A state audit criticizes Missouri's Children's Division for mismanaging thousands of adoption cases.
Bente (BEN ta) Birkeland has more from Jefferson City.
State Auditor Claire McCaskill says the Department of Social Services Children's Division is incompetent, and fails to keep track of children in state custody.
Department of Social Services director, Gary Sherman says McCaskill's accusations are unfair, because the audit doesn't account for recent improvements.
The audit says missing and incomplete case files force children to remain in foster care.
The Department of Social Services is currently upgrading its databases. Sherman says the overhaul will be finished by 2007. McCaskill says that's not good enough.
McCaskill says the state should adopt standards for terminating parental rights. Sherman says he thinks the current system is working well.
Last fiscal year more than 13 hundred Missouri children were adopted. The number of adoptions is down from a few years ago.
From the state Capital, I'm Bente Birkeland.
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