{"id":38794,"date":"2026-09-08T07:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T07:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/?p=38794"},"modified":"2026-09-08T17:02:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T17:02:35","slug":"placing-siblings-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/es\/placing-siblings-together\/","title":{"rendered":"How can child protection agencies promote and support joint sibling placements and adoptions?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-section light fresh-text single wp-block-fresh-text backgrounds-and-margins-aware-block margin-top margin-bottom\">\n <div class=\"container mx-auto px-5\">\n\n \n \n <!-- The CTA is moved up next to the title when in the Head Section style -->\n \n  <div class=\"callout\"><p>When Mars Presswood was 15 years old, he and his younger sibling were placed together in foster care. Despite being moved from an urban setting to a small rural town and enduring many other changes and uncertainties over the next three years, one thing remained consistent: the siblings had each other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing placed together gave us the opportunity to have one person who knew every aspect of our story,\u201d Presswood said. \u201cWe were able to understand the situation better because we were going through it together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Placing siblings together provides children with a sense of stability and comfort at a time when they are separated from family, community, and other familiar aspects of life. Looking back at his own situation, Presswood is certain that living with his sibling helped him better manage the many transitions he faced. Being a good older sibling also meant standing up to injustices and racism he and his sibling experienced, which allowed him to seamlessly transition into the strong advocate he is today. Now an adult trying to make sense of his difficult childhood, Presswood reflects: \u201cGetting to experience the foster care system with my sibling is one thing that I am eternally grateful for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.childwelfare.gov\/resources\/fostering-connections-success-and-increasing-adoptions-act-2008-pl-110-351\/\">Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008<\/a>\u00a0was the first federal law to address the importance of keeping siblings together in all placement types: adoption, foster care, kinship care, and guardianship. The law\u00a0requires states to make reasonable efforts to maintain sibling connections in order to receive the funding made available through the act. In general, child protection agencies have embraced approaches that support placing siblings together, with 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam having <a href=\"https:\/\/www.childwelfare.gov\/resources\/placement-children-relatives\/\">statutes requiring agencies to make reasonable efforts<\/a> to place siblings together unless a joint placement (also commonly referred to as co-placement) would not be in the best interest of one of the children, such as when one sibling poses a risk to another. In addition, 39 states and Puerto Rico have statutes requiring agencies to make provisions for siblings who cannot be placed together, including opportunities for visits and other forms of contact or communication.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A lack of reliable national data on the number of children in foster care who are placed with their siblings makes it challenging to assess progress and examine outcomes. But data from one state, Pennsylvania, suggests room for improvement: A 2021 study revealed how often children in foster care who have at least one sibling were in a placement with all their siblings. Children were placed with all their siblings less of half (47%) of the weeks they were in foster care (61% of placement-weeks for children with only one sibling and 35% of placement-weeks for children with more than one sibling).<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>2<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Informed by the experiences of people with lived expertise in the child welfare system, this brief describes the many <strong>benefits of placing siblings together<\/strong> and the <strong>negative consequences of keeping them apart<\/strong>, along with <strong>strategies to overcome the challenges<\/strong> surrounding sibling joint placement and <strong>examples from three jurisdictions<\/strong> making strides toward keeping siblings together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n <!-- conversly to above, we need to not show the CTA here if it's the Head Section style -->\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"quote content-section light wp-block-quote backgrounds-and-margins-aware-block margin-top margin-bottom padding-top padding-bottom\">\n <div class=\"container mx-auto px-5\">\n  <div class=\"basic-quote text-revolver\">\n <blockquote class=\"relative z-0\"><p>How could agencies say, \u2018Let\u2019s do what\u2019s in the best interest of the children,\u2019 and then not actually do what is in their best interest? It\u2019s often in their best interest to keep siblings together.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n  <figcaption class=\"text-md text-right mt-9 font-sofiapro\"><cite>&mdash; Kathy Coleman, Resource Caregiver, Louisiana<\/cite><\/figcaption>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section light fresh-text single wp-block-fresh-text backgrounds-and-margins-aware-block margin-top margin-bottom\">\n <div class=\"container mx-auto px-5\">\n\n \n \n <!-- The CTA is moved up next to the title when in the Head Section style -->\n \n  <div class=\"callout\"><h2>Benefits of placing siblings together in foster care<\/h2>\n<p>Co-placing siblings can buffer the adverse experiences of foster care. Research indicates that placement with siblings is associated with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fewer placement disruptions.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>3,4<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Higher rates of achieving permanency.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>5,6,7<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Increased sense of belonging and connection to family and culture.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>8<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>9<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Increased mental well-being.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>10<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Improved school performance.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>11<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Greater resilience in young adulthood.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>12<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These benefits resonate with lived experts who shared with Casey Family Programs their own experiences.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>13<\/sup><\/a> \u201cIf one of the siblings was acting up, other siblings would help calm him down,\u201d recalls Kathy Coleman, a resource caregiver from Louisiana. Kimberly Fowler, a resource caregiver<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>14<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0from Georgia, says she appreciated that older siblings were able to help their younger siblings with homework and also babysit. Even now that the older siblings live on their own, \u201cthey still come by to do homework with their younger siblings or go outside and ride bikes with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Negative consequences of sibling separation<\/h2>\n<p>In addition to citing the benefits of placing siblings together, the lived experts related real-life struggles that result from keeping them apart.<\/p>\n<p>Presswood had other half-siblings from whom he was separated: \u201cThere was no effort to connect with the rest of my family. It was this complete disconnect that wasn\u2019t talked about during my three years in foster care. It was just like, \u2018If you figure out how to find your siblings, we can make it happen.\u2019 But it wasn\u2019t a topic that was adequately brought up.\u201d Even now that he is older, Presswood says reconnecting with those siblings \u2013 and making up for lost time \u2013 remains a challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Fowler shared her experience as a resource caregiver: \u201cIf one sibling is in a group home, and the other is in a traditional home, it\u2019s very difficult for the two to have visits. There are a lot of rules and group homes are very strict. There\u2019s only a small window of time that siblings can meet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coleman, the resource caregiver, described how the child protection agency advised her against taking in a group of four siblings, expressing skepticism that the joint placement would work out. Later, when the siblings were divided into different homes, \u201cIt was a nightmare,\u201d Coleman recalls. \u201cThey would call me crying. They wondered why they were being kept apart.\u201d The sibling group used their shared connection with her as a means to stay in touch with one another.<\/p>\n<p>Bernadine Atchison, a kinship caregiver from Alaska, recalls: \u201cWhen the four grandkids I took in were later split between three different families for six months, I witnessed how even that short amount of time separated had impacted them. The continuity wasn\u2019t there, and they often got confused about who the people were in their lives. We had to show them photos to help them straighten out in their heads who was who.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Strategies for keeping siblings together<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cwig-prod-prod-drupal-s3fs-us-east-1.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/documents\/siblingissues.pdf\">Placing siblings together<\/a> poses logistical challenges, which can be even more daunting when working with larger sibling groups, siblings with significant age gaps or different needs, siblings entering foster care at different times, or caregivers whose homes lack sufficient sleeping space. These challenges, however, should never justify separating siblings when placing them together is in their best interest.<\/p>\n<p>The following proactive strategies can help child protection agencies prioritize and promote joint placements for siblings:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Prioritize placement with kin and provide kinship caregivers necessary supports.<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/kinship-values\/\">Kinship placement<\/a> increases the likelihood of children living with or staying connected to their siblings. Relatives are generally more open to taking in sibling groups and offer the additional advantage of preserving other family connections. One study found that siblings placed together with kin were the least likely to experience placement changes.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>15<\/sup><\/a><a href=\"#_edn13\" name=\"_ednref13\"><\/a> Many kinship caregivers will need financial resources and other supports to care for the children they take in. In addition to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2023\/09\/28\/2023-21081\/separate-licensing-or-approval-standards-for-relative-or-kinship-foster-family-homes\">foster care maintenance payments<\/a> required for all licensed and approved kinship caregivers, families taking in a large sibling group may need additional funds to purchase household necessities, including beds and bedding.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Utilize targeted foster and adoptive parent recruitment strategies <\/strong>to <a href=\"https:\/\/adoptuskids.org\/_assets\/files\/NRCDR-org\/practice-principles-and-seven-step-process-for-sibling-recruitment.pdf\">recruit more foster and adoptive homes specifically for sibling groups<\/a>, including caregivers whose racial and ethnic backgrounds reflect those of the children in their care. Providing a thorough assessment of the sibling group as a whole \u2014 as well as each individual child \u2014 can help foster and adoptive parents address any needs and concerns prior to placement.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Be proactive in asking resource caregivers to care for sibling groups.<\/strong> Child protection agencies should not assume resource caregivers are unwilling to take a full sibling group. \u201cIt\u2019s a simple question to ask foster parents: \u2018You might not be able, but could you take the full sibling group?\u2019 Give us the opportunity to take a sibling group. Don\u2019t assume we can\u2019t,\u201d Coleman says. Fowler adds: \u201cInstead of placing my foster daughter with her twin, the agency assumed it would be easier to find placements if they put them in separate homes. We would have taken her sibling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implement clear policies promoting joint placements.<\/strong>\u00a0Many states have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fosteringsiblingconnections.org\/law-education-project\">laws, regulations, and policies that support joint placements<\/a>. Some, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/doc\/sibling-bill-of-rights-0\/download\"><strong>Massachusetts<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregon.gov\/odhs\/data\/cwdata\/cw-apsr-2024-att-03.pdf\"><strong>Oregon<\/strong><\/a>, have codified the importance of sibling relationships in a Sibling Bill of Rights, emphasizing the importance of sibling relationships and stipulating that every child in foster care should be placed with siblings when possible, and in cases where siblings are placed separately, they should maintain regular contact with one another. Other key policies and practices include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Training for caseworkers, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/groups\/litigation\/resources\/childrens-rights\/benefits-of-sibling-placement-and-contact\/\">lawyers<\/a>, and foster\/adoptive parents about the importance of sibling connections.<\/li>\n<li>Assignment of sibling groups to a single caseworker, regardless of when each sibling enters foster care.<\/li>\n<li>Systems to locate and track siblings \u2014 including those in foster care, those still in the home, and those who have been adopted or who have aged out of the system \u2014 to ensure that all siblings are considered throughout the case.<\/li>\n<li>Case reviews within one week to plan for joint placement, if siblings must be separated due to an emergency placement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Involve children in placement decisions.<\/strong> Children should be included \u2014 in ways appropriate to their age \u2014 in the decision-making process about placement with their siblings.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>16<\/sup><\/a><a href=\"#_edn14\" name=\"_ednref14\"><\/a> \u201cInstead of placing siblings wherever it is convenient for the agency to place them, let\u2019s let them have a say,\u201d Fowler says. \u201cDo they want to live together or be apart? Ask that first, then find the placement.\u201d Presswood adds: \u201cIf siblings have already been separated from each other, we need to ask them, \u2018Do you miss your sibling? Is your relationship with them important to you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Always maintain connections. <\/strong>In 27% of sibling groups in which at least one child was placed in foster care, not all children were removed from the home.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>17<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0In these cases, it is important to determine how best to promote and maintain sibling ties. It is equally important to maintain those connections when siblings are in different placements. Placing siblings in the same city, community, and\/or school district makes it easier to plan visits and outings, and give siblings opportunities to spend as much time together as they desire. Connections can be supported further through phone calls, video calls, and social media.<\/p>\n<h2>Jurisdictional examples<\/h2>\n<p>Given the many priorities child protection agencies must address, prioritizing joint sibling placements and connections requires an intentional focus. This section highlights policies and procedures that child protection agencies have implemented to promote sibling placements in three jurisdictions: <strong>Connecticut<\/strong>, <strong>Idaho<\/strong>, and <strong>New Jersey<\/strong>.<a href=\"#footnotes\"><sup>18<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0In all three states,\u00a0maintaining sibling connections is the priority, and permanency planning for siblings begins as early as possible.<\/p>\n<h3>Connecticut<\/h3>\n<p>Recognizing the importance of maintaining sibling connections, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) adopted a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/portal.ct.gov\/-\/media\/DCF\/YAB\/pdf\/SiblingBillofRightsFINALpdf.pdf?la=en\">Sibling Bill of Rights<\/a>, developed by its Youth Advisory Board with support from the agency. It outlines policies for sibling visitation for those who are separated, including the expectation that siblings will be able to visit one another at least once every two weeks. Each year, DCF <a href=\"https:\/\/portal.ct.gov\/-\/media\/dcf\/dataconnect\/legislative-reports\/sfy-2025-sibling-visitation-legislative-update.pdf\">reports its compliance rate <\/a>on sibling visitations to the state Legislature and includes the barriers encountered to meet the visitation expectations.<\/p>\n<p>DCF treats sibling visitation with the same importance as parent visitation, understanding that preserving the sibling bond helps support children\u2019s sense of identity and well-being. When placement or permanency changes occur for a child not with a sibling, their siblings must be notified of those changes, similar to grandparents and other close relatives. While visitation cannot be enforced after legal permanency has occurred, DCF stresses the importance of maintaining sibling and familial connections in its training and licensing classes for caregivers and foster families. In caseworker training, DCF emphasizes that placing siblings together, when possible, is a priority.<\/p>\n<p>When adoption is the permanency goal, DCF uses its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/portal.ct.gov\/DCF\/CTFosterAdopt\/Adoption#PRE\">Permanency Resource Exchange<\/a>, which can match eligible adoptive families to a sibling group. After the caseworker and supervisor identify the five best matches, a permanency planning team identifies the one best for the children.<\/p>\n<h3>Idaho<\/h3>\n<p>Large families are statistically high in Idaho when compared to other states, making it easier for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) to find placements for sibling groups of three or more children.<\/p>\n<p>When children have been separated from their siblings in foster care, a sibling priority\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20201017183430\/https:\/healthandwelfare.idaho.gov\/Portals\/0\/Children\/AdoptionFoster\/PlacementCommittee.pdf\">Permanent Placement Committee<\/a> meeting is held to develop a plan that supports permanency for all siblings. One of the committee\u2019s guiding principles explains the importance of prioritizing sibling placements: \u201cA key component of a child\u2019s well-being is their continued connection to relatives. Siblings are relatives; and joint sibling placements are relative placements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The siblings\u2019 caseworker and supervisor attend the placement committee meeting, as well as other stakeholders, such as resource caregivers, peer partners, and community partners. Biological parents may also be invited, depending on case circumstances. Meeting attendees consider sibling and family preferences, examine sibling relationships, and review and address safety concerns. When adoption is the goal, the committee decides whether siblings should be adopted together. If so, the members consider only those families willing to adopt all of the siblings. DHW created a decision structure for the committee to use to guide the placement process.<\/p>\n<h3>New Jersey<\/h3>\n<p>New Jersey\u2019s Department of Children and Families (DCF)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dcfpolicy.nj.gov\/api\/policy\/download\/CPP-IV-B-2-200.pdf\">prioritizes sibling placements<\/a>\u00a0when children first enter foster care and has successfully placed about <a href=\"https:\/\/nj.gov\/dcf\/documents\/childdata\/exitplan\/Outcomes.Report.and.Executive.Summary-2017.pdf\">80% of sibling groups together<\/a>, an impressive number that speaks to this commitment. When identifying placements for siblings, DCF seeks out potential kinship caregivers first, followed by unrelated resource families. Those caregivers are required to support sibling connections, even if the siblings are not placed together. The ability and willingness to support sibling connections also is a major consideration when selecting an adoptive family. While DCF cannot guarantee that adoptive parents will support the connection, it strongly encourages all families to do so.<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.gov\/njyrs\/legal\/siblings-bill-of-rights\/\">Siblings\u2019 Bill of Rights<\/a>, developed by the agency\u2019s Youth Council, states that children in placement should be supported in maintaining meaningful connections with their siblings, regardless of placement type or distance. The Youth Council advocated strongly to formalize guarantees for frequent, unrestricted contact between siblings, including in-person visits and virtual communication. The bill also allows for sibling participation in family team meetings and permanency court hearings.<\/p>\n<p>DCF also provides a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.gov\/njfosteradopt\/documents\/SIBS_Flyer.pdf\">Siblings in Best Settings<\/a>\u00a0incentive to families that accept large sibling groups. Non-relative resource families willing to foster four or more siblings receive a $200 a month retainer, even when they are not fostering children. The incentive has been successful in helping DCF build and maintain a list of resource families who are willing to take in large sibling groups. In addition, both relative and non-relative families fostering or adopting large sibling groups can access a higher foster care subsidy to help with logistics and needs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n <!-- conversly to above, we need to not show the CTA here if it's the Head Section style -->\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"qff_disclaimer align wp-block-disclaimer content-section\">\n <div class=\"container mx-auto px-0 md:px-5\">\n <div class=\"qff_disclaimer__wrapper text-salt-box text-xs font-sofiapro border-t-2 border-spring-wood\">\n <p>Casey Family Programs consults with individuals and teams across the country to compile research, experiences, and insights about approaches that can safely reduce the need for foster care and ensure the well-being of children and families. We share this information broadly to help child welfare leaders and their partners tackle similar issues in their own communities. For questions about this resource, or if you have other child welfare information needs, please email <a href=\"mailto:kmresources@casey.org\">kmresources@casey.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"footnotes\" class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:2px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"footnotes\" class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"footnote wp-block-footnote\">\n  <div class=\"container mx-auto px-5 text-3xs text-black-currant\">\n    <p>1 Child Welfare Information Gateway (2022). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.childwelfare.gov\/resources\/placement-children-relatives\/\">Placement of Children with Relatives<\/a> (see p. 4 footnotes for lists of states).<\/p>\n<p>2 Font, S. A., &amp; Kim, H. W. (2022). <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC8968784\/\">Sibling separation and placement instability for children in foster care<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Child Maltreatment<\/em>,\u00a0<em>27<\/em>(4), 583\u2013595.<\/p>\n<p>3 Font, S. A., &amp; Kim, H. W. (2022).<\/p>\n<p>4 Konijn, C., Admiraal, S., Baart, J., van Rooij, F., Stams, G.-J., Colonnesi, C., Lindauer, R., &amp; Assink, M. (2019). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S019074091830731X?via%3Dihub\">Foster care placement instability: A meta-analytic review<\/a>. <em>Children and Youth Services Review, 96<\/em>, 483\u2013499.<\/p>\n<p>5 Jones, C. (2016). <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/chso.12146\">Sibling relationships in adoptive and fostering families: A review of the international research literature<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Children &amp; Society<\/em><em>,\u00a030<\/em>, 324\u2013334.<\/p>\n<p>6 Akin, B. A. (2011). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0190740911000193\">Predictors of foster care exits to permanency: A competing risks analysis of reunification, guardianship, and adoption<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Children and Youth Services Review,\u00a0<\/em>33, 999\u20131011.<\/p>\n<p>7 Hegar, R. (2005). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0190740904002695?via%3Dihub\">Sibling placement in foster care and adoption: An overview of international research<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Children and Youth Services Review, 27<\/em>(7), 717\u2013739.<\/p>\n<p>8 Angel, B. \u00d8. (2014). <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2158244014529437\">Foster children\u2019s sense of sibling belonging: The significance of biological and social ties<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Sage Open<\/em>,\u00a0<em>4<\/em>(1).<\/p>\n<p>9 Wojciak, A. S., McWey, L. M., &amp; Helfrich, C. M. (2013). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0190740913001448\">Sibling relationships and internalizing symptoms of youth in foster care<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Children and Youth Services Review<\/em>, 35, 1071\u20131077.<\/p>\n<p>10 McWey, L. M., Cui, M., &amp; Wojciak, A. S. (2022). <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/10443894221141594\">The importance of sibling relationships in buffering against depressive symptoms of youth in foster care<\/a>. <em>Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services<\/em>, <em>104<\/em>(4), 465-475.<\/p>\n<p>11 Hegar, R. L., &amp; Rosenthal, J. A. (2011). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0190740911000661?via%3Dihub\">Foster children placed with or separated from siblings: Outcomes based on a national sample<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Children and Youth Services Review, 33<\/em>(7), 1245\u20131253.<\/p>\n<p>12 Richardson, Sabrina M. and Yates, Tuppett M. (2014). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0190740914003867\">Siblings in foster care: A relational path to resilience for emancipated foster youth<\/a>. <em>Children and Youth Services Review,<\/em> <em>47<\/em>, 378-388.<\/p>\n<p>13 Content of this brief was informed by members of the Knowledge Management Lived Experience Advisory Board. This team includes youth, parents, kinship caregivers, and resource caregivers with lived experience in the child welfare system who serve as strategic partners with Family Voices United, a collaboration between FosterClub, Generations United, the Children\u2019s Trust Fund Alliance, and Casey Family Programs. Members who contributed to this brief include Bernadine Atchison, Kathy Coleman, Kimberly Fowler, and Mars Presswood. Content of this brief was also informed by a 2019 publication from Child Welfare Information Gateway: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.childwelfare.gov\/pubPDFs\/siblingissues.pdf\">Sibling issues in foster care and adoption<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>14 In this brief, the terms \u201cresource caregivers\u201d and \u201cresource families\u201d are used rather than \u201cfoster parents\u201d and \u201cfoster families\u201d to reflect their broader and more inclusive role. In addition to providing safe and loving family-based care, they also support reunification with the child\u2019s birth family, when appropriate. Whether relatives, fictive kin, or non-relatives, resource caregivers are instrumental in helping maintain a child\u2019s family connections \u2014 including with siblings \u2014 and offering support to the child\u2019s biological family during the time of separation.<\/p>\n<p>15 Waid, J., Kothari, B. H., Bank, L., &amp; McBeath, B. (2016). <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC5157937\/\">Foster care placement change: The role of family dynamics and household composition<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Children and Youth Services Review<\/em>,\u00a0<em>68<\/em>, 44\u201350.<\/p>\n<p>16 Mukhopadhyay, S., Dickerson, K. L., Lyon, T. D., &amp; Quas, J. A. (2022). <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/35777338\/\">Foster youth\u2019s placement preferences: The roles of kin, siblings, and age<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Child Abuse &amp; Neglect<\/em>,\u00a0<em>131<\/em>, 105761.<\/p>\n<p>17 Jones, D. M., Font, S. A., Lee, M., Orsi-Hunt, R., &amp; Kim, H. (2026). <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/10775595251324462\">Sometimes, only some siblings go to foster care: Exploring split sibling groups in a nationwide sample<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Child Maltreatment<\/em>,\u00a0<em>31<\/em>(1), 165-174.<\/p>\n<p>18 Content was informed by the following interviews:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Connecticut: April 26, 2019 and June 12, 2019, with staff at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, and correspondence with Vin Russo, Chief of Government Relations &amp; Policy, Connecticut DCF, on July 10, 2025.<\/li>\n<li>Idaho: July 9, 2019, with staff at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and correspondence with Julie Sevcik, Program Manager, Child, Youth, &amp; Family Services, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, on July 5, 2024.<\/li>\n<li>New Jersey: April 26, 2019 and June 28, 2019, with staff at the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, and correspondence with Christine Idland, Special Assistant to the Commissioner, New Jersey DCF, on September 8, 2024.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section light fresh-text single wp-block-fresh-text backgrounds-and-margins-aware-block margin-top margin-bottom\">\n <div class=\"container mx-auto px-5\">\n\n \n \n <!-- The CTA is moved up next to the title when in the Head Section style -->\n \n  <div class=\"callout\"><script>\nvar gform;gform||(document.addEventListener(\"gform_main_scripts_loaded\",function(){gform.scriptsLoaded=!0}),document.addEventListener(\"gform\/theme\/scripts_loaded\",function(){gform.themeScriptsLoaded=!0}),window.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){gform.domLoaded=!0}),gform={domLoaded:!1,scriptsLoaded:!1,themeScriptsLoaded:!1,isFormEditor:()=>\"function\"==typeof InitializeEditor,callIfLoaded:function(o){return!(!gform.domLoaded||!gform.scriptsLoaded||!gform.themeScriptsLoaded&&!gform.isFormEditor()||(gform.isFormEditor()&&console.warn(\"The use of 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