Research & Data - Annotated Research Bibliography
Casework Practice
- Barbell, K. (1995, Winter). Is our family focus wide enough to include siblings? Children's Voice, 45, 24. Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.casey.org/cnc/policy_issues/siblings.htm.
Makes the case that a family focus in child welfare decision-making must include attention to siblings, and outlines steps agencies must take to improve policy and practice to promote better outcomes for sibling groups.
- Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare. (2000). Siblings in foster care: Maintaining the ties that bind. CA SCW Practice Notes, 9. Retrieved from the Internet at http://ssw.che.umn.edu/cascw/practice_notes.htm.
Practice tips from various sources.
- Depp, C.H. (1983, March/April). Placing siblings together. Children Today, 14-19.
An adoption worker rebuts some arguments for separating siblings and looks at ways to prepare families and support them after the adoption of sibling groups.
- Fahlberg, V.I. (1994). A child's journey through placement (pp. 260-264) London: British Agencies for Adoption A Fostering
In this section on sibling relationships, the author presents both advantages and disadvantages to placing sibling together. She also discusses some factors to be considered in assessing families for the adoption of sibling groups.
- Flack, C., Hamill, R., Kosa-Grab, C. & Smith, J. (1996). Teamwork challenge: Placing a sibling family group. ACWA Issues Papers, 10. [Online]. Retrieved from the Internet at http://acwa.asn.au/ACWA/publications/issuepapers/Paper_10.html. Practical casework considerations in placing sibling groups of three or more.
- Gleeson, J.P., di O' Donnell, J. (1997). Understanding the complexity of practice in kinship foster care. Child Wefare, 76(6), 801-836.
Points out that the placement of siblings in kinship care is often complicated: "Seventy-four of the 77 children in the sample had siblings. Siblings of the children in kinship foster care lived in a variety of settings, adding to the diversity and complexity of family caregiving.and child-rearing arrangements. Seventy-eight percent of the children had one or more siblings living in the same relative's home with them. Forty percent of the children had siblings living with at least one other relative. Nine percent had siblings living in traditional family foster care placements with nonrelatives."
- Jewett, C.L. (1978). Adopting the older child. (pp. 160-163). Harvard, MA:. The Harvard Common Press.
The author makes a case for finding adoptive placements that allow siblings to stay together, providing post-adoption supports for families that adopt siblings, and, when siblings are separated, helping them resolve issues of loss, grief, guilty, and jealousy.
- Ward, M. (1984). Sibling ties in foster care and adoption planning. Child Wefare, 33(4), 321-332.
The author discusses the importance of sibling ties to children and offers recommendations for maintaining ties through the placement process. She stresses the need to consider the wishes and needs of the children in making placement decisions.
General
- Associated Press. (2001, July 26). Fear of separations for foster kids. The New York Times.
This brief newspaper article presents the experiences and opinions of several individuals involved in sibling issues.
- Belluck. (1998, Aug. 26). Emphasis shifts to keeping siblings together when using foster homes. New York Times, A 18.
Newspaper article describes Chicago's Jane Addams Hull House sibling placement program and reviews various state efforts to improve placement issues for siblings during the 1990s.
- Bernstein, N. 2000, Feb. 16. Torn to pieces. Salon. Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2000/02/16/siblings/
Electronic magazine article on the separation of siblings in out-of-home care.
- Bodie, Y. (2001). The epidemic of sibling losses. Fostering Families Today, I(1).
The author is a college student who was placed in foster care with some but not all of her siblings and later adopted along with two brothers into a family of 36. She writes of her experience and her desire to improve the system from within.
- Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support. (2001). Resources on siblings in foster care. Washington, DC:. Author. Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.casey.org/cnc/policy_issues/siblings.htm
A brief bibliography and set of facts concerning siblings in out-of-home care, along with a review of state legislation through mid-2001 that addresses siblings.
- Hochman, G., Feathers-Acuna, E., & Huston, A. (1992). The sibling bond.- its importance in foster care and adoptive placement. Washington, DC:. National Adoption Information Clearinghouse. Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.calib.com/naic/pubs/f_$iblin.htm.
Contains an overview of what is known about sibling issues in out-of-home care, including a look at the intensity of the sibling bond, reasons frequently given for separating siblings, research findings that indicate these reasons may be faulty, and guidelines for decision-making in sibling placement.
- Kupecky, R. (1993). Siblings are family, too; A resource guide for adoptive parents. Pittsburgh, PA:. Three Rivers Adoption Council.
This guidebook is addressed to both adoption workers and adoptive families of sibling groups. It focuses on practical matters including using life books, having siblings in separate placements see the same mental health professional, therapeutic game-playing, recruiting families for sibling groups, pre-adoption visits, post-adoption supports, and attending to the needs of biological children in the family.
- Newberger, J. 2001, June 1. Growing up together. Connect for Kids Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.connectforkids.org
Electronic article describing sibling placement programs in Chicago and Florida.
- Hegar, R.L.. (1988, Sept.). Sibling relationships and separations: Implications for child placement. Social Service Review, 446-467.
A multidisciplinary literature review of research on sibling relationships and sibling separation, concluding that the importance of sibling ties should be respected in foster care placements.
- Kosonen, M. (1994). Sibling relationships for children in the care system. Adoption d Fostering, 18(3), 30-35.
This literature review focuses on factors that affect the nature of sibling relationships, including attachment to mother, the quality of the parental relationship, family emotional climate and stress, parental neglect and unavailability, abuse, parental favoritism, non-shared environmental influences, and access. The author concludes that an assessment of the quality of the sibling relationship should be an essential part of the decision-making process in placement.
Psychology
- Bank, 5.P. & Kahn, M.D.. (1982). The sibling bond. New York: Basic Books.
The authors present their view of the nature of the sibling bond based on their experience treating siblings in a psychotherapeutic setting.
Research
- Bubowitz, H., Feigelman, 5., A Zuravin, 5. (1993). A profile of kinship care. Child Welfare, 72(2), 153-169.
Describes children who were the subjects of a comprehensive study on kinship care. Sibling issues are only noted with a brief statistical reference that "Of those with siblings, the majority (68%) had at least one sibling placed together with them."
- Kosonen, M. (1996). Maintaining sibling relationships - Neglected dimension in child care practice. Social Work, 26,809-822.
This Scottish study reveals that issues impacting siblings in care in the United Kingdom are the some as those in the United States. Of 337 children in the study, 82% were known to have siblings. Sixty percent of these were not living with any of their brothers and sisters. Separated siblings lived in a variety of situations both within and outside the child welfare system, and reunification plans were often not in place.
- Smith, M.5. (1996). An exploratory survey of foster mother and caseworker attitudes about sibling placement. Child Welfare, 75(4), 357-375.
The author surveyed a small number of caseworkers and foster mothers, seeking information about their beliefs and attitudes about siblings in out-of-home placements. Differences in the beliefs of the two groups may contribute to inadequate training and preparation of foster families for sibling group placements.
- Testa, M. (1997). Jane Addams Hull House Association Neighbor to Neighbor program evaluation. Chicago, IL:. School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago.
Program evaluation of a community-based "professional" foster care program in which one of the goals is to keep sibling groups of three or more together and near their home community.
Statistics
- Child Welfare Research Center. (n.d.) Child welfare supervised foster care supplementary reports: Sibling tables. [Online]. Retrieved April 17, 2002 from http://cssr.berkeley.edu/cwscmsreports
