Springville teen treatment center cited after staff harms teen — and it’s not the first time

PROVO, Utah (ABC4) — A youth behavioral treatment center in Utah County was cited with non-compliance after a video allegedly showed a staff member striking a teenager while they were physically restrained.

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) placed conditions on Provo Canyon School’s Springville Campus earlier this month, claiming the center harmed or mistreated a client.

“The Department is issuing these conditions on the license because of the Licensee’s conduct adverse to the standards required to provide services and promote public trust, including aiding, abetting, or permitting the commission of abuse, harm, or mistreatment,” the DHHS document reads.

Provo Canyon School describes itself as “an intensive, psychiatric residential treatment center” that works with clients aged 12 to 17 with mental or behavioral challenges.

The treatment center says it offers therapy interventions and training as well as academic instruction. On Dec. 1, 2024, DHHS said video footage showed a staff member striking a client while they were restrained.

The department inspected the center two days after the video was taken and found that the center was not compliant with licensing regulations, as they had allegedly failed “to keep a client free from harm or acts of violence.”

On Feb. 5, DHHS sent a notice to the treatment center that conditions were being placed on its license due to noncompliance with regulations.

The notice said this was not the first time the center had been cited with non-compliance for failing to keep a teenager “free from harm,” referring to six other incidents since 2023 in which a client was harmed or mistreated.

ABC4.com reached out to Provo Canyon School for comment but has yet to receive a response.

Due to the December incident, DHHS is requiring that the campus in Springville comply with additional conditions in order to keep its license.

First, the center must allow, and pay the cost of, additional monitoring inspections. The center is required to pay nearly $400 per inspection. The center is also required to give an in-person training on mistreatment and violence where staff will read, review, and sign a code of conduct.

Finally, the center must inform clients and their guardians of the DHHS conditions and post a notice of them on campus and its website until May of this year.

Provo Canyon School is known, in part, for its connection to celebrity Paris Hilton who, in recent years, has been vocal about her time spent at the treatment center in the late 1990s when she was 17 years old. According to the Associated Press, Hilton has since fought to close the center, calling her experience “traumatizing” and detailing abuse allegations in a documentary called “This is Paris.”

While the treatment center has not provided comment on the most recent DHHS conditions, it previously published a statement for the media clarifying that the school was sold in 2000 and now operates under new ownership. The statement continued to say that the center does not “condone or promote any form of abuse” and any allegations of such are immediately reported to authorities.

“We work with extremely complex individuals who often present a danger to themselves and others. Provo Canyon School is committed to the safety of our students and staff,” the statement read.

The DHHS notice can be read below: