A 7-month-old foster child was in critical condition at a local hospital on Thursday after being injured in a foster home this week, police said.

The infant was injured on Wednesday at the home of its foster mother, said Lisa Teele, supervisor of the Metropolitan Police Department's abuse and neglect unit.

"We're still gathering medical information," Teele said.

The case is under investigation, and Teele said police didn't know if it's a criminal matter or if the child was injured accidentally.

No information was released on how the child was injured.

Citing state law, Clark County officials refused to release any information on the child. The officials said they were looking into the incident and reviewing whether proper procedures were followed.

"We are very concerned about the well-being of the infant in this case and are cooperating fully with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police in their investigation," said Tom Morton, the new director of the Department of Family Services, in a prepared statement. "We believe it's important that the integrity of the investigation be maintained; therefore, we are unable to release additional information at this time."

Morton added, "Our citizens should know, however, that we are reviewing our actions in this case to determine whether procedures were followed."

Morton was named head of the troubled Department of Family Services in May, replacing Susan Klein-Rothschild.

William Grimm, an attorney with the National Center for Youth Law, a child advocacy group in Oakland, Calif.,who is familiar with the Nevada child welfare system, said the county's refusal to release information on the infant appeared to violate statutes requiring the release of information on foster children who are seriously hurt or killed.

"It is disappointing that with new leadership there hasn't come greater transparency in the system," Grimm said, referring to Morton's recent arrival. "I would hope that the agency would be open to more scrutiny."

Virginia Valentine, the acting county manager, said county officials wish they could release more information and are considering submitting a bill draft during the next legislative session that could open up more records.

"We don't want to compromise an ongoing investigation, but we're hoping in the future to be able to open up and release more information," Valentine said.

Under a ruling by Clark County District Judge Douglas Herndon in April, some basic information about abuse or neglect cases involving foster children could be released in cases involving fatalities or near fatalities.

The child's age, the status of the child's case at the time of the incident, and whether county officials intervened previously in the child's case are to be released in such cases, according to Herndon's decision.

Herndon's ruling came after the county sought clarification on what information could be released. It sought to clear up the issue after several high-profile incidents in which children died or were seriously hurt after having contact with child protective services.

In one case, 2-year-old Adacelli Snyder died from malnutrition because she was neglected. The county's child protective services had closed a case on Snyder's family about a year before the child was found dead.

The Nevada attorney general weighed in on the issue in late March, saying in a brief to the director of the Department of Human and Health Services, Michael Willden, that, "Without releasing the child's name or date of birth or death, or information about uninjured siblings, information can be made available about interventions made, the referrals provided, and the status of the child protective services case at the time of the event."

County officials said they are not releasing information about the 7-month-old because authorities haven't determined if the child was a victim of abuse or neglect.

"Judge Herndon's order only applies to death or critical injury situations caused by abuse or neglect, which has not been determined in the current case" said county spokeswoman Gina Olivares in an e-mail.

She said the Family Services department would not disclose information on foster children in fatality and near fatality abuse or neglect cases, "if Family Services deems the disclosure of this information would adversely affect any pending investigation."

About 2,100 children are in foster care in Clark County. A majority are living with foster families. There are 161 youths at Child Haven, the county's emergency foster shelter, and another 171 in community-based shelter homes, Olivares said.

A panel reviewing child deaths recently reviewed 79 child deaths in the state from 2001 and 2004 and found that 11 children in the custody of the county had died.