Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 8:45 a.m.
Many children who have been abused or neglected by their parents or guardians endure additional abuse and neglect when they fall under the care of state governments. This is the finding of a national study by the Children's Bureau, an agency of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
In Nevada, the federal inspectors found that displaced children stay in temporary shelters too long, that standards and policies for protecting them are not uniform throughout the state and that procedures for investigating reports of child abuse are inadequate.
We are pleased that Nevada is not being defensive about the cited shortcomings, which, to be fair, were typical of other states studied. Jone Bosworth, administrator of the state Division for Child and Family Services, said a plan for improvement is already under way and should be ready by June. For the affected children, it can't be ready too soon.
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