New Yorks ACS is failing children and kids are dying why is Hochul getting in the way of reforms that would save lives?

The Jarvis children “used to be strong, but then she had to push them up the steps,” according to building superintendent Dennis Rivera.“They couldn’t climb.” It’s been more than a week since Geneva Jarvis, 36, and her mother, Denise Jarvis, were charged with the murder of Geneva’s 16-year-old son Adonis.

The nonverbal autistic teen weighed only 59 pounds when he was brought to The Bronx’s Lincoln Hospital in March, according to authorities.His twin brother, who suffered from the same disabilities, was only 60 pounds, but managed to survive. With the sadly unsurprising reports that the family has been on the radar of the Administration for Children’s Services since at least 2014 (when cops say ACS investigated an allegation that their mother was failing to give the boys seizure medication to treat their epilepsy), it is time for the public to demand transparency from the agency responsible for protecting abused and neglected children.Governor Hochul has astonishingly failed to sign legislation that would allow the Department of Investigation to get more access to ACS records in cases where there has been a fatality or where workers have been accused of sexual abuse.

But the time has come for bolder action.The state should consider a tool that has been used to shed light on the actions of other government agencies — body-worn cameras.  The demand for bodycams on police officers began in earnest in 2014 after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and has steadily increased since then.

As of 2023, 82% of police departments used them.In recent months, there has been a growing call for bodycams on ICE agents as well.

Front-line workers in Child Protective Services are performing a law-enforcement function and they too should be added to this list. Just as with police officers, there are always conflicts when child-protective services show up to investigate a report of child abuse or neglect.Were the workers respectful? Did they fol...