Child welfare reform entered the Assembly on Monday riding high on the shoulders of Gov. Jim Gibbons and state lawmakers of both parties.

"If any issue should be nonpartisan, it's the welfare of children," Gibbons said during testimony before the Committee on Health and Human Services in Carson City.

"Certainly one of the most essential services of government is to safeguard children who cannot adequately protect themselves from harm," the governor said.

Gibbons made a rare appearance before the committee to support two pieces of proposed legislation. Assembly Bill 147 would prohibit the placement of children younger than 7 in congregate care settings such as Child Haven, Clark County's emergency shelter for neglected and abused minors.

The other measure, Assembly Bill 188, requires state licensing for emergency shelters such as Child Haven. State licensing is now optional, and Child Haven is not currently licensed.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, who leads the committee, noted how rare it is for any governor to offer testimony and lauded the appearance as a sign that child welfare reform has support on all levels this session.

"It's not just about the money," Leslie said, after thanking Gibbons for his earlier commitment to fund increased training for child welfare workers.

"I think if we're going to get there, it has to be about political will," Leslie said. "You coming here today shows that at the top level of the executive branch, that political will is there."

The push for child welfare change has been fueled by tragedies in Clark County that shocked lawmakers and the public in 2005 and 2006.

Last year, a state-appointed panel began delving into Clark County Family Services' performance and record-keeping after an outside review found that suspicious child deaths were being underreported and improperly investigated. Children in county custody died, went missing or were seriously injured while Child Haven was severely over its capacity and foster families were in short supply.

Problems with the Clark County child abuse reporting hot line were so serious that callers had difficulty getting through to make reports, Caseworkers on the front line of child protection were found to be inadequately trained, overburdened and poorly supervised.

Assemblywoman Susan Gerhardt, D-Henderson, reminded committee members of the bleak history that led to the creation of the two bills and others that have yet to go before lawmakers.

The proposals include the creation of an independent auditor within the Legislative Counsel Bureau to review open cases randomly throughout the state and an increase of public disclosure in cases of child deaths related to abuse and neglect.

Gerhardt, a member of the state-appointed panel, said the group's work made clear that Nevada's child welfare problems are "widespread and systemic."

Progress has been made, Gerhardt said, but not enough. Gerhardt told the committee of the recent decision by the Clark County district attorney's office to withhold information about 55 Family Services cases in which children might have been endangered by the actions or inactions of case workers. The cases were detailed in eight pages of a report submitted by child welfare consultant Ed Cotton.

"Once again, it appeared to the public that the county was hiding something," Gerhardt said to committee members.

Clark County Family Services Director Tom Morton, who was hired last year to overhaul the department, supported both pieces of legislation. Morton recommended phasing in some of the changes, such as the restriction on placing children younger than 7 in congregate care.

The framework for making that happen, such as the recruitment and training of new foster families, needs to be established, Morton said.

Carole Shauffer, executive director of the Youth Law Center, a San Francisco-based group, agreed with the suggestion to phase in that change. She recommended that lawmakers focus more on eliminating the placement of children in situations in which they will have serial caregivers.

A child needs one primary caregiver, Shauffer said, citing multiple studies that track the physical and psychological damage that children experience if they do not have that.

Morton agreed.

"Many people don't adequately recognize the nature and extent of the trauma that occurs to children when they're removed from their homes," Morton said.

The bills were opposed by one public speaker. Glenn Campbell, who runs a Web site that spotlights Clark County Family Court, said they would weaken local control of services and take away decision-making authority from workers closest to the problems.