“Currently, deficiencies in supervision, decision-making and communication cause children to remain at risk of abuse or neglect and increase the state’s risk of liability,” the audit concluded.

And despite efforts by the Department of Human Services to improve efforts to protect children, “significant problems persist” and many of the problems identified in 1999 continue today, the audit stated.

In her January 1999 audit, Higa noted that the human services department did not have sufficient management controls to ensure all reports of abuse were investigated. She also said communication among the department’s Child Welfare Services Branch, police and court officials was “ineffective.”

The current audit found that the state’s child abuse and neglect database “remains unreliable,” resulting inaccurate and incomplete information for decision makers overseeing the fate of children.

For example, the department does not consistently inform Family Court of pending expirations of voluntary foster custody agreements. The auditor found six instances where children remained in foster placement beyond the 90-day limit.

The crux of the problems stems from a lack of or disregard for department management controls, the new audit stated.

Inadequate oversight from supervisors created inconsistent enforcement.

While praising social workers in “a helping profession,” the audit said compassion was not enough.

“When the stakes are high, as they are in child protection, additional assurances must be provided to the community that every reasonable action is being taken to guard the safety of vulnerable children,” the audit stated.

Enforcing management controls is the solution, it stated.

Lillian Koller, who was appointed as director of the Department of Human Services earlier this year, said in a letter to Higa that she agreed with the basic findings. But Koller also detailed what she felt were 25 separate errors, all of which are included in the 50-page audit.

Koller said the current conclusions do not reflect improvements made since 1999 because the follow-up audit did not provide comparative information from the first audit. The result is an inaccurate picture of the Child Welfare Services Branch, she said.

Koller also said the follow-up audit “draws broad conclusions based on limited information.”

“In some identified areas of concern, the audit reviewed as few as 10 cases out of over 7,000 active Child Welfare Services Branch cases,” she said. “The conclusions drawn may be unreliable.”