Media personality and fashion icon Paris Hilton is taking her advocacy against institutional child abuse to the California Capitol.
Hilton — who alleged that she was a victim of sexual abuse as a teenager in the ‘90s at a boarding school in Utah — is sponsoring California Republican lawmaker Shannon Grove’s bill, the Accountability in Children’s Treatment (ACT), which seeks to provide more transparency for parents about the whereabouts of their children during their stay in troubled youth programs. Any serious injuries or incidents of death will be required to be disclosed on the state’s social services website.
Under the bill, facilities licensed by the California Department of Social Services are required to release information pertaining to the use of restraints and solitary confinement-style rooms.
“These facilities systematically silence youth, and I am dedicated to ensuring there are greater transparency mechanisms in place to ensure those who are evaluating these facilities, and the families who are placing youth in them, have access to updated and accurate information on the often abusive and traumatizing practices that occur,” Hilton told Fox News Digital on Friday. “Transparency not only holds facilities accountable for their actions but also helps survivors like myself feel validated and heard.”
PARIS HILTON PRAISES GOP LAWMAKERS FOR SPONSORING BIPARTISAN STOP INSTITUTIONAL CHILD ABUSE ACT
Paris Hilton speaks during a news conference on legislation to establish a bill of rights for children placed in congregate care facilities, outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. ((Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images))
Hilton added, “I also hope to inspire a more compassionate understanding of how to treat youth with mental health or behavioral needs, as I know from lived experience that sending them far away from everyone they know and love is not a sustainable answer.”
The state already took steps to protect…
