Two children died in 2003 after their mother beat them with a baseball bat.

But don't look for them in the Clark County tallies of child fatalities related to abuse. They weren't counted.

From 2001 to 2004, 11 Clark County children in out-of-home placements died -- three at hospitals, five in foster homes and three in the homes of relatives. Causes of death in each case haven't been made public.

Such missing information and inaccurate data related to Clark County's reporting of child deaths frustrated state lawmakers Thursday as they listened to public officials testify about the gaps in communication and service that contribute to the problem.

"I think this committee would like to push these entities to voluntarily correct these problems now," said Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, a member of the legislative subcommittee studying the health and welfare of children in public custody. "Let's learn from every child death."

A state analysis released in December showed that the number of Clark County child fatalities caused by abuse or neglect from 2001 to 2004 was more than three times higher than the figure officially reported for that period.

Seventy-nine fatalities have been red-flagged by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services as cases that should have been investigated for maltreatment by Clark County Family Services and weren't. The state is now assembling a task force to investigate those cases and the local response to them.

Similar reviews of child deaths in Washoe County and the rural counties will also be conducted.

"When something doesn't work in our system, I believe we all have blame to share," said Michael Wilden, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services. "Every time I talk about these statistics, I don't feel very good. Frankly, it makes me ill."

Lawmakers listened as officials sketched out some of the practices that lead to faulty child death tracking and possible solutions to those problems.

Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy said his office reports every death of a child younger than 6 to Clark County Family Services but not the deaths of children older than 6. That practice is based on a years-old national standard for child death investigations and needs to be changed, Murphy said.

"I think the state should allow the Clark County Coroner's Office to triage all deaths under the age of 18, whether they're natural or not," he said.

Las Vegas Police Capt. Terry Lesney said that all child death cases known to her department are reported to Clark County Family Services. However, unless other children are present in the home, those cases aren't investigated by Family Services, she said.

If the cases aren't investigated by Family Services, they aren't included in the local report to the state.

Lesney also said that death by child abuse is a growing problem locally.

Of nine infant fatalities investigated by police in 2004, three were death by child abuse. Last year, police investigated nine infant fatalities as well. Seven were death by child abuse, Lesney said. And although this year has barely begun, police are investigating two infant deaths, one of which might develop into a homicide case.

"Our goal is to provide for the safety and welfare of those who can't protect themselves," Lesney said. "I don't think that as a state or nation we've been doing that very well."

Dr. Neha Mehta, a pediatric physician who is co-chairwoman of the Clark County Child Fatality Review Team, refused to speak to the media Thursday, but she submitted a list of recommended actions to lawmakers.

Mehta said the review team, created by state statute and made up of volunteers from multiple agencies, would function better if:

• the state clarifies who is required to attend the monthly review sessions and specifies what information is expected to be brought to the table;

• entities such as school districts, juvenile justice and mental health service providers gave the team more information on the child before death;

• the review team was given access to Nevada Highway Patrol incident reports.

The review team's function is to examine all local child fatalities. It's also the one place where all agencies involved in child death investigations intersect. Members include representatives from the medical community, law enforcement, county agencies and the Clark County School District.

Representatives from Washoe County Family Services and its child death review team also spoke Thursday and surprised lawmakers by outlining an entirely different model for child death investigations.

In Washoe, police and Family Services investigate child deaths side by side, a practice that eliminates a wall between agencies.

"I was very surprised by that," said Buckley, who added that she thinks legislators should look at requiring one model of investigation for child deaths across the state. "I think co-investigations could be very helpful."

Lawmakers and agency officials called for more public disclosure of the details of child death cases.

To that end, the state Department of Health and Human Services said it has joined Clark County in a court action that seeks to reconcile federal laws requiring disclosure of the details of child fatalities with state laws that make those records confidential.