A lack of state funding may undercut a panel's recommendations for improving how Nevada investigates and reports child fatalities.

On Monday and Tuesday, the state-appointed panels finalized their reports to lawmakers on child welfare entities in Clark County, Washoe County and the rural areas. Three common threads run through the reports: caseloads need to be smaller, oversight needs to be increased, and child welfare workers need better training.

But the training component may be in jeopardy if Gov. Jim Gibbons' proposed budget remains as is. Barbara Legier, an administrator for the Division of Child and Family Services, said Tuesday that a $798,000 request to fund child welfare worker training was not included in the Gibbons budget.

"We were presented with our budget last week," Legier said. "There are no training dollars in our budget."

Contacted Tuesday evening, Melissa Subbotin, Gibbons' press secretary, did not have information immediately available on the issue.

Legier said the money was intended to fund specialized child welfare training across the state, including a new worker academy for novices to the field of child welfare.

Southern Nevada Blue Ribbon Panel members who met in Las Vegas on Tuesday were concerned with how that will impact efforts to improve child welfare.

A serious lack of training for case workers has been noted again and again by Clark County Family Services Director Tom Morton, child welfare consultants who've reviewed Clark County case files and the panel itself.

"With no training dollars going forward, how will the state and also the county go about getting the job done?" asked panel member Joanne Thompson.

Lawmakers will soon be receiving the panel's 12-page report on Clark County that includes a recommendation that: "The state must ensure that all child welfare workers successfully complete core child welfare training, i.e. new worker orientation, followed by ongoing advanced practice skills development, such as the establishment of a statewide certificate of completion in Child Welfare Core Training."

The panel was formed in 2006, after the state identified a serious problem in the underreporting of child fatalities in Clark County.

Later reviews found that between 2001 and 2004, 79 suspicious child deaths in the County that may have involved abuse or neglect were not properly investigated. Later, panel efforts were expanded to review how child fatalities are handled in Washoe County and the rural areas.

Other recommendations include:

•Streamlining and expediting the foster parent recruitment process.

•Recruitment of staff with degrees in social work.

•Improving child welfare collaborations with other agencies, such as law enforcement.

•Earmarking funding for additional child welfare staff so that caseloads can be reduced.

Gibbons does address that in his budget. His proposal designates money for additional child welfare staffing and also increases the daily stipends for foster parents.

Panel members stressed that increased oversight is vital. In the conclusion of the report, the panel recommends that lawmakers establish a group to ensure that corrective action plans across the state are being followed.