Remember the dispute in Jackson over the Department of Human Services? Well, it is still going on. With lawmakers preparing to return to regular session in January, they must wonder at the depth and breadth of problems they face.

DHS is one of those problems. The department continues to operate under court order, as legislators ended their 2004 session without reauthorizing the department. Gov. Haley Barbour wanted to hold the reins of hiring and firing in the department. The stalemate that ensued was an embarrassment to the state; Attorney General Jim Hood stepped into the fray to ask for the court order so the agency could operate.

Are there problems at DHS? Certainly there are, not the least of which is the woeful shortage of social workers to assist in child welfare cases. Are there money problems? Certainly there are, and the Legislature has not harvested any new funds.

Of course DHS is only one of the many state agencies or institutions not receiving funds it requires to work at full speed. Still, the work carried out by DHS has a great impact on the state. The department serves nearly 650,000 in the state, most of them with special needs, many of them poor.

At a recent seminar held in Natchez with economic development consultants from Mississippi State University, one of the consultants said he would like to see how Natchez treats its poor people. That, he said, is the mark of a community’s character.

The same can be said for a state. Too often, Mississippi is the subject of jokes that hold up the state as an example not to follow. The truth is, the state does many things very well.

With leadership and a spirit of cooperation, disagreements about how the DHS should be run can be worked out. Workers in the agency have to be dismayed at the controversy. We hope efforts to get DHS on a steady course will take place early in January, when all branches of government can sit down together and do the right thing.