During a House hearing on June 26, Hilton expressed concern for the safety of foster children who don’t have loved ones regularly checking in on them
Paris Hilton is fighting to change the child welfare system.
The socialite and entrepreneur, 43, testified on Capitol Hill about the need for strengthening child welfare protections. She spoke in front of the House Ways and Means Committee, citing her own negative experience when she was staying at a youth residential treatment facility while she was younger.
“These programs promised growth, healing and support but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely or look out a window for two years,” Hilton shared.
“I was force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff,” she recalled. “I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked and thrown into solitary confinement.”
Hilton’s parents, Rick Hilton and Kathy Hilton, sent her to a series of boarding schools for troubled teenagers in the ’90s. One of those residential treatment facilities is where she says she suffered abuse.
Hilton said on Wednesday that her parents were “completely deceived, lied to and manipulated” by the facility about the “inhumane treatment” she experienced.
“While my experience was not through the foster care system, I know from personal experience the harm that is caused by being placed in youth residential treatment facilities,” she said. “Can you only imagine the experience for youth who were placed by the state and don’t have people regularly checking in on them?”
She then shared the stories of a 16-year-old boy who died in one of those facilities and a 7-year-old who had been abused.
“As a mom these stories break my heart… The treatment these kids have had to endure is criminal. These kids deserve to grow up in safe, family-centered environments,” she told the committee. “This 23 billion a year industry sees this population as dollar signs and operates without meaningful oversight.”
The media personality called on lawmakers to strengthen protections for children so that they wouldn’t end up in abusive environments.
“Progress isn’t an option anymore,” Hilton said. “It’s a life or death responsibility.”
If you are a child in the system, hear my words: I see you. I believe you. I know what you’re going through and I won’t give up on you,” she continued. “You are important. Your future is important. And you deserve every opportunity to be safe and supported.”
