about the alleged mistreatment, he said.

“The fact they went out of their way to not do those interviews tells you all you need to know about their interest in the truth. Avoiding to interview people who might disagree with the preconceived narrative is a sure sign the narrative isn’t trustworthy.”

Gov. Kelly Ayotte, on the other hand, praised the attorney general’s work, calling it “transparent,” “thorough,” and “very public.”

Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting, she said her focus was on fixing the problem and, going forward, protecting children by implementing the recommendations in the attorney general’s report.

“I’ve already instructed the Commissioner of Health and Human Services to do so,” Ayotte said. “That will involve making sure that we find strong leadership for YDC and that we continue to look to recruit qualified, experienced staff for YDC.”

One specific recommendation embraced by Ayotte: “I’m going to advocate immediately that we put out an RFP for the body-worn cameras with audio at YDC. I think that will be important to protect not only the residents, but the staff, and then there won’t be any questions about what happens if we have everything, every interaction on camera.”

Asked about funding those cameras and if federal dollars might be available, Ayotte pledged, “We’re going to find resources to make this happen.”

But paying for a few cameras is small change compared to the massive payouts that will be needed to settle lawsuits by the victims of decades of abuse at the hands of the state. The Executive Council voted in favor of a $20 million infusion into the YDC Claims Administration and Settlement Fund.

However, in order to restart settlements with nearly 1,700 claims pending, the fund administrator, retired Judge Gerard J. Boyle, said he needed $55 million.

Ayotte said she agreed with Boyle. “I support the full $55 million; I’ve been clear about that, and I’m confident that when he goes back to the legislature, that he will receive those funds.”

Meanwhile, the debate over whether the attorney general’s report was a thorough accounting or a CYA whitewash continues.

State Sen. Victoria Sullivan (R-Manchester) sits on an ad hoc legislative committee formed in the wake of recent, troubling incidents. She points out that “the state has received multiple reports pointing to many of the same problems.”

Real change is needed, starting with personnel.

“All members of the committee were very clear that we had lost confidence in the leadership at the facility.”

Vicinanzo has similar concerns.

“These are window dressing recommendations designed to suggest they have done something when in fact they’ve really whitewashed what happened at YDC and the Sununu Center,” he said.

“They’re just hoping everyone loses interest and moves on.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.