The hotel heiress aims to shed light on the 'disturbing lack of government oversight of youth residential care facilities.'
Paris Hilton continues to shed light on "the disturbing lack of government oversight of youth residential care facilities" by meeting with White House officials and members of Congress in her quest to enact the Federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act.
The hotel heiress, who in the past has shared her own personal story at the hand of officials in such facilities, has been documenting her experience on social media following days full of meetings with government officials. According to CNN, the fashion mogul "was at the White House with state and national advocates as part of her advocacy efforts to improve protections of youth in residential programs and facilities."
Hilton hopes her efforts "can better protect children and teens seeking help." The video and photos show the 41-year-old reality TV star and her husband, Carter Reum, heading into the White House and the Capitol for meeting with senior officials.
She captioned her video, "I am so thankful for all the important conversations we are having with representatives and survivors! Looking forward to all the awareness that we will bring to the cause today!"
In a separate post, Hilton posted a photo slide that symbolically shows her locked up in a cell with the phrase, “Prevent the abuse, neglect & death of institutionalized youth in America" shown on an outside wall of the cell.
In addition to meeting with White House officials, Hilton has also met with Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa hoping to round up support. The bill, which would in part create a Youth in Congregate Care Bill of Rights and funding to address systemic issues, has not yet been introduced on the floor of Congress.
Hilton detailed her own teenage experience at four such facilities in her 2020 documentary, This Is Paris. She mostly spoke about her experience at Provo Canyon School in Utah, claiming her time at the school was "torture." She would later appear on Capitol Hill "not as Paris Hilton, but as a survivor," before detailing her own alleged abuse.
"For 20 years I couldn't sleep at night, as memories of physical violence, the feeling of loneliness, the loss of peers, rushed through my mind when I shut my eyes," she said in October 2021. "This was not just insomnia, it was trauma."
"One night when I was 16 years old, I woke up to two large men entering my bedroom, asking if I wanted to go 'the easy way or the hard way.' Thinking I was being kidnapped, I screamed for my parents," Hilton claimed. "As I was being physically dragged out of my house, I saw them crying in the hallway. They didn't come to my rescue that night. This was my introduction to the troubled teen industry."
According to Hilton, her parents, Kathy and Richard Hilton, "were promised that tough love would fix me, and that sending me across the country was the only way."
At the Utah school, Hilton claimed, "I was given clothes with a number on the tag. I was no longer me. I was only number 127. I was forced to stay indoors for 11 months straight, no sunlight, no fresh air. These were considered privileges."
Following the allegations, People reached out to the school for comment and received this response: "Originally opened in 1971, Provo Canyon School was sold by its previous ownership in August 2000. We therefore cannot comment on the operations or patient experience prior to this time."
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