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Resources
- Sibling Issues in Foster Care and Adoption
One of the most critical contributions that child welfare professionals can provide for children who enter care is to preserve their connections with their brothers and sisters. Children who come into foster care or are adopted often are separated from existing or future siblings. This bulletin from the Child Welfare Information Gateway explores research and intervention strategies, as well as resources to assist professionals in preserving connections among siblings.
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Siblings in Out-of-Home Care: An Overview
A statement from Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support on their beliefs about good practice in working with siblings in the child welfare system. (2003).
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Is Our Family Focus Wide Enough for Siblings?
This paper, written by Kathy Barbell, provides background on why it is important to maintain sibling groups together in placement and addresses some of the key steps agencies should take to support children's connections with their siblings. It originally appeared in the Winter 1995 issue of Children's Voice magazine, and is reprinted by special permission of the Child Welfare League of America.
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Sibling Visits in Out-of-Home Care
The January 2003 issue of Practice Notes from the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare looks at visiting between siblings who are in separate placements. It includes information about assessing the intimacy of sibling relationships as well as best practices in this area.
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Sibling Placement
This practice brief from the National Resource Center for Adoption provides practice tips for working with siblings in adoption.
- Sibling Placement Policies
States have a variety of policies regarding the placement of siblings in temporary out-of-home care.The NRCFCPPP has assembled those we were able to locate here. Note that this is not a comprehensive list of all policies.
- Sibling Visiting Policies
Excerpts from and links to individual state policies on visiting between siblings in temporary out-of-home care, from the NRCFCPPP.
- How Siblings Fare in Difficult Adoptions
This article, which originally appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of Adoptalk, the newsletter of the North American Council on Adoptable Children, discusses ways to help children when a sibling with challenges joins the family.
- Keeping Siblings Together Past, Present and Future
This article from Youth Law News focuses the importance of the bond between siblings and shares research findings on the positive outcomes of the joint placement of siblings in foster care. Obstacles to joint placement are explored, and the lack of federal legislation promoting sibling joint placement is discussed. State legislation on joint placement and sibling visitation is then described, particularly California's policymaking in the area of sibling rights. Finally, court litigation and decisions on sibling rights is examined.
- Are Brothers and Sisters a Good Source of Support?
This brief from Data Trends summarizes research that indicates that children who experience stressful life events are less likely to experience an increase in internalizing symptoms if they have an affectionate relationship with an older sibling. This protective effect was not dependent on the quality of the relationship between the mother and child, so it is possible that older siblings may be an important source of the support and comfort usually assumed to be the responsibility of a parent.
Resources from the States
As of 7/25/02, the Maine Department of Human Services has an official policy guiding sibling work, based on this position paper drafted by Maine's Youth Leadership Advisory Team.
Minnesota PIP TIPS
The state provides these resources to counties for assistance in their individual Program Improvement Plans. They include tips on:
- Visits with Siblings in Foster Care
- Placement with Siblings
New York:
Keeping Siblings Connected
This white paper on siblings in foster care and adoptive placements is introduced in an Informational Letter (07-OCFS-INF-04). It provides social services districts and voluntary authorized agencies with a framework for practice to strengthen sibling bonds for children.
Wisconsin: Sibling Placements: Questions and Answers
Legislation passed in 2006 require agencies to make specific efforts regarding placements of siblings in out-of-home care and in adoption. This memorandum provides information about the requirements in a question-and-answer format.
Curriculum
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NRCFCPPP Sibling Practice Curriculum
The overall training objectives of this curriculum are: to enhance
understanding of issues concerning siblings in out-of-home care; to expand
knowledge and skills in making appropriate placement decisions for sibling
groups.; to enhance knowledge and skills in the recruitment and retention of
resource families willing and able to parent sibling groups; to enhance
ability to present appropriate information to the court to support sibling
groups; and to increase knowledge of policy and legislation affecting
sibling placements in participants' jurisdictions.
Teleconference
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Siblings: Critical Life-Long Connections
Listen to the audio files and download handouts from a May 10, 2006 teleconference on siblings in out-of-home care, hosted jointly by the NRCFCPPP and the Child Welfare League of America for state foster care and adoption managers.
NRCFCPPP Information Packets
Bibliographies
PowerPoint Presentations
- Siblings in Out-of-Home Care
A brief overview of policy, legislation, litigation, and advocacy from 2002 through 2005. (January 2006)
- Sibling Connection
Lynn Price of Camp To Belong and Karyn Schimmels of the Oregon Department of Human Services developed this presentation and use it at a variety of trainings and conferences to educate on the meaning and importance of sibling bonds. If you are interested in using this PowerPoint, please contact Lynn for more information and presentation tips.
Websites
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California Child Welfare Services (CWS/CMS) Reports
From the University of California at Berkeley Center for Social Services Research, detailed statistics on sibling placements in California.
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New York State's Separated Siblings
Information about siblings in placement in New York State, as well as articles of interest and links to other sites.
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Camp To Belong
Camp To Belong has been reuniting brothers and sisters placed in separate foster, adoptive or kinship homes through camp programs and reunions since 1995. Their primary goal is to provide a sense of belonging to youth as individuals, and as siblings, giving them opportunities to share childhood memories together and among other youth in the same situations.
Last updated 04/16/08
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