BATON ROUGE (AP) — The allegations could make the stomach churn: Children battered and bruised by staff. A preteen sexually assaulted in a bathroom. Dead rats decaying in a food pantry. Mildew, mold and crawling insects in children’s bedrooms and bathrooms.

Advocates have said those are the conditions Louisiana’s abused and neglected children have faced in some private group homes licensed by the state. They say there are widespread failures of many homes to ensure basic health and safety of the children.

To answer the claims, the state Department of Social Services is revamping its oversight of the facilities, and a quietly passed bill on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s desk is part of the effort to strengthen regulations.

The measure would give DSS authority to yank a home’s license when regulators find it doesn’t properly care for its residents. Currently, the department needs approval from an outside advisory panel to revoke a license, even though DSS monitors and licenses the homes.

‘‘We felt it was important to have the authority to do what we already have the responsibility to carry out,’’ said Social Services Secretary Kristy Nichols.

Jindal is expected to sign the bill.

The legislation goes hand-in-hand with a comprehensive review of the facilities and a rewrite of the regulations that govern them. A draft of the new regulations was unveiled last week, and after a period of public comment, Nichols plans to have them in place by the end of the year, including an outline of the rights of child residents.

‘‘We have to have regulations that are clear, that make sense and that are enforceable,’’ she said. ‘‘The regulations really were a mess.’’

Fifty-two group homes are licensed by DSS. They house abused and neglected children taken from parents as well as youth offenders ordered into facilities for rehabilitation.

A report released last year said children in group homes often aren’t properly protected and are placed in facilities that in many cases have been repeatedly cited for safety and health violations.

The review by the Advocacy Center, a nonprofit organization that visited group homes over five years, said children too often weren’t given the mental health treatment, medical care and protection they should receive.

In some instances, the report cited violent treatment and verbal abuse by staff, unsanitary conditions and too little monitoring, which allowed for possible sexual abuse and conflicts between residents.

‘‘Many of these residential facilities fail to meet their residents’ most basic needs,’’ the report said. ‘‘They deny children appropriate medical and dental care. They fail to select, train and supervise staff appropriately. Their physical facilities are poorly maintained, in disrepair and dirty.’’

About 1,000 children live in the privately owned facilities, which are paid more than $30 million annually by the state, with rates ranging from $110 to $274 per child per day, depending on type of care, according to DSS.

The Advocacy Center report followed a legislative audit that said DSS licensed child care facilities without making sure they meet minimum standards and that the department provided its licensing staff with little formal criteria for visiting the facilities, managing complaints and enforcing standards. Nearly 90 percent of the homes auditors sampled had deficiencies when DSS renewed their licenses, the audit said.

Nichols ordered inspections of all the homes in October, shortly after she was appointed secretary, and increased licensing staff and inspectors to review the facilities. She formed a task force with group home owners, advocates and others to work on the regulation revamp.

Nell Hahn, litigation director for the Advocacy Center, said steps taken by DSS are encouraging, and she said the licensing bureau at DSS has been more active in recommending revocations and moratoriums on new admissions at troubled group homes.

But she said the problems and safety concerns are far from fixed.

‘‘We’re not there yet,’’ Hahn said. ‘‘It’s a long way from good.’’

Shutting down the outside advisory committee — which has veto power over regulation changes and license revocations — as would be done under the bill by Sen. Willie Mount, D-Lake Charles, was an Advocacy Center recommendation, Hahn said.

She noted group homes DSS wanted to shut down this year were allowed to remain open by the committee, which is called the Louisiana Advisory Committee on Licensing of Child Care Facilities and Child Placing Agencies.

According to DSS, since January the department has recommended license revocation for five group homes. Only one was revoked. One facility’s license expired, the owner of another group home voluntarily shut its doors and the final two were allowed to remain open by the advisory committee, which ordered corrective action plans.

The 20-member committee, with all but one member appointed by the governor, also oversees some state-licensed day care facilities. It includes providers, educators, people whose children are in the day care or residential facilities and others.

‘‘The committee stood between the industry and the state, and it gave people a feeling that they would receive fair treatment because there was an intermediary there to listen to their case,’’ said Tommy French, a Baton Rouge pastor and board member of a nonprofit day care center who chairs the advisory committee and has served on it for a decade.

French said the committee didn’t take a position on the bill to do away with the panel. He wouldn’t comment on the legislation.

The bill sailed through the Legislature, with unanimous passage from the House and Senate and no opposition from providers during testimony.

On the Net:

Legislature: Senate Bill 238 can be found at www.legis.state.la.us

Department of Social Services: http://www.dss.la.gov/

The Advocacy Center: http://www.advocacyla.org/