Sibling and Kinship Placement for Youth in Foster Care

Introduction: Over the past 20 years, a policy-research consensus has developed concerning the protective effects of placing foster youth with siblings and relatives. Federal and state child welfare policies prioritize sibling and relative placement; and research suggests that foster youth placed with siblings or relatives are less likely to experience multiple placements or to face mental health challenges while in care (McBeath et al., 2014). However, because youth generally experience 2-3 placements while in foster care, research is needed to examine the longitudinal dimensions of sibling and kinship placement. The current study used data from an NIMH-funded sibling relationship enhancement intervention (Kothari et al., 2014) to examine sibling and relative placement trends over an 18-month period.

Methods: 328 siblings (164 dyads) in foster care were universally recruited from Oregon Department of Human Services, and sibling pairs were randomly assigned to participate in the sibling intervention or receive community-as-usual services. At baseline, the mean age for older and younger siblings was 13.1 (SD=1.4) and 10.7 years (SD=1.75), respectively. About 60% of youth were non-White. Data on whether youth were living with one or more siblings, and whether they were placed in a relative foster home, were gathered at baseline and every 6 months thereafter, for a total of 4 equidistant time points. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were used to determine the proportion of youth at each time who were placed with siblings or with relatives; multivariate logistic regression models tested whether youth who were placed consistently with siblings or relatives over the full 18-month study period differed by race, gender, or age.

Results: Descriptively, 35% of youth (n=116) were consistently placed with one or more siblings, and 20% of youth (n=66) were consistently placed in a relative home, over the 18-month period. The proportion of youth who were placed with both siblings and relatives was 48% at baseline (n=116) and rose to 63% (n=98) at the 18-month mark. Logistic regressions determined that there were no significant associations between the odds of being consistently placed with siblings, or of being consistently placed with relatives, and youth race, gender, or age.

Conclusions: Study findings provide the first estimates of the stability of sibling and kinship placements over time, and suggest that the overlap between sibling and kinship placement over time is considerable. Future research is needed to identify the characteristics of youth most likely to be placed with siblings and kin consistently; as well as to examine the wellbeing and placement outcomes associated with these living situations.