NCCPR news and commentary round-up, week ending September 29, 2020

● It’s a common lament among those of us seeking to reform child welfare: If only there were bodycam video during child abuse investigations, people would understand.  This time, there is.  This story, from Reason, includes that video.  Please be warned: It is extremely difficult to watch – which is why we all need to watch it.

 ● In Australia, a predictive analytics algorithm that wreaked havoc in the lives of poor people because of a 20 percent failure rate was declared illegal.  So what would happen if a child welfare predictive analytics algorithm was found to have a failure rate of more than 99 percent?  Why, it would be declared a huge success, of course!  I have a blog post about it.

● Advocates from Left and Right join together in this column for the New York Daily News to explain why we need the #stoptheclock legislation to pause the federal requirement to rush to terminate children’s rights to their parents when there’s a public health crisis.  And you can support the legislation by clicking here.

 ● Ever notice how the official figures agencies report about abuse in foster care are vastly lower than what independent researchers find? This story from the Arizona Republic may help explain why that happens.