Paris Hilton champions child welfare reform: 'Most traumatizing experience of my life'

Families need resources and support so they don't need to come into the child welfare system in the 1st place. For children who do end up in foster care, we cannot allow them to grow up in facilities. The treatment these kids have had to endure is criminal. These kids deserve to grow up in safe, family centered environments. I will not stop until America's youth is safe. Powerful testimony today from Paris Hilton on Capitol Hill, advocating for more accountability for youth treatment facilities like the one she spent time in as a teen in Utah where she says she was abused by the staff. Paris Hilton has teamed up with Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter to push a bill aimed at protecting vulnerable teens in those programs called Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act. And they both join me now. Great to have both of you with us. I watched some of the testimony that you gave earlier, Paris. Great to hear that you are advocating for these children. Quickly, buddy, just tell people, what is the bill that you're trying to reinstate here if you can't? Briefly, yes, very briefly what? We want us to have oversight and to have to have transparency. I think that's very important, particularly when there is a Nexus between the federal government funding these centers and between those centers. That's extremely important. We have a responsibility incumbent upon us to make sure that we have oversight over these facilities, make sure parents are educated as exactly the history and what's been going on in these facilities. Yeah, Paris, for those who didn't see it earlier, explain what happened to you. You were 16 years old and and you were sent away from your home. Discipline issues, I guess at that age, at that young age, what happened? Well, I was sneaking out at night, getting bad grades. I had ADHD, which wasn't being talked about back then. And my parents sent me what they thought was going to be an emotional growth boarding school. But these places were extremely abusive and they cut me off from the outside world, so I wasn't even able to tell my family what was happening. And it was the most traumatizing experience of my life. And now to know the past four years that this is moved into a $23 billion a year industry and hundreds of thousands of children are being sent to these places every year. That's why I want to use my voice to make a difference to stop this from happening to other children. Wow. You know, I, I think a lot of people see you and wonder how this could ever happen in, in your family. What did your parents say when they really begin to understand, understand what had happened to you at the place that they sent you to? My parents have just been so heartbroken and just horrified by what I had to endure. And they are furious at these schools for lying to them and manipulating them. And this happens to so many families. So tell me what you think the red flags are. If a parent is at their at the end of their rope and they feel like they can't help their child get out of the place that they're in, what, what, what should they look for? Because not everyone can afford, you know, the upper end of this. What would you tell them? I think it's important just to try to keep your children at home with you. There are so many other options, and just having therapy and really just getting involved in a community gaze program is so important. But sending them away is not what you're supposed to do. So, buddy, what made you so interested in this issue? Well, when you see courageous survivors like Paris who are willing to come and speak out, it's inspirational. I mean, look, this is again, as I said earlier, this is incumbent upon us and Congress, our responsibility to address issues like this. I don't doubt that there are some good institutions that are doing great work out there, but there are also some bad actors, as they are in every profession. That's the ones that we are after here. We need transparency. We need oversight. So many foster children, The Inspector General from HHS has said, oh, we just basically don't have the the people. We don't have the ability to oversee all of these places where we're sending federal money. What would you say to them? Say that they're already having taxpayers pay billions of dollars to these places. So there definitely is funds. They just need to be appropriated and the correct form. And, you know, I love what you said about if at all possible, keep your child at home. You know, and obviously there are parents who are having a very hard time. What would you say to give them strength about your, I mean, look at you became very successful. So these kids do have the potential for a bright future. And then one of the very rare occasions most people who go to these schools end up in prison, end up committing suicide, end up homeless. It's very heartbreaking to see what's happened. But I've managed to turn my pain into a purpose. But a lot of these children, especially from the foster care system, they don't have that love and support when they get out. And it's just really heartbreaking to see what happens to them because of these places. Yeah, we did a story not too long ago about a child who had been bounced around to 21 different foster homes and eventually found a forever family. And he said, I didn't ever think that that would be in my life, that I would be able to find a family. And it was just so heartbreaking. So it takes a lot of strength to get through these situations. Buddy Carter, Paris Hilton, thank you very much for being with us today. Good to have you with us.