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Sibling Issues in Foster Care and Adoption
Bulletin for Professionals

Author(s):  Child Welfare Information Gateway

Year Published:  2006

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You are in section: Table of Contents 1 - Defining a Sibling Relationship 2 - The Importance of Siblings 3 - Sibling Relationships in Abusive or Neglectful… 4 - Benefits of Placing Siblings Together 5 - Barriers to Placing Siblings Together 6 - Policies and Practices for Keeping Siblings… 7 - When Siblings Cannot Live Together 8 - Maintaining Ties Between Separated Siblings 9 - Sibling Issues Within the Foster or Adoptive… 10 - Resources for Promoting Intact Placement of… References

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3. Sibling Relationships in Abusive or Neglectful Families

In many families involved with the child welfare system, sibling relationships take on more importance because they can provide support and nurture not consistently provided by parents. For children entering care, siblings can serve as a buffer against the worst effects of harsh circumstances. While sibling relationships in particular families experiencing adverse situations do not always compensate for other deficits, research has validated that for many children, sibling relationships do promote resilience—for example, a young child's secure attachment to an older sibling can diminish the impact of adverse circumstances such as parental mental illness or loss (Werner, 1990; Sanders, 2004). Therefore, protecting these ties that offer support to children removed from their original families is especially important.

A study of children's perspectives on their important relationships among 90 children ages 8 to 12 who were or were not in foster care concluded that the foster children's smaller networks of relationships with important persons made siblings proportionally more important (Kosonen, 1999). Foster children experienced more losses of significant others, meaning sibling relationships were often one of their only sources for a continuing significant relationship. Nearly one-third of the related siblings named by foster children in this study were not known to their social workers—most were half- or step-siblings. Kosonen's study also underscores the importance of obtaining children's perspectives on their family relationships. When siblings could not all be placed together, workers often decided to keep those closest in age together, resulting in placements that did not necessarily fit the preferences of the children.

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You are in section: Table of Contents 1 - Defining a Sibling Relationship 2 - The Importance of Siblings 3 - Sibling Relationships in Abusive or Neglectful… 4 - Benefits of Placing Siblings Together 5 - Barriers to Placing Siblings Together 6 - Policies and Practices for Keeping Siblings… 7 - When Siblings Cannot Live Together 8 - Maintaining Ties Between Separated Siblings 9 - Sibling Issues Within the Foster or Adoptive… 10 - Resources for Promoting Intact Placement of… References

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Updated on September 18, 2008