The Provo Canyon School, an infamous Utah teen treatment center, has lost its license for one of its campuses, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.
By Aug. 6, the license revocation letter says, all services at the Springville campus for girls must be terminated and any new enrollments are prohibited. The school’s owners are also barred from reapplying for a new license for five years.
“The Department is taking this action because of the Provider’s failure to provide applicable health and safety services for clients,” said the revocation letter from the Division of Licensing and Background Checks, citing “chronic, ongoing noncompliance with applicable rules, statutes, or requirements.”
The state did not revoke the license for the center’s Provo campus for boys but placed new conditions on it, arguing the school’s “failure to comply with state administrative rules and failure to provide applicable health and safety services for clients,” according to a letter.
That campus isn’t allowed to accept new admissions either, and it must undergo increased monitoring visits.
A state investigation found the center delayed treatment for a minor who was rendered unconscious after a physical assault, the letter placing conditions for the Provo campus says. The investigation also showed multiple incidents in which the school failed “to ensure that each client has the right to be free from potential harm or acts of violence.”
Both actions can be appealed. That’s an option Provo Canyon School leaders say they’re considering.
“We disagree with the state’s decision to revoke Provo Canyon School’s Springville Campus license and are evaluating all available legal and administrative options, including an appeal,” Tim Marshall, chief executive officer at the school said in a statement.
“As this is an ongoing matter, we are limited in what we can say at this time. Our priority remains providing safe, high-quality care and support for adolescents and their families, and we remain committed to serving those in need.”
For years the school had been the center of multiple reports of violence and poor medical care, including from reality TV star Paris Hilton, who said she was abused and isolated during her time as a teenager in the institution.
Hilton returned to Utah last month to show support for parents suing the residential teen treatment center after years of advocacy that resulted in new laws imposing stricter regulations on the industry.
Hilton applauded the state’s decision in a prepared statement issued Tuesday.
”Today, the state confirmed what survivors have known all along: Provo Canyon School failed the children in its care,” Hilton said.
“I was one of those children. I know what it feels like to cry for help and believe no one is coming. Today, children still inside that facility know someone is finally coming to protect them,” she said.
“The little girl in me who was told she would never be believed feels so validated today. We were telling the truth. We always were. No institution is too powerful to be held accountable. When survivors refuse to stay silent, change is possible.”
Multiple violations
Shannon Thoman-Black, director of Utah’s Division of Licensing and Background Checks, said in a news conference on Tuesday that her office had been following the process established by law since it started a previous investigation in January 2025, which resulted in the state setting conditions to the institution’s license.
“We don’t go in with a hammer when a scalpel will do. Now there comes a time when, in this case, we received additional complaints,” she said. “We investigated those complaints during the course of that investigation. We then discovered multiple substantiated (instances of) noncompliance.”
Division officials said they received a complaint from the Disability Law Center about the center in the middle of June. That prompted an investigation that uncovered incidents that either hadn’t been reported to the office or lacked substantial material, as required by the law.
State investigators interviewed staff and clients and reviewed medical records, camera footage and internal documentation from the school.
The list of violations included withholding information during the investigation process, failing to report critical incidents and to protect clients from harm, as well as failing to ensure all clients were free from neglect and discrimination, Thoman-Black said.
The school, according to the investigation, did not ensure that all staff members had clear background checks before having unsupervised access to the teens, and some engaged in “unnecessary restraint and aggressive physical contact with clients.”
Until Aug. 6, when the Springville campus is scheduled to shut down, the division will continue to monitor the institution.
The Department of Health and Human Services will work with the school and teen treatment systems in other states “to ensure a safe and timely transition, either to their home state or to another appropriate placement,” Thoman-Black said.
“Ultimately, a youth guardian determines what those next steps will be,” she said.
This article was written by Alixel Cabrera and was originally published by Utah News Dispatch.
Featured Image: @parishilton/Instagram
