Newsom Signs Paris Hilton-Sponsored Bill Related to Treatment Facilities

California state Sen. Shannon Grove (2nd L) speaks at a press conference for Senate Bill 1043 with Paris Hilton and fellow senators Aisha Wahab (L) and Janet Nguyen (R) on April 15, 2024, at the Capitol. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation supported by Paris Hilton on Sept. 27 that requires more oversight and review regarding the use of restraints and isolation in residential treatment facilities and establishes a publicly available database for reporting incidents.

Senate Bill 1043 was introduced by state Sen. Shannon Grove, a Republican, a conservative lawmaker who is known in California for opposing both Medi-Cal health insurance for illegal immigrants and mandatory vaccinations of schoolchildren.

Hilton sponsored and advocated for the legislation. She has pushed for child safety policies for years and shared stories of her personal traumatic experiences in similar residential treatment facilities, albeit in another state.

In 2021, the TV personality and businesswoman opened up about her experience at Provo Canyon School in Utah, where she says she was abused mentally and physically by staff.

Hilton has taken her advocacy beyond California all the way to Capitol Hill, where, in June, she testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on “Strengthening Child Welfare and Protecting America’s Children.”

Her work has led to policy changes, philanthropic initiatives, and the docu-series podcast “Trapped in Treatment.”

Hilton, who released her first studio album in nearly two decades earlier this month, says she was also mistreated in other youth facilities.

“From the ages of 16 to 18, I was sent to four troubled teen industry facilities, each one more horrific than the last,” she said. “What I went through will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

In April, Grove hosted Hilton at the state Capitol for the bipartisan youth protection bill.

“I just want to be a hero that I needed when I was a little girl,” Hilton said.

The new law requires the California Department of Social Services to publish a public dashboard on its website—as well as notify the child’s parent, foster parent, guardian, or tribal representative of a child—for every incident in which seclusion or restraint is deployed.

“As a survivor of the ‘Troubled Teen Industry,’ I am deeply thankful to Governor Newsom for signing the Accountability in Children’s Treatment Act,” Hilton said in a statement. “With his support, California is taking a major step toward protecting vulnerable youth by making these facilities more transparent. This law will bring much-needed oversight, and I’m proud to have partnered with Senator Shannon Grove and the legislature to help make this change a reality.”

Newsom also signed legislation in 2021 prohibiting the practice of sending foster youth and teens charged with crimes to residential treatment programs in other states. The legislation also earmarked $100 million over five years for new in-state programs for vulnerable youth.

SB 1043 wasn’t the only Grove-introduced legislation Newsom signed into law last week. He also signed Senate Bill 1414, which increases the penalties for child sex buyers.

“[The law] increases the penalty for soliciting or purchasing a child for sex from a misdemeanor to a felony, with a caveat that 16 and 17-year-olds must be proven victims of human trafficking,” Grove said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Criminals have been far ahead of us when it comes to child sex trafficking, we must have a strong approach to eradicate this brutal crime and ensure no child is reduced to a commodity.”

Newsom also signed three other related bills, one that requires hospitals to allow emergency room patients to confidentially identify themselves as victims of human trafficking or domestic violence, another that requires law enforcement agencies to create guidelines for interacting with survivors of human trafficking, and a third that establishes a new labor trafficking unit in the Department of Justice.

“Human trafficking is a disgusting and reprehensible crime that leaves lasting pain on victims and survivors. These new laws will help us further hold predators accountable and provide victims with the support and care they need,” Newsom wrote in a statement.

In 2023, Assembly Democrats in the public safety committee initially rejected another of Grove’s bills, Senate Bill 14, which added sex trafficking of a minor to the list of “serious felonies” under California’s penal code.

Newsom publicly criticized the decision of his fellow party members for shooting down the legislation. It eventually passed the Assembly in September 2023, and the governor then signed the bill. It went into effect Jan. 1, and the first man was convicted under the law in April.