A Senate committee unanimously supported further regulations on Utah’s lucrative “troubled-teen” industry Monday after listening to emotional testimony from three people, including celebrity Paris Hilton.
“No child deserves to be tortured and traumatized,” said Hilton, describing her time in Provo Canyon School two decades ago.
If passed, this bill would be the first time in 15 years that Utah legislators put more oversight in place on the nearly 100 youth residential treatment centers in Utah, the majority of which are for-profit, private companies, like Provo Canyo
Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, is sponsoring SB127. He said his concerns with the industry stem from cases he has seen as a personal injury attorney. He added he also became interested after increased public advocacy and ongoing reporting from The Salt Lake Tribune, which has detailed allegations of abuse, mistreatment and chemical sedation at Utah facilities.
Hilton said she was abused while at Provo Canyon School in the 1990s. And she said some have tried to dismiss her complaints saying the school is under new ownership. She said the same problems remain.
“I tell my story not so anyone feels bad for me,” Hilton said, “but to shine a light on what happened then. And what is still happening now.”
McKell’s bill would require treatment centers to document any instance in which staff used physical restraints and seclusion and submit monthly reports to the Utah Office of Licensing, which is the industry’s primary regulator. It would prohibit programs from sedating residents or using mechanical restraints, like a straitjacket, without the office’s prior authorization.
The bill also requires the Office of Licensing to conduct four inspections each year, both announced and unannounced. Public records show that the office currently inspects most facilities just once a year.
“There’s a lot of money in this industry. It’s a large, large industry,” McKell said. “And I have become increasingly concerned that the appropriate amount of regulation has not caught up.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Paris Hilton bumps elbows with Sen. Michael McKell, R-Spanish Fork, after a vote on SB-127 to the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Standing Committee in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.
Public records show that, in the past five years, nearly 12,000 children have come through Utah to youth treatment centers, some bouncing from one place to another.
Some of the youths are sent by their parents, while others are ordered into treatment by a judge after breaking the law. There are also children in foster care who are brought here because no place in their home state will take them.
McKell’s bill has had early support from the troubled-teen industry.
Provo Canyon School administrators said they back McKell’s bill and the transparency it will bring. The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, to which many of these facilities belong, is also on board, though its leaders say they’d like lawmakers to adopt clarifying amendments. There’s been little public opposition to the measure, but Monday is the first time there will be a public hearing on the bill.
One of the driving forces pushing for reform is the online movement Breaking Code Silence, an activist group of former residents who say they were mistreated at centers in Utah and elsewhere. The group’s top government relations coordinator, Caroline Lorson, applauded the bill as a step in the right direction but said further measures will be needed.
“There’s still a lot more work to do,” she said, “But I think breaking through that immediate resistance that a lot of industry has to regulation is going to be the toughest battle.” Lorson added that state level regulation is the most important way to increase transparency and protect young people.
The Salt Lake Tribune will update this story.
