Never stop looking for a placement that can take an entire separated sibling group

About this recommendation

While almost every state officially keeps looking for placements that can reunite separated sibling groups, this practice can easily fall by the wayside over time. Systems need to put measures in place to continue this search. Note that if a sibling group is separated but all siblings are with kin, it is likely not necessary to continue searching for a placement, unless specific circumstances warrant it.

How to do this

• Confirm that you can generate a report of children in foster care who are separated from at least one sibling, distinguishing by kinship and non-kinship placement.
• Confirm that siblings who are separated in foster care and not all with kinship caregivers remain on the recruitment lists for the recruitment and placement teams.
• Confirm that regular case check-ins (which may be called Family Team Decision Meetings, Child and Family Team meetings, or something else in your jurisdiction) include updates on recruitment efforts for separated sibling groups who are not all placed with kin.

Anticipated costs and benefits

Who's doing this

• Washington State has a report available in its IT system listing children in care who are separated from siblings. This report includes children who are currently in care who have a sibling who was recently discharged from care.
• New Hampshire has a program called Roadmaps to Reunification that hones in on siblings being together.
• Every state in our working group has an official policy to continue searching for placements for sibling groups that are separated in general (non-kin) foster care.