Unceremoniously Dubbed the Most Egregious
- NH Family Justice
- Apr 19
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 26
In the 2024 campaign season, local political ads were touting the strong economy of the State of New Hampshire even boasting about a financial surplus even in light of the severe financial impact of the YDC Sununu Center fallout. An NHPR article dated March 17, 2025, is yet another report that helps chart the serious issues surrounding the operational consequences of administrative family courts and their seemingly collaborative role with YDC, DCYF and BCSS. The article, As state runs short on money for YDC victims, NH attorney general opposes spending more now, by Annmarie Timmins, highlights the back and forth of managing the public narrative surrounding the state’s role in harm to children and parents from the consistent rubber-stamping judicial process, over due process.
Concerning the YDC victims settlement fund plan managed by former Chief Justice Broderick, Timmins quoted Attorney General John Formella and Chuck Douglas. “The state made a promise that if you would come into the fund and file the massively long application, that this would be victim-centered, trauma-informed, and would be a fair and efficient resolution,” Douglas said. “That's what the statute said that created the fund. That's what Attorney General Formella said, and that's what everyone understood. So, to pull the plug and not fund it frankly puts the state in a horrible moral position.”
Yet a much clearer picture of Broderick’s handling of the YDC restitution fund can be found in a letter dated March 7, 2024, from Attorney General Formella in which Formella clarifies to Broderick, “To be clear, the reason we will not be joining in a request for additional funds this fiscal year is not that because we have reached any conclusion as to whether a shortfall is likely to occur. Rather, as we have previously expressed, our position is that any shortfall you anticipate this fiscal year would not have occurred but for your ongoing decisions to award attorney’s fees upfront when issuing awards in installments and to award disproportionately large first-year installments to claimants.” Formella continued,
Your hand-delivered letter also asks “whether the state intends to honor the payouts already made or whether [you] should ‘claw back’ that money and modify [your] awards so that they do not become illusory.” Our response is also follows. The meaning of “payouts already made” is unclear, but any payments your office has ordered this fiscal year have already been issued or are in the process of being issued, so there is nothing for the State to “honor.”
If you intended to refer to payment plans already issued with installments due in future fiscal years, and whether the State “intends to honor” them, the statute is clear that...
[s]hould the state default on any payment owed pursuant to a final decision by the administrator, whether entered pursuant to agreement of the parties
or pursuant to a decision of the administrator, and whether the payment
owed is a lump sum or periodic payments, the administrator’s final decision
shall convert into a final judgment enforceable in any superior court of New Hampshire, unless the state cures the default by making such installment or lump payment in full within 30 days. Such final judgment shall be the total amount owed by the state to the claimant, less any partial payments made by the state. Claimant shall also be entitled to reimbursement for any reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs incurred to enforce such a judgment. This subparagraph shall apply to payments made within the statutory cap provided for in this section or within any additional expenditure authorizations granted to the administrator by the joint fiscal committee and the governor and council.”
Timmins noted that Broderick would also need Representative Ken Weyler’s approval to gain more funds. Timmins wrote, “Last month, Weyler was forced to apologize for mocking people abused at the detention center.” Interestingly, when words like ‘detention center’ are used in reference to the YDC Sununu Center, it also sends a vivid imagery of children ‘deserving to be there’ that is not necessarily correct. Especially, when these children find themselves in state custody with no hint of ‘best interest’ being applied by the adults running the operations.
You need to look no further than the horror story of our state children being moved and detained out of state under the abusive control of yet another for-profit ‘cash for kids’ family legal service provider. You can imagine the seriousness of that situation for those children without one caring adult to provide safety. Similar scenarios are true for our states’ families that enter the family court system. The harmful tactics of family legal service providers, who engage in the daily pursuit of all kinds of healthy families just to sustain their business operations and justify their existence.
On Friday, April 18th Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald sat before the NH Senate Finance Committee to explain the Judicial Branch financial needs. Cautiously expressing his position that realistic funding runs contrary to actual needs. Speaking to staff hiring freezes, staffing shortages, and telling of the probable court closures of circuit courts (family courts) like Hooksett and Goffstown. MacDonald also mentioned the funding needs for the states compensatory restitution funding to victims of the YDC Sununu Center.
The state of NH continues to spiral as the YDC settlements continue, the victims of DCYF received a federal judge’s approval to proceed, and the introduction of HB652 to close the family court while restoring constitutionally guaranteed rights to due process. It appears the state is within the ‘perfect storm’ from decades dedicated to ignoring the rights of parents and children to operate for-profit business models as a way to manage family court dockets.
At a time when the public awareness about the ill-gotten gains of for-profit family legal service providers is at a resounding level, there is an urgent demand for all states to step up and take action to stop the harm inflicted upon our families, friends, and neighbors. In particular, the call to stop monetizing children and holding them as long-term ‘instruments’ of negotiations. In the past three years, there has been a dramatic rise in movements across the United States calling for accountability within administrative family courts—where due process is a mere suggestion rather than a fundamental guarantee—and flagrant harm flows unchecked.
Interstate conversations among advocates have resulted in dubbing New Hampshire as the most egregious offender in the United States. Unceremoniously calling the state, ‘the poster child state’. Is this well-earned or overzealous name calling? Perhaps the answer is within the stark contrast to the 2024 political ads bragging about New Hampshires financial surplus, while taxpayers are realizing that the facts are found within the decades long family court business model and operations. A business strategy that makes even the healthiest and happiest families a commodity for the family legal services industry. And before anyone decides to blame the state’s financial crisis on recent federal funding cuts or the U.S. economy in a deflective stance, “yeah, we all know” but before you get there think about the fact that the people who perpetrated the harm on the YDC victims are not paying the restitution funds, the taxpayers are paying it.
In the world of administrative family courts, confusion and long-term is the name of the game. Stakeholders pride themselves on deflection and lobbying to change things up to keep the “complex” narrative alive. One recent example is the topic of family courts judges job titles. This administrative role carries many titles over the years: Marital Master, Referee, Hearing Officer, and Magistrate. Quite frankly, you can call them whatever you’d like for as long as you want and it will make no difference; but the harm inflicted upon parents and children by those within this role has a significant and long-term impact on our innocent friends and neighbors.
Reference
Formella, J. Attorney General. (2024, March 7). https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/64/bd/1f1f05444b38a0f83cacdfa5ed6d/lt-ad-broderick-and-gc-foley-re-recent-correspondence.pdf
Timmins, A. (2025a, March 17). As state runs short on money for YDC victims, NH attorney general opposes spending more now | new hampshire public radio. NHPR. https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2025-03-17/as-state-runs-short-on-money-for-ydc-victims-nh-attorney-general-opposes-spending-more-now
We greatly value your support. Your generous donation allows us to continue this important work. Thank you on behalf of our dedicated team of volunteers.
Republish our articles under Creative Common License. CC Licensing Rights and Terms. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Comments