There's no question the state is making progress in improving conditions at the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility in Kailua.

The sad thing is that the improvements, which even the state admits fall short of where they wish to be, come under pressure from the federal government.

It is yet another example of how Hawai'i fails to meet its obligations to the least among us unless and until another authority (Uncle Sam) forces us into action.

And that outside pressure usually ends up costing taxpayers more than it would have had we done the right thing in the first place.

It's time to recognize that there is no long-term gain to be had by short-shrifting services to our prisons, our welfare system, our special-needs students and others.

The latest case involves a compliance agreement between the state and the U.S. Justice Department reached in February. The agreement spotlighted 53 specific areas where substantial improvement in the services offered to incarcerated youth was needed. These range from suicide prevention to adequate health, counseling and education services.

The most recent review by a consultant hired by the Justice Department found at least partial compliance in 41 of the 53 areas.

That's progress, but a great deal of work remains. It must be remembered that the baseline here is an August 2005 report from the Justice Department that the Youth Facility was in a "state of chaos."

Improvement, on that basis, is a relative term.

At the end of the day, what we have is a situation where decisions about how money shall be spent and what will take place at the facility are being made by outside forces. That's the wrong approach, but we brought this upon ourselves.

Going forward, it is imperative that we do the right thing from the start, so that we retain control over key decisions that affect our residents. It is time for us to stop acting like inept managers of our own problems, incapable or unwilling to do what is right.