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The irony is that hardly anyone knows how bad it is. New kids who are admitted to these poshly advertised reformatory facilities are off kilter when they come in, but they may be far worse when they go out. You cannot check out any time you like, and you may never leave until you turn 18.
What can be expected inside these walls is sadistic control by untrained lackeys with behavioral issues of their own. Where are the professionals? Good question. Finding a doctor, nurse, or psychotherapist on hand is not assured despite what the brochures say, while those in charge look the other way.
Hence, the notion that troubled teen facilities in America are generally safe is light years from the truth. Think Green Mile without bars, except there are girls, too, and lots of locked doors. Solitary confinement threatens every perceived disruption, whether it’s self-expression or self-defense.
“The room was dimly lit and cold, described as a ‘meat locker.’ In the next room over, ‘a girl screamed and screamed for what seemed like a long time,’ Hilton wrote. Those kinds of experiences led to suicidal ideation… They took everything from me: light, space, comfort, my clothes, my name.”
“Tough Love” Only Works If There’s Love.
When parents get to the point where they feel their child is out of control, they may finally decide to contact one of these places (they’re everywhere). There is a recommended system for the way the whole thing goes down: strangers burst into the troubled child’s bedroom in the middle of the night and take them prisoner (as in kidnapping). The child is not aware that it’s all been arranged, and they don’t know if they’re about to be ransomed, raped, or killed.
When they reach the destination and check in, there’s more to be frightened of. No talking is allowed. Going outside is an almost-never privilege. Group sessions gather kids in a circle and encourage them to berate each other in loud, hostile tones. Orderlies commit routine sexual assault or beat kids up when they’re annoyed. Sometimes food, blankets, even toilets are withheld.
Paris Hilton Is a Tremendous Advocate Because She’s Been There.
Segue to Paris Hilton, the iconic blonde heiress, a razor-sharp, graceful young woman who admits she portrayed the Valley Girl persona in the early 2000s but it wasn’t me. She’s not that dumb blonde sex symbol. Paris spent a year at Provo Canyon Ranch in Utah (not far from Diamond Ranch Academy), 11 months of hopeless abuse that changed her life forever. She has evolved into an unlikely power advocating on Capitol Hill against the entire industry with armies of former troubled teens flanking her.
Paris works with nonprofits comprised of former “inmates.” She has resurrected national visibility for #BreakingCodeSilence (#BCS) and #Unsilenced (#US), whose dual intention is to expose the psychosis in thousands of TTI behavioral hellholes that command exorbitant prices from desperate parents, on top of receiving billions ($23 billion in 2022) from the government that hardly regulates them.
With the release in April 2023 of her autobiography, PARIS: A MEMOIR, Ms. Hilton got the whole world’s attention.
We got to meet her recently at MTMP (Mass Torts Made Perfect) in Las Vegas, and hear her presentation about the Troubled Teen Industry, which she experienced first-hand. She received a standing ovation from a room packed with American lawyers.
Paris is helping expose the corrupt, mega-multi-billion-dollar, partially (hugely) government-funded industry with little or no government regulation at the state or federal level. But until something changes, the Troubled Teen Industry is better compared to The Green Mile, which, come to think of it, is a Stephen King novel.
The New York Times recently covered a troubled teen lawsuit filed in New York under the Child Victims’ Act. Anna C. Salter, a psychologist who is an expert on sexual predators, wrote: “A convicted murderer on death row for mass murder cannot be treated as these children were.”
If you or your child was abused in a residential boarding facility, wilderness program, therapeutic institution, or other “troubled teen” program, we urge you: Reach out to us any time day or night. Help us stop this. Contact us now to see if you can help stop the cycle via a lawsuit.
