New Hampshire Senate President Sharon Carson is calling for a financial and performance audit of the settlement fund for abuse victims at the state’s youth detention center.

“The financial condition of the YDC fund has sparked deep concern regarding the processes employed to resolve cases and called into doubt whether victims are getting the resources they need,” Carson said in a statement Friday.

Carson’s push for the audit comes as victims of abuse have until June 30 to file claims.

It also followed a vote by top lawmakers Friday to table a request by the YDC fund’s administrator, former Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick, to add $10 million to the fund.

The legislature created the settlement fund in 2022, on the advice of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella. At the time, the fund was seen as a way to help victims while also protecting the state from thousands of potential lawsuits stemming from what has been revealed to be among the biggest youth detention abuse scandals in American history.

The Youth Development Center, an investigative podcast series hosted by Jason Moon that examines how the abuse scandal happened, and how it came to light

To date, the fund has paid out $156 million to around 300 abuse survivors. But hundreds of claims remain outstanding, and Formella has complained recently about how settlements have been paid out.

Survivors call for more state funding

Nearly 30 people whose claims are pending called on lawmakers this week to fully fund the settlement, some saying failing to do so amounts to more abuse from the state. The law firm representing them, Shaheen and Gordon, released the statements ahead of the committee’s meeting Friday.

“It’s another kick in the face,” Joshua Kuhn wrote. “When I was 15-16 years old at YDC, I felt violated like crazy. Now it’s just more violation from the same people who violated me before. They don’t care.”

Several said a settlement is the only justice they will get.

“Everybody should be entitled to equality and equal justice under the law,” wrote Kirk Taylor. “I didn’t get justice with my abuser. He was never criminally charged. He was declared incompetent. He gets to die peacefully at home with his family, but I will never get the justice I deserve.”

One person said they chose a settlement over a lawsuit because it allowed them to remain anonymous.

“I wanted to do different things in life that would have been messed up by this being in the news,” the person wrote. “I was afraid how people would look at me. I would not have come forward if it were not for the settlement fund.”

Several warned lawmakers that retreating from fully supporting the settlement fund would lead to lawsuits that would cost the state even more. A jury awarded one victim $38 million in May, which the state is appealing. Another person settled his lawsuit for $10 million in March but won’t get paid if lawmakers don’t include the money in the budget.

The settlement fund caps awards at $2.5 million, but nearly all have settled for much less, according to Broderick’s latest report.

As of March, nearly 179 of the 296 claims settled for less than $500,000. The report said 115 settled for between $500,000 and $1.5 million. Only two were higher than that.

Most of the newest claims began as lawsuits, Broderick told lawmakers.

“While no amount of compensation could ever undo what happened, I believe some form of restitution or accountability is a small price to pay for a lifetime of suffering,” wrote Robert Hensley, who said he was raped repeatedly while at YDC. He is now in his 70s.

Another person who submitted a statement anonymously warned he will sue if there is no money for a settlement.

“I am a tax payer in this state and it makes no sense to me why the State would instead force us to get even bigger verdicts in court. But if that is what they force me to do then that is what I will do. I’m not going away.”

A 59-year-old woman was killed Friday morning when she was thrown from her car on Interstate 84 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts State Police said.

State Police responded to a single-vehicle crash at around 3:40 a.m. near exit 5 on the highway. Troopers found the woman’s vehicle had spun 180 degrees and came to rest in the middle travel lane, Tim McGuirk, a State Police spokesman, said in a statement.

The body of the woman, identified as Beth Wittenberg, of Rochester, New Hampshire, was “not in the passenger cabin,” McGuirk said.

The highway was closed for roughly three hours after the crash to allow an investigation.  

A federal judge in Concord pressed the Trump administration Thursday for more details about its ban on diversity, equity and inclusion in schools, including what would be prohibited. The federal government’s answers offered little clarity for educators wondering what they can — and can’t — do.

Presiding over a lawsuit challenging the new restrictions, Judge Landya McCafferty noted the federal government has given schools conflicting guidance on what the ban would cover. When she asked for specific examples of what kind of activities could run afoul of the prohibitions, U.S. Department of Justice attorney Abhishek Kambli said it would be “impossible” to identify all the scenarios.

“It’s how (schools) treat students, not what they teach,” Kambli said during Thursday’s hearing. “What they teach does not have any bearing.”

The coalition challenging the DEI ban includes the ACLU and the National Education Association on behalf of educators, including three in New Hampshire. They’ve asked the court to prevent the Trump administration from enforcing its ban, which, if violated, could costs schools millions in federal funding.

They have asked McCafferty to rule by April 24, the federal deadline for schools to confirm they do not have DEI programs that violate anti-discrimination laws.

New Hampshire schools, however, were required to have their compliance forms to the state Department of Education by Thursday. As of late Thursday, about 165 of the state’s 218 school districts had submitted compliance forms, according to the state’s tracker.

Four of those districts have refused and instead asked to join the lawsuit: Dover, Oyster River, Somersworth, and Hanover. School officials in Norwich, Vermont also signed on. Portsmouth, which last week said it was joining the case, is no longer participating, according to attorneys involved.

A spokesperson for the New Hampshire Education Department said they are required to tell their federal counterparts by April 24 which schools fail to submit forms.

In court, ACLU attorney Sarah Hinger told McCafferty the federal ban on DEI programs is too vague to follow and violates teachers’ and educators’ free speech rights. She and McCafferty noted the federal government has given schools conflicting guidance on what the ban would cover.

The written guidance schools received in February included programming and training, Hinger said. That goes beyond the narrow definition that the federal government’s attorney offered Thursday, she said.

“What the government has said in court and in its legal filings really differs,” she said. “And I think the court picked up on this.”

This is not the only ban on DEI New Hampshire schools may be facing.

House Republicans have proposed legislation that would withhold state funding from New Hampshire schools with DEI programs. The bill goes beyond targeting programs that classify people by race, gender, and ethnicity to include “other group characteristics for the purpose of achieving demographic outcomes.”

And teachers unions and the ACLU New Hampshire continue to challenge a 2021 state law that would limit lessons on racism, sexism, and gender discrimination. A New Hampshire federal district court judge struck down the law in 2024, saying it was too vague to follow.

The state is appealing.

The five New Hampshire school districts that are challenging the Trump Administration’s most recent DEI order, told the court they know they risk losing millions if they don’t comply. But they have no idea what counts as banned practices.

Somersworth Superintendent John Shea if that included free and reduced-price lunch, special education services, and support for immigrant families.

“The District has many goals for its schools and students—one of which is to increase equitable opportunities and to ensure that a student’s demographic characteristics do not limit a student’s success in school and life,” wrote in a court filing.

Dover’s assistant superintendent, Christine Boston, said her district remains committed to its equity plan, which calls for making the school culture inclusive, safe, and welcoming for all students and hiring a diverse staff that reflects the diversity of the student body.

“The (Trump administration’s order,) though its vaguely worded prohibitions, threatens the essence of what keeps our learning environment a place where all staff and stunned are welcomed and succeed,” Boston wrote in a court filing.