Since 1978, when a suit by Maine residents resulted in a decree to improve the treatment of people who lived at the Pineland Center, the state has known it has not done enough — legally or ethically — for the mentally retarded here. Now a recent study of the decree, which was updated in 1994, concludes the state is in violation of federal court orders. The situation should be acceptable to no one.

Lawmakers were told in detail about shortcomings in services to the mentally retarded, both for those covered by the Pineland decree and the 3,500 who are not and may receive even fewer services. The work by New York lawyer Charles Sundram, who was appointed by the court to review the state’s level of compliance, should not be a surprise to the people who could have done something about it.

Among other things, Mr. Sundram’s audit found that caseloads for mental retardation caseworkers are too high. He found that some clients are not adequately protected from harm, counseling in some cases was inadequate and record keeping on the services the state does provide was poor. The audit has resulted in the state withdrawing a request to U.S. District Court to end the Pineland order.

If that’s all it does, then the report won’t mean very much. The problem of inadequate services has been around so long that some Mainers could be excused for expecting nothing more from the state. Officials from the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services say that conditions for the retarded have been getting better and will continue to. But there are few departments with such well-defined needs that go unmet year after year with such clear negative results.

Certainly, Maine isn’t the only state with inadequate services for the mentally retarded, although it may be one of the few that has been made aware of its inadequacy so often for so long. The department and the King administration should use this latest audit as a reason to spend considerably more time persuading themselves and the Legislature that they need more resources to deliver the services to which the retarded are entitled.