Bill tackling child abuse in residential treatment facilities passes the Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Legislation being championed by celebrity Paris Hilton is making its way through Capitol Hill.

The ‘Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act’ unanimously passed the U.S. Senate Wednesday and would require federal financial oversight and regulation for children residential treatment facilities.

Many of those facilities are at the center of abuse allegations.

Paris Hilton was in one of those treatment centers and has been working to get this bill turned into law for years.

The bill now goes to the House and is currently in the Energy and Commerce Committee chaired by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

McMorris Rodgers spoke with 4 News Now about the bill recently recognizing its importance.

“I have had the opportunity to meet with several here locally and it is compelling. We need to take action. We all agree we must be protecting our children in these institutions,” said McMorris Rodgers.

McMorris Rodgers hopes to move the bill through the House before the end of this legislative session.

Congresswoman Ro Khanna of California who sponsored the bill issued a statement saying:

“Children across the country are at risk of abuse and neglect due to a lack of transparency in institutional youth treatment programs. I’m grateful to Paris Hilton for sharing her story and supporting survivors of abuse. The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which I am leading in the House, will help reform a system that has failed children and their families for too long. Now that it has passed the Senate, the House needs to vote on it next week. I am passionately advocating with House leadership to get this done.”

The current legislative session will end in January.