It’s an unfortunate situation. Too much need, not enough help. The saddest thing of all is that tiny ones are the victims.

Mississippi’s Department of Human Services is broken and almost everyone agrees that it needs to be fixed — quickly.

We wish the DHS wasn’t needed.

We wish all Mississippi parents took good care of their children.

We wish all young Mississippians were surrounded with love and nurtured with a supportive family.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Among your fellow Mississippians — your neighbors — are some nasty human beings. Child abusers come in all forms and shapes. From mental to physical abuse, the impact on the small minds and bodies is very real and very sad.

Often we like to think that the state’s system is taking care of the problem. But when insiders at the DHS openly admit that the system is broken, taxpayers need to listen.

From caseworkers that are expected to manage an astonishing 100 cases to loose rules that allow more than 10 children to be placed with a foster family, the problems inherent in the system are evident.

How to fix the problems isn’t easy, either.

On one hand, more money will help.

But funding is tight all around in the state’s budget. Sadly, everyone has a sad story, including the abused children of our area.

Today’s abused child might wind up being tomorrow’s adult social problem.

Society needs to decide if it’s worth paying to fix the problem now or if it wants to wait until later.