"Tell me what's happening to those kids in those cases where there is an indication of abuse and no petition being filed," said Paul J. Noto, who with Lois T. Bronz is co-chairman of the county legislative Task Force on Families at Risk. Mr. Noto suggested that such cases are often settled before legal action, with little oversight or review. "Presumably an admitted abuser is agreeing to seek some form of counseling, with little follow-up, and the child is remaining in that home where he or she is vulnerable to continued abuse," Mr. Noto said. "We know there are children out there who are not being protected."

Mary Glass, Commissioner of the Department of Social Services strenuously disagrees with that interpretation of the statistics. "The numbers have gone up and down from year to year over the last four years, and that is part of life," Mrs. Glass said. "In terms of what goes on in the county, I believe we have sufficient coordination between our department, the county attorney, the district attorney, the courts and the agencies with whom we contract to provide a quality program in general with Child Protective Services, and certainly with sexual-abuse cases."

But two separate task forces examining how child sexual-abuse cases are handled in the county each have cited a lack of coordination in the system as a critical problem. In 1992, the Westchester Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect reported: "Dual investigations occur within the District Attorney's Office and Family Court Bureau without the necessary access to information. Cases may be occurring in different jurisdictions without shared information. Probation may be working with a respondent and not know of additional child-abuse charges being brought before Family Court. Cases fall through the cracks with resulting lack of treatment for the child and no follow-through with the perpetrator."

Next week, a new report will be released by the Task Force on Families at Risk, which says that few improvements have been made since the initial study. It is expected to include recommendations on how to strengthen coordination and oversight in the system.

At a recent meeting of the League of Women Voters of Westchester here, representatives from various organizations that handle young victims of sexual abuse discussed their experiences in the county. The range of institutions represented -- Criminal Court, Family Court, the District Attorney's office, the County Attorney's office, Child Protective Services and a child sexual-abuse treatment center -- illustrated the multiple agencies and courts that might be involved in investigating and prosecuting a single child-sexual-abuse case.