Editorial: Find money to do right by children

Friday, March 21, 2003 | 9:17 a.m.

Since at least the mid-1990s the state of Nevada has had ample evidence that a program to protect abused and neglected children has harmful administrative flaws. A series of Sun articles in 1997 documented the psychological damage suffered by many children as their cases ping-ponged between state and county agencies. The Sun's articles and other studies found that this system -- unique in the country to Clark and Washoe counties -- resulted in such serious mismanagement of records that many children failed to receive the appropriate guidance and care.

The 2001 Legislature approved a bill by Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, that should have fixed the system. The bill removed all state involvement in child protective services in Clark and Washoe counties. This was a good bill that was intended to immediately enable the two counties to supervise child welfare entirely within their own social service departments. This would prevent children from all the miscommunications, lost records, wait times and other bureaucratic snags that occurred when state and county social workers each handled some portion of a child's case.

Unfortunately, the state, blaming financial pressures, only partially divested itself of child-welfare responsibility in Washoe County and never began the process at all in Clark County. Gov. Kenny Guinn wants to complete the process and has included $8 million in his budget, which would pay for various start-up costs, including legal matters and employee transfers. For the well-being of children who have already suffered enough, it is incumbent upon legislators to approve this money.