ALBANY — State child welfare bureaucrats have missed opportunities to repair holes in New York’s safety net for vulnerable children by not framing a statewide plan to deal with flawed responses by counties to abuse reports, according to a critical new audit.

A team of auditors deployed by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found that while administrators at the Office of Children and Family Services formed a review team to identify problems in the delivery of child protective services that could be addressed at a statewide level, the panel hasn’t met since April 2021. The review team also failed to issue an annual report of its work, the audit said.

The state agency had implemented what it called a “program quality improvement” review process in early 2020, with a goal of reviewing 2,400 cases over a three-year cycle and improving the work of local social services departments, the audit said.

DiNapoli said the Office of Children and Family Services, a bureaucracy under the control of Gov. Kathy Hochul, should be doing more to ensure county child welfare agencies improve their response to child abuse complaints.

“The findings in this audit should be a sobering call to action to ensure New York’s vulnerable children are protected,” said the comptroller.

Some problems with local department of social services offices’ child abuse investigations have become “prevalent,” such as those involving the adequacy of how they reviewed prior child abuse reports and reaching out to all necessary case contacts, the comptroller’s report said.

While the state agency has identified the problems on a case-by-case basis, it has yet to seek to rectify them at the statewide level, the audit found.

“Although the identification of deficiencies after the fact may provide useful information and areas for improvement, ultimately the worst outcome has already occurred,” DiNapoli’s office said in a statement. “It is critical that any deficiencies are addressed proactively to help guard against child fatalities.”

DiNapoli’s team recommended the agency work with local social service departments to improve the documentation offered in their investigative reports to ensure case notes are detailed and entered in a timely manner.

Responding to the audit, Suzanne Miles-Gustave, acting commissioner of OCFS, noted representatives of her agency head a statewide child fatality review team that develops strategies aimed at preventing child fatalities

The state agency is required by law to conduct reviews of each child fatality investigation following allegations of abuse or maltreatment and to then issue a summary report.

Miles-Gustave also expressed her appreciation that the audit determined the state agency had conducted “successful oversight and monitoring activities” over deficiencies with local child protective investigations.

At the time of the audit, OCFS was headed by Sheila Poole. The former commissioner took a top job this month with the American Public Human Services Association.

Miles-Gustave, who is also a member of the New York Cannabis Advisory Board, was appointed by Hochul this month as the agency’s acting commissioner.