EDITORIAL BETRAYING THE NEEDIEST ABUSED AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN PAY FOR COUNTRY'S INCOMPETENCE.

IF it were only office supplies that Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services couldn't be trusted to oversee ...

An audit has found that the department charged with protecting the county's children has slack management and oversight of its $177 million services and supplies budget.

If that were the extent of the poor management in the department, it would be a good day in L.A. However, this is yet another damning report in a long string over many years that show beyond a doubt that the county's child-protection efforts are a failure.

Despite numerous reports and management overhauls, the department once again has betrayed its trust, wasting millions of taxpayers dollars and putting at-risk children at even greater risk.

The department has been criticized in the past for its poor oversight of kids in foster care -- who were lost, or even died from abuse and neglect, and too often were sent back to abusive home situations.

In June, a grand jury blasted the DCFS for not funding an abuse-prevention program and not sharing information that might help children in custody -- even as the number of slayings of abused children more than tripled.

Needless to say, the failure to follow county rules for purchasing printer toner is hardly on the same level as losing children. But it does indicate that the problems at the county child welfare department run strong, deep and wide. County supervisors have jobs virtually for life -- one can only wonder why.