In harrowing testimony to U.S. Congress on Wednesday, Paris Hilton recounted abuses she confronted whereas institutionalized as a teen in “for-profit” youth behavioural therapy facilities.
Hilton advised the House Ways and Means Committee she was “force-fed medications and sexually abused by staff” at 4 completely different residential establishments for troubled teens.
The media mogul appeared earlier than the committee, a federal physique in cost of growing fiscal laws together with taxes, tariffs, and social service packages, to advocate for higher assist for youngsters in foster care.
Though Hilton was by no means in foster care, the 43-yr-outdated stated she “knows the harm” triggered to younger individuals positioned in youth residential therapy facilities.
Paris Hilton testified earlier than a U.S. House committee on June 26, 2024, to advocate for higher youth protections in foster care facilities and juvenile residential establishments.
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“When I was 16 years old, I was ripped from my bed in the middle of the night and transported across state lines to the first of four youth residential treatment facilities,” she described. “These programs promised healing, growth and support but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely or even look out of a window for two years.”
Hilton stated she was “violently restrained, dragged down hallways, stripped naked and thrown into solitary confinement” whereas in care.
She maintained that her dad and mom have been “completely deceived, lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry about the inhumane treatment I was experiencing.”
Hilton stated the youngsters housed in youth facilities, whether or not in foster care or in any other case, are “innocent kids who have not committed crimes.”
She has lengthy since been an advocate for higher protections for institutionalized kids and teenagers.
In 2021, she wrote an opinion for the Washington Post in which she characterised her expertise in youth facilities as “parent-approved kidnapping.”
Hilton stated her dad and mom, who have been trying to handle her rebellious behaviour, have been misled by the “troubled teen industry” — a billion-greenback enterprise, together with therapeutic boarding faculties, army-fashion boot camps and behaviour modification packages.
The socialite recalled being unable to speak with the surface world or inform her dad and mom of the abuses she was experiencing whereas institutionalized. Hilton stated she was “choked, slapped across the face, spied on while showering and deprived of sleep” whereas in therapy packages.
In current years, advocates like Hilton have grown extra vocal in regards to the mistreatment of younger individuals in institutionalized care, particularly as information of kids dying in American group houses and different facilities has made worldwide headlines.
On Wednesday, Hilton known as on Congress to move the Stop Institutional Child Abuse act, which outlines higher assist, greatest practices and oversight for youth residential establishments.
In her 2020 documentary This is Paris, she mentioned her time residing at Provo Canyon School in Utah — an establishment she has repeatedly known as on to be closed. She’s stated she was bodily, sexually and psychologically abused whereas in care.
Provo Canyon School in 2021 responded to Hilton’s allegations of abuse and stated they can’t remark as a result of the group is now beneath different management.
“My parents had no idea. They just thought it was going to be a normal boarding school,” Hilton stated of Provo Canyon School. “And when I got there, there was no therapy. We would just constantly be torn down, abused, screamed at, yelled at. No education whatsoever. I learned nothing there except trauma.”
The American troubled teen trade reportedly receives US$23 billion dollars of public funds yearly to supply care to youth residing in foster care or facilities specializing in therapy for minors with behavioural and psychological wants. There is an estimated 120,000 to 200,000 minors in juvenile residential packages yearly in the U.S.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector basic’s workplace stated many states are failing to observe how steadily kids in foster care facilities are abused. The new report stated greater than a dozen states don’t monitor when abuses, together with sexual assault and improper bodily restraint, happen at a single facility or throughout establishments owned by the identical firm.
During her congressional look, Hilton provided phrases of assist to kids and teenagers in foster care and rehabilitation packages.
“If you are a child in the system, hear my words: I see you. I believe you. I know what you’re going through, and I won’t give up on you,” she stated. “You are important, your future is important, and you deserve every opportunity to be safe and supported.”
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