Paris Hilton Is Officially One Step Closer to Shutting Down the Troubled Teen Industry

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If you’re used to thinking of Paris Hilton as a party girl rather than an agent for social change, think again: The 43-year-old media personality was instrumental in the passing of a bill this week that would require greater oversight over youth residential treatment facilities across the country.

For years, Hilton has been open about her own negative experiences with what’s commonly referred to as the troubled-teen industry, discussing them in detail in both her 2020 documentary, This Is Paris, and her 2023 memoir. (Hilton has since reported that her forceful advocacy for abused children helped to change laws related to the detention of minors in at least eight states.)

Speaking before the House Ways and Means committee over the summer, Hilton recalled: “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. These programs promised healing, growth and support, but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely, or even look out a window for two years.” Hilton went on to allege years’ worth of abuse during her stays at centers including Provo Canyon School in Utah.

Hilton, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee in June.

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Now, what’s being called the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act has garnered enough bipartisan support in the House to go directly to President Joe Biden’s desk in order to be signed into law. As reported by the AP, the legislation “would establish an interagency work group under Department of Health & Human Services that would bring greater transparency around treatment of youth in these programs, particularly when staff use restraints and seclusion rooms as forms of punishment.”

In comments posted to Instagram on Wednesday, Hilton expressed relief at the result, writing: “This moment is proof that our voices matter, that speaking out can spark change, and that no child should ever endure the horrors of abuse in silence. I did this for the younger version of myself and the youth who were senselessly taken from us by the Troubled Teen industry.” Hopefully, the passage of the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act and ensuing push for more transparency and accountability in youth residential programs is just the beginning of Hilton’s career as an influencer for justice.