Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Paris Hilton joins lawmakers introducing a bill to end abuse in the 'troubled teen' industry: 'What I went through will haunt me for the rest of my life'

Paris Hilton joins lawmakers introducing a bill to end abuse in the 'troubled teen' industry: 'What I went through will haunt me for the rest of my life'

Sen. Jeff Merkley told Insider the bill was the first step in bringing transparency and oversight to end abuse in residential treatment centers.
Paris Hilton joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the Capitol on Thursday to announce the introduction of a new bill aimed at ending abuse in the "troubled teen" industry.

Sens. Jeff Merkley, John Cornyn, and Tommy Tuberville along with Reps. Ro Khanna and Buddy Carter said at a press conference they were introducing the "Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act." Hilton, who has spoken openly about the abuse she said experienced at such programs as a teen, appeared alongside the lawmakers.

"From the ages of 16 to 18, I was sent to four troubled teen industry facilities, each one more horrific than the last. I witnessed and experienced sexual abuse from adult staff, as well as endured verbal and emotional abuse," Hilton said, continuing: "When I attempted to tell my parents about the abuse on the phone, the staff would immediately hang up the phone and punish me. On top of this, we had no access to the outside doors, no sunlight, no fresh air."

"What I went through will haunt me for the rest of my life," Hilton, now 42, added.

The "troubled teen" industry refers to a range of residential treatment centers nationwide that are aimed at kids struggling with emotional or behavioral issues. Programs have been accused of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and teens have died while attending such facilities. Critics say the programs continue to operate without sufficient consequences and too little government oversight, allowing abusive centers to remain open and profit off of the abuse of kids.

According to the lawmakers, the bill introduced Thursday would "provide greater oversight and data transparency for institutional youth treatment programs, begin implementing urgent recommendations to develop robust information sharing systems among states, and promote dissemination of best practices for identifying and preventing institutional child abuse."

"Institutional care, without oversight, all too often becomes institutional abuse," Merkley said in a statement. "Reforming our residential care system would improve the lives of thousands of children across our country, and it merits our urgent attention."

Merkley told Insider that the bill would help gather information on the programs, including where these programs are, how many people they employ, how many youths they treat, what therapeutic practices they use, and what kind of oversight, if any, they currently have.

He said that when lawmakers first started looking into the troubled teen industry, they found they "didn't know what sort of oversight and regulation are appropriate, or even what already exists within different states, and therefore didn't have the ability to create the momentum for a coherent framework to provide that oversight."

With the information that would be gathered as a result of the new bill, Merkley said they can come back and determine the best strategies for oversight and monitoring the programs.

"I think just the passage of this bill will educate so many legislators about the issue and will kind of lay the grounds for regulating this industry," he said.

"There's just a huge amount to learn," Merkley added. "These things have really been hiding out of sight until Paris led the effort to shine a light on them."
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: “The Current Welfare State Can No Longer Be Financed”
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
Wizz Air passengers screamed as storm-battered flight diverts to Bologna
European postal services halt U.S. deliveries after Trump imposes new tariffs
Urban explorer finds abandoned luxury restaurant left to decay
Fidesz leader labels Péter Magyar a ‘bluffer’ amid escalating political spat
French rope park operator arrested for denying entry to Israeli children
Újpest thrashes Zalaegerszeg 4-1 to secure first win in five matches
Profit-margin cap costs retailers 13 billion forints a month, warns trade group
Curiosity rover finds coral-like rock on Mars hinting at watery past
U.S. green policy rollback drives investors to Europe’s sustainable finance market
Special funerals rise in Hungary: boat, aerial and forest burials gain popularity
Hungary’s Kiskunság region turning into semi-desert after extreme drought
Kopasz Bálint wins world kayak 1000 m title in Milan, making him triple world champion
Budapest’s Keleti railway station to close for four weeks for track overhaul
Balaton could be unfit for swimming by 2035 and dry by 2050, scientists warn
Leaked guidelines show Meta’s AI allowed flirty and racist interactions with children
Filming of ‘Emily in Paris’ halted after assistant director dies on set
Filipino guest workers sue after Hungary moves to deport them for pregnancy
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
×