I'm really sorry to hear this. :( I know some parents in California can consider it very rude if anyone questions their parenting methods. There can be this idea that problems should stay within the family and be kept secret, and for somebody to complain outside the family can be seen as disrespecting their authority. I've seen this viewpoint with specific groups of people, definitely not most Californians though. It's true that childcare can be very expensive here. It's possible that these people you were staying with thought they could take advantage of you since you would be away from home and scared. These types of people bother me in general, but it sounds like your
experience was particularly extreme. I'm sorry this all happened.