COLUMBIA -- The state agency responsible for protecting children from abuse and neglect has repeatedly violated the law in recent years, according to an audit report released Wednesday.

The Legislative Audit Council, the Legislature's watchdog agency, looked at the state Department of Social Services child protective services and reported violations of both law and policy over a three-year period.

The violations range from a failure to enter abuse cases into a central registry used for background checks, to delayed visits to child victims and postponed abuse investigations, to a lack of disciplinary action against DSS employees who violated policy or the law.

"When DSS does not follow state law and DSS policy, children who are victims of abuse and neglect may be at greater risk of additional harm," wrote the authors of the LAC audit.

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The report also found that some judges have not always ordered that convicted sex offenders be placed on the state's central registry for abuse and neglect of children, something required by law.

DSS Director Kim Aydlette, in her written response to the report, noted that her agency had already changed procedures as a result of the audit and was in the process of hiring 350 new child welfare workers statewide after sustaining years of budget cuts that had slashed about 27 percent of the agency's work force since 2001. She said she supports higher pay for caseworkers, as well as many of the policy changes recommended by the audit.

"Many of the issues addressed have been problems historically in the program," she wrote, "and many issues are, according to the 2003 Federal Child and Family Services Review, challenging states around the country."

Lawmakers asked for the audit after three Rock Hill children were killed while DSS investigated their family. Police said the children were drugged and had their throats slit by one or both parents, who also died.

Rep. Gary Simrill of Rock Hill, one of the legislators who asked for the review, said he found the results "troubling" but a positive step in ensuring no other children are harmed because of a lack of manpower, poor supervision or paperwork blunders.

"We just need to move forward from here and take swift and corrective measures to be sure that no other families fall through the cracks," he said.

The DSS program handles 25,000 complaints annually of abuse or neglect of children. Auditors looked at child protective service activities in five counties: York, Kershaw, Bamberg, Lexington and Marlboro.

They found that DSS had not seen all its child abuse victims and their families each 30 days, a DSS policy, nor had they completed abuse investigations within 60 days, a state law.

In one case of sexual abuse in Kershaw County, the child was not seen for three months, the audit reported. 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 review.

In Lexington County, auditors estimated that in 5 percent of the county's nearly 1,500 abuse cases during one year, the investigations were not completed within 60 days. In some cases, the determination took more than 100 days, according to the LAC.

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.

The audit report found that in 39 percent of the 77 cases of sexual abuse it sampled, DSS had not followed the process for placing the offenders in its registry.

In 20 cases of convicted sexual offenders in Bamberg and Lexington counties, auditors found, judges had not ordered as part of the offenders' sentences that their names be placed on the registry, although that is required by state law.

The audit did not identify the judges.

Rosalyn Frierson, director of the South Carolina Court Administration, wrote in a response to the audit that her office would monitor judges and clerks concerning the registry. She said a state sentencing form is being revised as a result of the report.

The review reported there were 42 disciplinary actions against child protective service workers statewide during the three-year period, including eight firings.

"While disciplinary action should not be taken for all violations, we found significant violations of law and policy where no action was taken," the report stated.

Aydlette wrote that DSS officials are working on mandatory disciplinary policies and will help county offices track trends through individual employees.

"However, I believe the agency will be in a position to more consistently discipline workers when their caseloads are at a level that lends itself to more consistent evaluation," she wrote.

She said the state has more recently met national standards in child welfare following a 2003 federal review.