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Budget cuts have hurt the ability of the child protective services agency to do its job adequately.

Who's to blame for the problems at the state Department of Social Services? Primarily, it's the fault of state lawmakers who have underfunded this agency to the extent that it's not able to adequately protect children against abuse and neglect.

Years of budget cuts resulted in the elimination of 27 percent of the agency's work force -- about 1,300 workers -- since 2001. With case loads getting larger and larger, it's no wonder agency workers are not able to do their jobs.

A recent audit of the agency found that DSS child protective services has repeatedly violated the law in recent years. It found DSS had not seen all its child abuse victims and their families each 30 days, a DSS policy, nor had it completed abuse investigations within 60 days, a state law.

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In one case of sexual abuse in Kershaw County, the child was not seen for three months. In a case of sexual and physical abuse in York County, the child and family were not seen for more than four months, according to the report by the Legislative Audit Council, the Legislature's watchdog agency.

The review also found problems in getting sexual offenders' names onto the agency's central abuse registry, used by state agencies and private employers for background checks for those who work with children.

Problems of this sort are unacceptable. The responsibilities of this agency are too important to be neglected by the Legislature.

Gov. Sanford and DSS Director Kim Aydlette say they were aware of the problems and have sought to get the Legislature to provide adequate funding for the agency for the past three years. In some of his veto messages to the Legislature, Gov. Sanford had warned of problems associated with underfunding DSS. In his 2004 veto message, Sanford called the failure to better fund DSS "wrong and dangerous."

While state lawmakers primarily are to blame for DSS's problems, Sanford and Aydlette should have been far more aggressive in fighting for an agency charged with such a vital responsibility -- protecting vulnerable children. Aydlette believes most of the problems disclosed by the audit will be resolved with the hiring of 350 new child welfare workers. The Legislature finally has begun to provide more funding for DSS.

The Legislative Audit Council has performed an important service to the state by bringing to light troubling problems that should have been aggressively exposed by state leaders. LAC should follow up this audit with another one in the coming year. DSS, one of the state's most important agencies, has too few advocates among state leaders. That needs to change.