In brief
The Provo Canyon School’s Springville campus has had its residential‑treatment licence revoked after regulators cited unnecessary restraint, physical abuse and neglect. Paris Hilton, who spent nearly a year there in the 1990s, has long campaigned to shut the centre and testified before Congress. The state says the school failed to meet health and safety standards. The facility has 15 days to appeal and all services must end by 6 August. Staff are already examining legal options while the boys’ campus remains restricted from new admissions.
Utah boarding school where Paris Hilton alleged abuse loses licence
A girls' boarding school where US socialite Paris Hilton alleged she was abused as a teenager has had its licence revoked.
Utah state regulators cited unnecessary restraint, aggressive physical contact and instances of neglect as non‑compliance issues at Provo Canyon School’s Springville campus back to 2025.
Hilton, who has campaigned to close the school and testified before Congress about her experience there in the 1990s, says the facility "failed the children in its care".
The school said it was considering an appeal against the decision. The girls' facility is described on its website as an intensive, psychiatric youth residential treatment centre for girls aged 12 to 18.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said the school had "failed to provide applicable health and safety services for clients".
The residential treatment licence has been cancelled and all services at the campus must terminate by 6 August; the state regulator’s letter can be found here.
The school has 15 days to challenge the decision.
Hilton said in a statement to the BBC: "For more than fifty years, children came forward with stories of abuse, neglect and trauma. Today, the state confirmed what survivors have known all along: Provo Canyon School failed the children in its care. I was one of those children. I know what it feels like to cry for help and believe no‑one is coming. Today, children still inside that facility know someone is finally coming to protect them."
School officials told local media they were "evaluating all available legal and administrative options, including an appeal". "As this is an ongoing matter, we are limited in what we can say at this time. Our priority remains providing safe, high‑quality care and support for adolescents and their families, and we remain committed to serving those in need," they added.
The school’s programme has faced closure demands from former residents besides Hilton, and complaints were lodged to the state's licensing agency last month.
Health officials have also imposed temporary restrictions on the school's boys' campus in Provo, Utah, in June. The boys campus "continues to serve those under our care, but is not permitted to accept new admissions at this time", its website notes.
An inquiry found that staff failed to protect a boy during a fight and did not seek immediate medical care for his injuries.
Hilton spent almost a year at the Springville, Utah, school in the 1990s, when the school was under different ownership. She alleged that she was physically assaulted, made to take medication and placed in solitary confinement in programmes aimed at reforming her behaviour.
She said in a documentary released in 2020 that "My parents were promised that tough love would fix me and that sending me across the country was the only way." She added that her experience at the facilities "haunts her to this day".
She has advocated against the "troubled teen industry" and testified in front of Congress in 2024 and across state legislatures to enact laws to protect teens from private for‑profit centres for children with perceived behavioural issues.
