The combined rates of abuse and neglect of foster children continue to rise in Fulton and DeKalb counties, according to a report released Wednesday.

The report, performed by two court-appointed monitors of the 2,500 foster children in those counties, also criticized the system for failing to provide the children with adequate health care services and allowing too many to languish in the custody of the state Division of Family and Children Services.

A federal judge appointed the two child welfare experts to monitor these systems after a 2005 settlement in a lawsuit brought by Children's Rights Inc., which asserted that child welfare offices in Fulton and DeKalb, run by the state, failed to protect the safety and well-being of the children in their care.

The report did not examine the county offices' rates separately.

Ira Lustbader, associate director of Children's Rights, said the Fulton and DeKalb child welfare offices are "still failing miserably at protecting children in foster care from abuse, getting them the treatment and care they need, and moving them quickly into safe, healthy, permanent homes."

DFCS spokeswoman Dena Smith said the agency has improved in 17 of the 28 categories measured in the report, and that the report does not provide a full picture of the agency's improvements.

"We are keeping children safer," Smith said. "We are doing better at moving kids toward permanent homes."

The report by monitors James Dimas and Sarah Morrison, which covers the counties' performance during the second half of 2007, also found progress in several areas.

The counties are making strides reducing case loads for foster care workers, which had been a major problem in prior years as overburdened caseworkers struggled to handle too many cases, sometimes leaving children in dangerous homes.

The counties are also doing a better job of keeping children from re-entering foster care once they are reunited with their parents, a sign that the agency is helping to heal the problems in these households, the report says.

But the most worrisome part of the report was the rise in the rate of abuse and neglect of children in state custody, Lustbader said. The rate grew from 0.54 percent in 2005 to 1.01 percent, more than three times the national threshold, he said.

Lustbader said his group wants to begin talks with DFCS on resolving these problems, and may ask the court to intervene to mandate changes.