The procedures the state has used for years to notify thousands of Hawaii families suspected of child abuse or neglect in less serious cases do not meet U.S. regulations and must be changed, according to the preliminary findings of a federal investigation.

Based on a complaint, a bureau of the federal Administration for Children and Families recently examined the letters the state Department of Human Services was sending to notify families that someone within their home had been accused of abuse or neglect, typically in a call to a DHS hotline.

The department has been sending versions of the letter, which was the subject of a Sept. 25 front-page Honolulu Star-Advertiser story, since the mid-2000s, but only in cases in which the department believed the risk to the child was low to moderate and did not raise immediate safety concerns. More than 1,500 such letters have gone out this year.

Rather than launching full-blown abuse investigations in those cases — a process considered more adversarial — the department referred the families to nonprofit organizations for voluntary counseling and family- strengthening services.

The letters came under fire recently because they did not include any details of the alleged abuse — an omission that critics said violated child welfare laws. Federal regulations require child welfare agencies to disclose details of alleged abuse upon first contact with the accused, whether that contact is in person, by letter or via phone call.

Although DHS excluded any details of the allegations in the letters, the department informed the recipients that the abuse reports had been reviewed and a determination was made that the situation in the affected homes “may present a risk of harm” to the child. Yet it did not attempt to verify the veracity of the allegations before sending the letters.

Mona Mann, a specialist with the federal agency, on Friday informed an advocate who had filed a complaint about the Hawaii letters that DHS was not in compliance with federal law and must revise its policies and procedures.

“We understand that the state is immediately changing its practice of how it notifies families subject to the in-home services program to address the concerns you raised,” Mann wrote in an email to Marilyn Yamamoto, who advocates for families dealing with child welfare agencies and filed the federal complaint in April.

Yamamoto shared Mann’s email with the Star-Advertiser.

Officials with the federal agency did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Keopu Reelitz, a DHS spokeswoman, told the newspaper in an email that her department has suspended use of the letters.

She said families assessed as good candidates for the voluntary services program are now contacted face to face or by telephone and are informed of the concerns or allegations that trigger the contact.

Reelitz also said DHS has been working since last month with the federal government to assess the letters and related policies and is drafting a new protocol to address issues identified by federal officials.

The department is “committed to serving the families of Hawaii while achieving our principal goal of ensuring children’s safety, well being and permanency,” she wrote.

Yamamoto said she was pleased with the federal action but wouldn’t be satisfied until she saw proof that the changes were permanent and in line with federal law.

She advised any parents who are contacted by DHS’ child welfare branch to speak to an advocate or attorney to learn their rights before talking to anyone at the state agency.

Yamamoto said she is familiar with cases in which parents spoke to child welfare workers and said something that was taken out of context, triggering full-blown investigations that weren’t warranted. “Words get twisted like crazy,” she said.

Pua Kealoha, a Hawaii island resident who received one of the voluntary referral letters this year but successfully challenged the allegations, likewise said she was happy that the federal government took action.

But she questioned why the feds didn’t hold DHS accountable sooner, given the thousands of letters that have gone out over the past decade, and acted only after someone on the outside complained. “Why do we have to go to these kind of lengths to get them to do the right thing?” Kealoha said.

Bill Grimm, a senior attorney with the National Center for Youth Law in California, said if Hawaii doesn’t make changes to comply with the child welfare laws, the federal government could withhold funding. But he said he isn’t aware of any case in which the government actually took such action based on a violation of the laws regarding notification of abuse allegations.

Also, federal courts for the most part have ruled that child welfare laws are not privately enforceable, meaning an individual cannot sue the government for a violation of those laws, Grimm added.