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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY With the Utah Legislature marking the midpoint of its annual 45-day session, the issue of regulating centers for troubled teens got a high-profile boost when celebrity Paris Hilton testified on Capitol Hill about her time spent in such a facility in Provo.
Sitting in front of a panel of Utah lawmakers on Monday, Hilton said she’s had the same nightmare for the past 20 years in which she’s “kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, strip searched and locked in a facility.”
Hilton and other “survivors of the troubled-teen industry” gave chilling testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee in support of SB127, sponsored by Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork. The bill would require treatment centers to document instances of physical restraints and involuntary confinement and submit monthly reports to the Utah Office of Licensing. It wou
SALT LAKE CITY With the Utah Legislature marking the midpoint of its annual 45-day session, the issue of regulating centers for troubled teens got a high-profile boost when celebrity Paris Hilton testified on Capitol Hill about her time spent in such a facility in Provo.
Sitting in front of a panel of Utah lawmakers on Monday, Hilton said she s had the same nightmare for the past 20 years in which she s kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, strip searched and locked in a facility.
Hilton and other survivors of the troubled-teen industry gave chilling testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee in support of SB127, sponsored by Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork. The bill would require treatment centers to document instances of physical restraints and involuntary confinement and submit monthly reports to the Utah Office of Licensing. It would also ban chemical sedation and mechanical restraints unless authorized.
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, discusses amendments to SB107 in the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. The language in Weiler’s bill originally took aim at the Salt Lake City School District as the only district that had not offered an in-person learning option at the time. The language now focuses on requirements surrounding “Test to Stay” protocols and thresholds.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY A bill originally seen as a way to push the Salt Lake City School District into returning all students to the classroom is now focusing on testing for students after its sponsor made major changes Friday.
SALT LAKE CITY A bill originally seen as a way to push the Salt Lake City School District into returning all students to the classroom is now focusing on testing for students after its sponsor made major changes Friday.
The language of SB107, sponsored by Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, was substantially altered to focus instead on requirements surrounding Test to Stay protocols and thresholds.
The bill would require the Utah Department of Health to provide support to schools that initiate widespread COVID-19 testing under the Test to Stay program. It also establishes a 2% case threshold, up from 1% of the school population when schools must take steps to mitigate further spread of the virus, which often includes shifting to online learning.