Siblings in Out-of-Home Care Presented at the Camp To Belong Affiliates Meeting January 10, 2006 Denver, Colorado

Siblings in Out of Home Care Where are we now?

Siblings in Out of Home Care 2002

Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support (CNC): 2002 National Leadership Symposium May experts: families, practice, policy, legal, advocacy, academic

National Leadership Symposium Reviewed what was known Discussed change agenda Made personal and organizational commitments

National Leadership Symposium Proceedings published

Legislation as of 2002: At least 26 states addressed sibling placement in law Right to or provision for maintaining contact: Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Washington Sibling relationship considered in determining "best interest" Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Washington Requires the child welfare agency prepare a description of efforts made to keep siblings together and/or provide reasons siblings are not placed together: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Washington

Legislation (cont’d) Provisions for post-permanency visits with siblings: Arizona (guardianship), California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts Requires the child welfare agency and/or court to consider siblings in placement and/or permanency planning: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois (adoption), Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Texas (adoption cases) Provides for an exemption from limits on the size of a foster home if placement of a sibling group: Colorado, Indiana, Maine Placement and/or visits to be considered at periodic reviews Delaware Statement of legislative intent to support sibling relationships California, Colorado, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington

Siblings in Out of Home Care 2003

Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support (CNC): 2003 Web page devoted to sibling issues List serve: Information & referral requests from families and professionals across the country Workshop in Virginia

Legislation: 2003 California Authorizes a child who was adopted as part of a sibling group and who has been separated from his or her siblings through re-adoption to petition the court to enforce any agreement for visitation or to order visitation in the absence of such an agreement. Colorado: Creates a presumption that joint placement of siblings is in their best interest (presumption may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence that such placement is not in the siblings’ best interest.)

Legislation: 2003 Washington: Expresses and clarifies legislative intent regarding the importance of sibling relationships. Defines “sibling.” Creates a presumption in favor of sibling placement, contact or visits. Requires that reasonable efforts to ensure sibling visitation and contact be made in termination of parental rights proceedings. Requires that orders terminating the parent-child relationship include a statement addressing the status of the child’s sibling relationships and the nature and extent of sibling placement, contact or visits.

Siblings in Out of Home Care 2004

National Resource Center for Foster Care and Permanency Planning: 2004 Posted CNC resources on website Took over sibling listserv Respond to I & R’s Published Sibling Practice Curriculum Technical Assistance in Oklahoma Workshop in Mississippi

Legislation: 2004 Illinois Sibling Rights Resolution created Sibling Post-Adoption Continuing Contact Governor's Joint Task Force Drafted by youth 8&GAID=3&DocTypeID=SJR&LegID=12518&SessionID=3 8&GAID=3&DocTypeID=SJR&LegID=12518&SessionID=3

Siblings in Out of Home Care 2005

National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning: 2005 Revamped and updated website New NRCFCPPP Information Packet Updated annotated bibliography Continue sibling listserv Respond to I & R’s

Legislation: 2005 Nevada Established presumption that placement with siblings is in child’s best interest

Siblings in Out of Home Care 2006

National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning: 2006 Publish state foster care policies on sibling placement and sibling visitation With AdoptUsKids, co-sponsor Breakthrough Series on Permanence for Young People in Region VIII states Provide faculty for Massachusetts BSC on Permanence for Adolescents

Where are we now? Statistics Research Legislation Litigation Policy

Statistics on Siblings in Out of Home Care California New York City New York State Oklahoma Illinois Michigan

California Statistics Child Welfare Research Center As of July 30, ,534 children with siblings in care 44.4% placed with ALL siblings 67.2% placed with SOME or ALL siblings 32.8% separated from all siblings

New York City Statistics

New York State Statistics New York State Citizen’s Coalition for Children For calendar year children in state adoption album photolisted separately from siblings Represent 38% of children listed

Oklahoma Statistics

Illinois Statistics Children and Family Research Center Fiscal year 2004 Sibling groups of 2-3 placed together In foster care: 55% In kinship care: 65% Siblings groups of 4+ placed together In foster care: 15% In kinship care: 29%

Michigan Statistics Fiscal year ,833 children with siblings were adopted 20.3% adopted with NO siblings 36.5% adopted with SOME siblings 43.2% adopted with ALL siblings

Research Special Issue of Children and Youth Services Review Overview of research Importance of sibling bonds Placement outcomes Using data to identify siblings Mental health and socialization Reunification Longitudinal data

Litigation Nevada Supreme Court 2005: the state must provide a teenager in foster care with information about the adoptive placements of her biological siblings so she can serve the adoptive parents with petitions for sibling visitation.

Policy At least 28 states address placement of siblings in foster care policy. 13 list acceptable reasons for separating siblings 2 states identify reasons that are not acceptable

Policy At least 32 states address visiting between siblings in foster care policy. 6 require monthly visits Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas 5 require biweekly visits Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky 2 require weekly visits Missouri, Utah

National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning How you can help us: Join sibling listserv Subscribe to Weekly Update Send us information and links

Susan Dougherty National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work A Service of the Children’s Bureau/ACF-DHHS 129 East 79th Street New York, New York (610) Website –