The lawsuits stemming from the 1997 deaths of two Rowan County children have been settled, but it would be a mistake to think that this brings closure to one of the saddest and most disturbing chapters in the county’s history.

Despite the outrage, the horror and, ultimately, the statewide reforms provoked by the children’s deaths that included 5-year-old Budde Clark and 2-year-old DeMallon Krider, child abuse continues to be problem of heart-breaking and mind-numbing extent. The N.C. Division of Social Service’s most recent annual review of child abuse cites 37,326 confirmed cases of abuse or neglect across the state for the 1998-1999 reporting period, a 7 percent increase from the previous year. Rowan County accounted for 270 of those cases, ranking fifth worst among North Carolina counties. The report says that 13 percent of all juveniles in the county were reported abused, neglected or in need of care.

The deaths of Budde and DeMallon provoked intense scrutiny and criticism of Social Service procedures. Because these children were allowed to remain in homes where abuse had occurred previously, attention focussed on how the system had failed them. A local task force and local legislators helped bring about reforms that tightened case review procedures, and provided more money for child safety workers.

More recently, however, we have seen signs of how we are failing the system. Statewide, the turnover rate among child-protection workers has reached epidemic proportion, leaving many DSS offices chronically short-staffed. In Rowan, the problem is compounded because Cabarrus and other neighboring counties offer higher pay to their social service employees. Rowan thus becomes a training ground for less experienced caseworkers who quickly move on.

Because of these chronic staffing problems, caseworkers have too many families to investigate and monitor, and they work under too much stress. That increases the risk that complaints may not get the attention they deserve, or may be investigated by inexperienced staff. It increases the chances that, like Budde and DeMallon, other vulnerable children may fall through the cracks of a system designed to safeguard them.

Some cracks can be patched up through revisions in rules and procedures. But solving the problems of staff turnover and caseworker burnout will require a much greater commitment of resources than state legislators and local officials can currently allocate.

For the relatives who filed suit on behalf of these two children, the settlement may bring some small solace that their deaths highlighted procedural problems and helped raise awareness of child abuse. But the sad truth is that an overburdened system can’t protect everyone, and there are too many children trapped in situations of unimaginable suffering.