Placing Siblings Together

I. Introduction

A. Purpose

This policy requires the placement of siblings together in out-of-home care. It also provides for exceptions to this rule.

B. General Principles

This policy has been developed to comply with the following operating principles as set forth in the R.C. Consent Decree:

"VII 48.b. Siblings shall be placed together. DHR may promulgate a policy, acceptable to both parties, identifying circumstances in which exceptions to this principle may be permitted."

C. Children Covered by These Policies

This policy regarding sibling placement applies to all children in the custody or responsibility of a conversion county who have been removed from their home and placed in foster care {e.g., home of relatives (kinship care) or neighbors, foster family home, therapeutic foster family home, group home, shelter home, child care institution, hospital or other residential facility}. This policy also applies to children in the custody or responsibility of a conversion county who are placed in a non-conversion county.

D. Sibling Placement Policy for Children Placed With Child Placing Agencies

Any licensed child placing agency that approves foster homes serving children in the custody or responsibility of the Department is to develop written policy regarding sibling placement and sibling contacts. These agencies may adopt the policy developed by the Department regarding sibling placement and contacts or develop their own policy as long as it is consistent with Department policy and provides children no less rights than is provided in DHR policy. The agency's sibling placement policy is to be approved by the State DHR. It is to be explained by the agency in clear, understandable language to all children placed by DHR, the siblings of such children, their foster care providers and their parents. A copy of the policy is to be given to the foster care providers and to parents upon request.

The child placing agency may choose to apply this policy only to children placed by the Department.

E. Glossary

Age Appropriate Child - A child age 10 and older (except a child with severe mental retardation), or a child under age 10 who is intellectually capable of understanding and communicating ideas and opinions concerning the subject matter being discussed or considered.

Child and Family Planning Team - The individuals involved in planning services with the child and family. The team should include the parents, the child, if age appropriate, others requested by the family or child, the DHR worker, the foster care provider and other service providers if any.

Child's Home - The physical environment or location of the family unit in which the child resides or was residing with a caretaker in a significant relationship prior to removal or placement in DHR custody or care.

Decree Goals - The goals of the system of care: to protect children from abuse and neglect and to enable them to live with or near their families, achieve stability and permanency in their living situations, achieve success in school, and become stable, gainfully employed adults.

Emergency Situation - A situation where the child is at imminent risk of serious harm and action to protect the child must be taken before a child and family planning team can be convened to develop an ISP or revise an existing ISP.

Family - A biological, adoptive or self-created unit of people residing together consisting of an adult(s) and child(ren) with the adult(s) performing duties of parenthood for the child(ren). Persons within this unit share bonds, culture, practices and a significant relationship. Biological parents, siblings, or others with significant attachments to the child living outside of the home are included in the definition of family.

Foster Care Provider - A provider of out-of-home care for a child in any of the following settings: the home of relatives (kinship care) or neighbors, a foster family home, a therapeutic foster family home, a group home, a shelter home, a child care institution, a hospital or another residential facility.

Foster Parent - A foster care provider delivering care in any of the following settings: the home of a relative (kinship care) or neighbor, a foster family home, or a therapeutic foster family home.

Relative - A relationship created between persons by blood, marriage or legal action (adoption or paternity) to any degree.

Safety - Protection from physical injury or sex-related abuse.

Safety Plan - A plan for protecting a child in an emergency situation, developed in partnership with the family and the age appropriate child when possible.

Service Providers - Individuals, families, agencies, or organizations that provide or could provide a service or services to children and families.

Siblings - Full, half, and step brothers and sisters, and children raised together.

F. Court Orders

Court orders must be followed.

Sometimes there will be an existing court order (often from a divorce proceeding) in place at the time an ISP is being developed for a child and family. The existing order must be followed until modified or lifted. However, DHR must seek to have the order lifted or modified if it substantially inhibits attainment of the child's permanency goal, or imposes requirements inconsistent with R.C.

Sometimes, after an ISP has been developed, the court will order additional services, lift restrictions, or impose additional restrictions. These court orders must be followed. However, DHR must seek to have the order lifted or modified if it substantially inhibits attainment of the child's permanency goal, or imposes requirements inconsistent with R.C.

If the court refuses to modify or lift an order as requested, the county DHR will inform the Division of Family and Children's Services. If the Division concurs that the court order is inconsistent with R.C., the Division will take appropriate action.

II. Placing Siblings

A. General Policy

Siblings in out-of-home care shall be placed together in the most family-like, least restrictive setting. This is true of siblings removed from home at the same time and siblings removed from home at different times.

Siblings may not be separated simply because no placement is available for a sibling group or because one or more siblings has a physical, emotional, or mental disability.

To implement this policy, DHR will aggressively recruit foster family and adoptive homes from the child's and family's array of relatives, friends, neighbors and others in the community, and DHR will support such homes as necessary. Services shall be provided to enable foster care providers to care for all members of a sibling group, including children with disabilities. Services that may be needed to sustain a sibling placement include: respite for foster families, in-home child care and housekeeping, and individualized wraparound services for the child, the child's family and the foster family.

Aggressive recruitment and support of foster care providers committed to minimizing siblings' losses by keeping them together must be a component of each county department's plan for resource development and retention.

B. Selection of a Placement for Siblings

Normally, the selection of a placement will be made in partnership with the family, age appropriate child, and the child and family planning team as part of the development or revision of a strengths and needs based ISP.

In an emergency situation (e.g. when a child is at imminent risk of serious harm and a placement must be made to protect a child before the child and family planning team can be convened), placement decisions will be made as part of the child's safety plan which will be developed by the DHR worker in partnership with the family and age appropriate child when possible. The child and family planning team will review placement decisions within 72 hours of placement (an ISP must be developed by a child and family planning team within 72 hours of placement). Siblings must be placed together during the 72 hours unless their need for safety cannot feasibly be met if they are placed together.

Agreement regarding placement decisions will be reached with the family and age appropriate child unless the child's need for safety cannot be met in a placement agreeable to the child and family.

C. When Siblings May Be Placed Apart

Siblings may be placed apart only under the following circumstance.

1. A sibling has needs that can only be met in a placement that separates him or her from other siblings. This sibling may be placed apart from the others. The separate placement may last only as long as necessary to meet the unique needs that required separation.

The following are circumstances that may require siblings to be separated in order to meet the unique needs of a sibling.

a. A sibling becomes a significant threat to the safety of another sibling that cannot be controlled if the siblings are placed together.

b. A sibling becomes a significant threat to the safety of another person in the placement, and the risk to that person cannot be controlled if the sibling remains. If movement of the entire sibling group is determined not to be in their overall best interest, the sibling presenting the threat will be moved.

c. A sibling with a physical, emotional, or mental condition requires specialized services in order to accomplish specific therapeutic objectives. The sibling may be placed apart from other siblings for the length of time necessary to meet the need requiring separate placement. That a sibling has a physical, emotional or mental condition which requires specialized services does not by itself warrant removing the sibling from his or her home or separating that sibling from the others. A sibling with a physical, emotional, or mental condition which requires specialized services may not be placed outside his or her home or apart from siblings unless (i) individualized wraparound and other services cannot be developed to maintain the sibling at home or in the same placement with his or her siblings and (ii) a specific alternate placement is required to meet the sibling's needs.

2. Siblings may be separated when necessary to permit their placement with relatives who live near the home of the siblings or with neighbors. Thus, a large sibling group may be placed in two related homes near their family home or in the homes of two neighbors if necessary to place them in close proximity to their family.

3. Siblings may be separated as a result of a court ordered commitment resulting in admission of a sibling into detention, DYS, a DMH/MR institution, or a psychiatric hospital. The other siblings, of course, need not be placed with the sibling being admitted to detention, DYS, a DMH/MR institution or a psychiatric hospital.

4. Siblings may be placed apart if they have been raised in separate families, and the placement would provide them greater contact with their families.

NOTE: A significant age difference between siblings does not by itself justify separating them. Thus, two children ages 14 and 15 with a younger sister age 4 must be placed together unless one of the circumstances above applies.

D. Application Of Sibling Placement Policy To Siblings Separated For Long Periods In Out-of-Home Care Prior To Issuance Of This Policy

During the process of county conversion, ISPs will be developed for all children in placement (in either family-like settings or residential facilities), including those long separated from their siblings. The child and family planning team will consider whether these siblings should be placed together. A child who has long been separated shall be placed together with his or her siblings unless moving the child will jeopardize his or her opportunity for achieving Decree goals including permanency goals.

When deciding whether one or more siblings is to be moved, due consideration shall be given to the following:

· the preference of the children and their family;

· the attachments of the siblings to each other, family and community;

· the children's permanency goals; and

· the strengths of the children's existing placements, including the attachment of the children to their current provider and the willingness of current providers to aggressively maintain frequent and meaningful contact (including overnight visiting) among the siblings while they are separated.

E. Contact Among Siblings When Separated

Whenever siblings are separated (e.g., in an emergency situation, per an ISP), the siblings shall be placed in close proximity to each other unless one of the exceptions in Section II. C. applies.

When siblings are separated, there shall be sufficient visiting and phone and mail communication to permit frequent contact among the entire sibling group (at least weekly visits together designed around normalized activities, and daily contact with other siblings), unless such contact is restricted in accordance with policy on visiting and phone and mail communication.