SACRAMENTO, California — Hotel heiress and Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton will visit her home state Capitol on Monday to back a bill meant to help combat the kind of abuse at youth centers she herself endured as a teen.
Senate Bill 1043, authored by Central Valley Republican Shannon Grove, aims to shed light on short-term residential therapeutic programs, which are used to house and treat young people who have been abused, neglected or are struggling with other types of trauma.
Hilton, 43, has publicly shared her own background in what’s often described as the “troubled teen industry” and testified against it in Congress. In a recent Netflix documentary, “Hell Camp,” she recounted the emotional and physical abuse she experienced during her time at a Utah boarding school when she was 17.
“As a survivor of the ‘Troubled Teen Industry,’ I am proud to partner with Senator Shannon Grove — a champion for children in California — on the Accountability in Children’s Treatment Act to bring much needed transparency to California youth facilities,” Hilton said in a statement.
California for years relied on similar, out-of-state facilities as a landing place for those deemed to be “troubled children.” But after allegations surfaced about abuse and assault at the hands of staff, the state halted the practice in 2021, turning instead to short-term, in-state facilities.
Grove said after she watched a documentary about the out-of-state facilities, she looked into how California now handles its own vulnerable youth, and was troubled to discover that the Department of Social Services would not release information about the treatment of young residents in short-term residential centers.
The Department of Social Services said it does not comment on legislation.
While in-state programs have a higher level of care than the former out-of-state options, Grove argues short-term facilities should be more transparent.
She wants to require such facilities to report any time they use seclusion rooms, restraints, and any incidents resulting in serious injuries or death, as well as to display that data on a public platform.
“We want to make sure that now that they’re here and they’re back in their home state, that we know what’s going on in the facilities — if there’s something going on,” Grove said.
Grove’s bill will be heard at a meeting of the state Senate’s human services committee on Monday, which will include Hilton’s testimony. The legislation has bipartisan support and is therefore expected to pass with currently no public opponents.
