A report by federal monitors says foster children in Fulton and DeKalb counties are being abused and neglected at the highest rate in four years.

The report found that 25 of just over 21-hundred children were abused or neglected.

The advocacy group Children's Rights Inc. says the rate of abuse and neglect is 1.17 percent, more than three times the national standard.

A spokeswoman for the Division of Family and Children Services says fixing a child welfare system is a long-distance run and there are going to be ebbs and flows.

A federal judge ordered the review after Georgia settled a lawsuit in 2005.

Contributors: Rickey Bevington

Tags: Georgia, DeKalb County, Fulton County, Division of Family and Children Services, child welfare, foster children, Children's Rights, child abuse, child neglect