Pennsylvania comes off poorly in a report by two respected child advocacy groups that accuse the Keystone State and others of failing to release sufficient information regarding life-threatening child abuse cases, mostly because of secretive policies that put confidentiality above child welfare.

The report by First Star and the University of San Diego School of Law's Children's Advocacy Institute gives Pennsylvania and nine other states a grade of "F" while noting that few states are meeting the intent of federal law that mandates disclosure of the deaths and near deaths of abused or neglected children.

Emily Reinig, chief author of the report, says until state laws "require the regular release of accurate and unfiltered information, an informed public discussion cannot occur. Public access to the facts will protect children and save lives."

Yet state officials defend recent actions to bring the state more current regarding the release of such information.

Cathy Utz, of the state Department of Public Welfare's Office of Children, Youth and Families, says 2007 quarterly reports on child abuse are now available on the department's Web site.

Utz says the volume of information now available to the public shows a major shift in "our position over the years and especially within the current administration, to have more transparency."

But a lingering problem, according to a cofounder of the state advocacy group Protect Our Children Committee, is that standards

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vary from county to county over whether a child's death was related to abuse.

Clearly, the move by state officials to be more transparent cannot help but give those charged with child protection more tools to prevent abuse and remove children from peril sooner.

Now it's time for the Legislature and the administration to tighten the standards on the gathering and reporting of child abuse information to make sure county by county the safeguards are in place.