New York Governor Kathy Hochul has yet to take action on a bill aimed at increasing oversight of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), following renewed criticism of the agency after the death of an autistic teenager in the Bronx.

The legislation, passed by state lawmakers in June, would require ACS officials to provide records to the city’s Department of Investigation (DOI) regarding child deaths under the agency’s supervision. The DOI, led by Commissioner Nadia Shihat, has expressed serious concerns about approximately 20 child fatalities over the past decade linked to ACS cases. Officials have accused the agency of resisting efforts to disclose information, with the proposed law seen as a necessary measure to improve transparency.

The case of 16-year-old Adonis Jarvis has intensified calls for accountability. Adonis, who was autistic, was found dead in March weighing only 59 pounds in a dilapidated Bronx apartment. His twin brother, also severely malnourished, survived. Following an investigation, the twins’ mother, Geneva Jarvis, 36, and their grandmother, Denise Jarvis, 62, were charged with murder earlier this week.

Sources indicate that the Jarvis family had been under ACS scrutiny for more than ten years, with the agency closing their case in 2024. Details about ACS caseworkers’ actions—or potential oversights—in the lead-up to Adonis’s death remain unclear.

Advocates for the bill argue that strengthened oversight is critical to prevent future tragedies and force ACS to cooperate more fully with investigative authorities. However, the bill’s status remains pending on Governor Hochul’s desk, with no public indication yet on whether she will sign it into law or veto it.