REPUBLICANS INSIST STATES SHOULD CONTROL CHILD-PROTECTION SERVICES.

Byline: Sally Buzbee Associated Press 

The federal government should trust states to run their own child-protection services, despite a report that nearly half are under court supervision for failing to provide adequate foster care, two congressional Republicans said Sunday.

Under a Republican proposal to turn federal money for foster care and other welfare programs into block grants to states, "They will get the money and the decision-making ability," Senate Majority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I think they can do that," Lott said.

But Democrats said some federal standards, and more federal money, are needed to ensure the most vulnerable Americans are treated well.

"We've got to have federal standards, but you also have resources," Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said on NBC. "You can't do something with nothing."

Twenty-one states are under court supervision for failing to properly care for children removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect, The New York Times reported Sunday.

In many of the 21 states, child welfare officials say they are so busy they can barely investigate reports of child abuse or neglect.

According to lawsuits brought against them, many states routinely place children in overcrowded foster homes or fail to provide adequate medical care.