Sibling placement in foster care and adoption: An overview of international research

Perceived relationship quality in adolescents following early social-emotional deprivation

“…Among noninstitutionalized domestic adoptees, no difference was found in relationship quality between adoptees and their non-adopted siblings and two biological non-adopted siblings (McGue et al, 2007). Behaviorally, PI children adopted as sibling groups have higher ages at adoption but have lower or similar rates of behavior problems compared to single adoptees (Boer, Versluis-den Bieman, & Verhulst, 1994;Van den Oord, Boomsma, & Verhulst, 1994), and similar patterns are found for domestic adoptees (Erich & Leung, 2002;Hegar, 2005). This finding suggests a protective effect of having a sibling because older age at adoption is generally related to more, not fewer, behavior problems (Cederblad et al, 1999;Gunnar et al, 2007;Rutter et al, 2010).…”

Sibling Foster Care, Placement Stability, and Well-Being: A Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

“…A review of international research estimates the proportion of children in foster care who have siblings at 65% to 85% (Hegar, 2005), however reliable estimates on the prevalence of siblings in foster care in the United States remain unknown. The federal government does not systematically collect sibling data (Herrick & Piccus, 2005), and the identification of sibling groups are complicated by the multiple ways in which sibling relationships can be defined.…”

“…In a review of international research published between 1998 and 2003, Hegar (2005) examined placement patterns and outcomes across 17 studies. Although siblings were defined differently in each study, it was found that kinship foster care was a significant predictor of siblings being placed together into care, and siblings placed together appeared to have more stable placements than those who were placed apart.…”

Intervening to improve outcomes for siblings in foster care: Conceptual, substantive, and methodological dimensions of a prevention science framework

“…Some studies (e.g., Wulczyn & Zimmerman, 2005) used practical constraints that limited the definition of sibling (e.g., sharing the same biological mother) whereas others (e.g., Folman, 1998; Gardner, 2004) did not specify who ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ were, thereby allowing individual participants to decide. An international review of sibling placement and adoption (Hegar, 2005) described how the definition of a sibling varied across studies, with some silent on the topic and others defining siblings however the agency defined them at the time data were collected. State-level differences in the definition of siblings and in policies about sibling co-placement can also pose a challenge for understanding and enhancing outcomes for siblings in foster care.…”

“…Foster care caseworkers commonly seek to place siblings in the same physical residence upon the entry of youth into foster care, and this effort is generally understood to be the most common sibling-focused intervention undertaken in foster care. Estimates of the percentage of siblings who come into foster care at the same time and who are subsequently placed with at least some of their siblings range from 59% (Tarren-Sweeney & Hazell, 2005) to 78% (Wulczyn & Zimmerman, 2005), although it is clear that older children and children removed from their biological household at different time points are much less likely to be placed with their siblings (Hegar, 2005). Relationships between siblings in foster care are often critical in providing youth with a sense of connection, emotional support, and continuity as they are removed from much that is familiar to them (e.g., their home, biological parent(s), school, and peers) in the aftermath of child maltreatment and subsequent removal.…”