EDITORIAL CURING FOSTER CARE SETTLEMENT OFFERS HOPE IF COUNTY FULFILLS ITS COMMITMENT.

LOS Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina hails the county's settlement of a class-action lawsuit over its troubled foster care program as a ``tremendous victory for children.''

Let's hope she's right.

Molina is not alone in her enthusiasm. She is joined by her board colleagues as well as officials from the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit, all of whom agree that at-risk children in Los Angeles County will now receive better treatment and protection.

But there have been other lawsuits and settlements before, and no magic bullet has come along yet.

Under this latest settlement, the county would try harder to keep children with their families (rather than moving them to foster care) by providing them with psychological and other support services.

The success of these reforms, of course, rests upon the effective delivery of those services. It's also an open question whether it's in the best interest of children to stay in unstable and possibly abusive homes.

Clearly there's no easy answer. It's good to see progress is being made, but we still have a long way to go to protect the welfare of all the county's children.