Paris Hilton Details Her Childhood Trauma In POWERFUL Testimony To Congress

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00:00When I was 16 years old, I was ripped from my bed in the middle of the night

00:04and transported across state lines to the first of four youth residential

00:09treatment facilities. These programs promised healing, growth, and support, but

00:14instead did not allow me to speak, move freely, or even look out a window for two

00:18years. I was force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff.

00:24Paris Hilton is sharing traumatic details about the abuse she endured at a

00:28youth residential treatment center when she was a teenager. The reality star

00:32testified to a U.S. House committee on Capitol Hill June 26th as she strongly

00:36advocated for the federal bipartisan Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act and

00:40urged lawmakers to improve care for nearly 400,000 children who are living

00:44in the foster care system. In her opening remarks, Paris acknowledged that while

00:48she herself was not in foster care, she experienced abuse in youth residential

00:52treatment facilities as a teen. When I was 16 years old, I was ripped from my

00:57bed in the middle of the night and transported across state lines to the

01:01first of four youth residential treatment facilities. These programs

01:05promised healing, growth, and support, but instead did not allow me to speak, move

01:10freely, or even look out a window for two years. I was force-fed medications and

01:15sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained and dragged down

01:20hallways, stripped naked, and thrown into solitary confinement. My parents were

01:26completely deceived, lied to, and manipulated by this for-profit industry

01:31about the inhumane treatment I was experiencing. So can you only imagine the

01:36experience for youth who are placed by the state and don't have people

01:40regularly checking in on them? I attended facilities with foster and adopted youth

01:45and I heard their testimony that they feel like they were forgotten, being

01:51shipped from facility to facility their whole childhoods.

01:55Parris has previously spoken out about the abuse she claims she endured at

01:59Provo Canyon School. NBC News reported that the facility had said it was sold

02:03in 2000 and cannot comment on operations before then. The 43-year-old went on to

02:07share her belief that the $23 billion a year industry operates without

02:11meaningful oversight. Today, residential facilities are continuing to warehouse

02:16over 50,000 foster youth, an unknown number of adopted youth, in lockdown

02:21facilities. Innocent kids who have not committed crimes, kids whose parents

02:27didn't have resources to support them, kids whose parents passed away, kids who

02:32have already experienced trauma. This $23 billion a year industry sees this

02:38population as dollar signs and operates without meaningful oversight. It costs

02:44approximately $800 to $1,000 per day to place a foster youth in a facility.

02:50Significantly more expensive than serving them in their own communities.

02:54What is more important, protecting business profits or protecting foster

02:59youth lives? Afterwards, the Simple Life star began to detail horrific stories of

03:04children whose lives ended in foster care or youth facilities. 16-year-old

03:09Cornelius Fredericks was placed in a facility because his mom tragically

03:13died and his dad was in prison. His life ended after being tackled and violently

03:19restrained by eight staff members for nearly 10 minutes after innocently

03:23throwing a sandwich in the cafeteria. They killed him on the floor of the

03:29lunchroom in front of dozens of other children. Emergency services had been

03:35called 300 times in the year leading up to his death with 56 violations

03:40substantiated by the state. The state could have prevented this. Just young,

03:46Terry's life ended at just seven years old. In his final hours, he was publicly

03:51shamed, verbally abused, left in his room alone for nearly six hours and physically

03:57restrained by staff members until he lost consciousness. When first responders

04:02arrived, there was vomit in his mouth and throat running down his cheeks and onto

04:06the floor. Why can't we as a society see that these kids are hurting? They need

04:12love and kindness, not beatings and restraints. Paris then went on to

04:17advocate for the reauthorization of Title IV-B as well as the federal

04:20bipartisan Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act. I'm here to be the voice for

04:25the children whose voices can't be heard. While this committee has responsibility

04:29to move bipartisan solutions forward to protect them, I strongly advocate for the

04:35reauthorization of Title IV-B. Families need resources and support so they

04:40don't need to come into the child welfare system in the first place. For

04:45children who do end up in foster care, we cannot allow them to grow up in

04:48facilities. The treatment these kids have had to endure is criminal. These kids

04:54deserve to grow up in safe, family-centered environments. I will not

04:58stop until America's youth is safe. I've helped pass nine state laws on this

05:03issue. I am strongly advocating for the federal bipartisan Stop Institutional

05:08Child Abuse Act. I supported the Senate Finance Committee report, Warehouses of

05:12Neglect, that validates everything those with lived experience have been saying.

05:17And I recently went to Jamaica to support and find appropriate placements

05:21for American adopted youth who had been raped, waterboarded with a hose, and held

05:27in solitary confinement in a facility internationally. Their parents had

05:32adopted them when they were young, promised them a better life, and then

05:36shipped them off to an international facility to be warehoused there until

05:39they turned 18. How could we let this happen to them? Progress isn't an option

05:45anymore. It's a life-or-death responsibility. As she ended her remarks,

05:50the 43-year-old sent a message to children in the system. If you are a

05:54child in the system, hear my words. I see you. I believe you. I know what you're

06:01going through, and I won't give up on you. You are important. Your future is

06:06important, and you deserve every opportunity to be safe and supported.

06:11Congress, please join me in creating a world where all children have a right to

06:15family, love, education, and the support they need. Thank you for your time, and

06:20I'm happy to answer any of your questions.

06:31you

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