SACRAMENTO, California – Paris Hilton joined California state lawmakers on Monday to push for legislation aimed at cracking down on the industry that cares for troubled teens by demanding more transparency from youth treatment facilities.
The bill supported by the Hilton Hotel heiress and media personality aims to disseminate information about how short-term residential facilities for youth dealing with substance abuse and behavioral issues use disciplinary methods such as restraints or seclusion against minors. It would be necessary for these centers to notify parents and the State whenever they use restraints or seclusion rooms for minors. It is authored by Republican State Senator Shannon Grove and Democratic State Senators Aisha Wahab and Angelique Ashby.
“I know firsthand the horrors that took place behind the closed doors of residential youth treatment facilities,” Hilton said at a news conference Monday at the state Capitol. “In troubled teen industry facilities in California, Utah and Montana, I was subjected to abuse disguised as therapy, isolated from the outside world and denied even the most basic rights.”
She added: “I will fight until all children are safe and I will continue to highlight these abuses.”
Hilton became a prominent advocate for more oversight and regulation of teen treatment centers after publicly sharing the physical and mental abuse she suffered as a teenager at a Utah boarding school. She alleged that staff members beat her, forced her to take unknown pills, watched her shower, and sent her to solitary without clothes as punishment.
In 2021, his testimony about his experience at Provo Canyon School in Utah helped pass a bill to impose stricter oversight over youth treatment centers in the state. Hilton also traveled to Washington D.C. to advocate for federal reforms and helped change laws to protect minors in at least eight states. Earlier this month, she spoke out in support of boys sent to a private school for troubled teenagers in Jamaica.
She is scheduled to testify at a legislative hearing on the California bill on Monday. Under the bill, facilities would have to report details such as what disciplinary actions were taken, why, and who approved the plan. The state department that regulates the facilities would also be required to make reports public and update the database quarterly. It would not prohibit the use of such practices.
Between 2015 and 2020, California sent more than 1,240 children with behavior problems to out-of-state facilities due to a lack of locked treatment centers for youth, according to Senator Grove’s office. As reports emerged about abuse occurring at these programs, including an incident in which a 16-year-old boy died after being restrained for about 12 minutes at a facility in Michigan, California also found significant licensing violations at these facilities and decided to end the program in 2020. Legislation passed in 2021 formally prohibited the use of out-of-state residential centers. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also authorized $8 million to bring all minors home by last year.
Minors with behavioral problems are now sent to short-term residential centers in the state, which were created in 2017 to replace group homes. But under current laws, these facilities are not required to share information about how often they use isolation rooms, restraints and how often these methods result in serious injuries or deaths.
“We must demand the highest level of transparency and accountability in the care of our vulnerable population,” Grove, the author, said Monday. “This is a small but critical step.”
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