Provo Canyon School Loses Licence Over Abuse Allegations


Regulators in Utah have cancelled the operating licence for the girls’ residential treatment campus of Provo Canyon School, citing incidents of unnecessary restraint, aggressive physical contact and neglect that began in 2025.


Paris Hilton, the high‑profile socialite who attended the Springville location in the 1990s, has repeatedly shared her story of abuse and has called for the school’s closure. The youth facility, marketed as an intensive psychiatric treatment centre for children aged 12 to 18, is required to shut down all services by 6 August.


The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recorded that the centre failed to provide adequate health and safety services for its clients. In a letter to the school, DHHS outlined the decision and noted that Provo Canyon School would have 15 days to file an appeal.


Hilton said in a statement to the BBC, “For more than fifty years, children have reported abuse, neglect and trauma. Today the state confirms what survivors have known all along: Provo Canyon School failed the children in its care. I was one of those children. My experience still haunts me. Now, other children inside that facility know someone is finally coming to protect them.”


Officials at the school claim they are reviewing all legal and administrative options and intend to appeal. They have also emphasised that their primary focus remains on providing safe, high‑quality care for adolescents and their families.


This decision comes after a series of complaints from former residents and following similar restrictions placed on the boys’ campus of Provo Canyon School earlier in June. Health officials cited failures to protect a male student during an altercation and a lack of immediate medical care for injuries sustained in that incident.


Paris Hilton has been an outspoken critic of the “troubled teen industry” and has testified before U.S. Congress to push reforms that protect teenagers from private for‑profit treatment centres.


More on the story: Paris Hilton pushes for US youth care abuse reform