Utah Revokes License of Provo Canyon School Campus in Springville Over Staffing, Restraint, and Background-Check Failures

Utah revoked the operating license of the Provo Canyon School campus in Springville. The revocation took effect Monday and requires all services at the facility to end by Aug. 6. The Department of Health and Human Services cited ongoing noncompliance with health and safety rules.

Violations dating back to 2025 include failure to maintain required staff-to-client ratios, use of unnecessary restraint and aggressive physical contact with a client, neglect of care, and delays in verifying employee information or completing background checks.

State officials imposed temporary restrictions on the school in May after staff did not seek immediate medical care for a student with serious injuries. The school has 15 days to request a hearing.

Paris Hilton, who spent nearly a year at the school in the late 1990s, issued a statement Tuesday. She alleged that staff beat her, watched her shower, fed her unknown pills, and locked her in solitary confinement without clothing. Hilton, 45, has testified before Congress and state legislatures and supported laws regulating such facilities in Utah and 15 other states.

In June she returned to the campus to back two families who filed lawsuits alleging mistreatment of their children. The school is under new ownership and did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.