The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS - A state agency's announcement that it underreported the number of child abuse and neglect deaths in Indiana came after Indianapolis Star reporters discovered the errors, the newspaper said Sunday.

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said in a news release Saturday that it failed to include 48 deaths in the agency's past four years of reports on child abuse and neglect. More than one-fifth of the 231 deaths now known to have occurred were not reported initially in the annual tallies.

The news release did not say how the errors were discovered, but an agency spokeswoman attributed them to computer problems and discrepancies in local authorities' reporting of cases to the state.

The Star said it turned up errors after examining government documents obtained through an agreement with the state under which victims' names and other data were marked out to protect confidentiality.

The inquiry led the state agency to review its records, leading officials to confirm the discrepancies, the Star said.

The state's announcement of the errors came one day after the Star notified the agency of its intention to publish its findings, the newspaper said.

State officials could not be reached for comment on how the errors were discovered. There was no answer at state offices Sunday, and The Associated Press left phone messages at the home of an agency spokeswoman.

John Boyce, director of the agency's Division of Family and Children, acknowledged the seriousness of the state's flawed numbers, which legislators and other authorities use in developing laws and policies.

"We're a public agency, and it's good for people to understand the work that we do and be able to believe that we do a good job at it," he told the Star.

The state plans to appoint a task force this week to suggest changes in the reporting system within 45 days.