President Joe Biden is currently awaiting legislation that would involve the federal government in mending the dysfunctional teen business.
After passing the Senate unanimously last week, the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act was approved by the House on Wednesday with a resounding majority.
The bipartisan law requires a federal study on the frequency and extent of child abuse and deaths in adolescent residential institutions, with reports to be released every two years for ten years. Along with examining current rules and professional standards governing the programs, the research will offer suggestions on how local and federal authorities might enhance their control.
Child welfare advocates and survivors of the troubled teen industry—a collection of boarding schools, residential treatment facilities, wilderness camps, and ranches for kids with emotional or psychological issues—have been fighting for years to get the bill passed. This is the result of high-profile scandals involving abuses and deaths that date back decades. Since the majority of the programs do not get government financing, the states in which they operate set their own standards. As previously reported by NBC News, many of these programs have escaped attention because of lax enforcement or legal loopholes.
Child advocates, health experts, program alumni, parents, facility operators, and a variety of government agencies will all need to be consulted by the National Academies, which advises policymakers and is carrying out the study.
Celebrity Paris Hilton became deeply involved in the project, attending multiple protests and press conferences in Washington, D.C., during the past three years to advocate for reform to the troubled teen industry. The law was lobbied for by a coalition of child welfare advocacy groups.
After the vote, Hiltons tweeted, “This moment is proof that our voices matter, that speaking out can spark change, and that no child should ever endure the horrors of abuse in silence.” I took this action in support of the younger myself and the young people who the Troubled Teen Industry had senselessly stolen from us.
After detailing the horrors she claimed to have suffered in a Utah facility two decades prior in a 2020 memoir and documentary, as well as in later testimony before state lawmakers, the Hilton Hotel heiress and reality TV personality started advocating for stricter regulation of facilities.
During remarks on the House floor Tuesday, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., one of the bill’s co-sponsors, praised Hilton and the activists she collaborated with for drawing Congress’ attention to the sector.
For years, survivors visited our offices repeatedly because they wanted to use their experiences to improve the lives of American children, Khanna said.
The bill is a scaled-down version of legislation that youth rights advocates had pushed for, which would have given all of the children in these facilities a set of rights, including the right to proper nutrition and toiletries, the prohibition of programs that deny them food, water, or sleep, and the limitation of the use of isolation as a form of discipline.
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