When sibling groups are placed into foster care, often times they become separated from one another. Although many agencies make a great effort to keep siblings placed together, the sad reality is that many of these youth are often placed into different homes when they enter into foster care. One of the most unfortunate outcomes for youth aging out of foster care is having limited, fractured, or non-existent relationships with their biological siblings who may remain in care or have already aged out of the system. As young people transition into adulthood, they tend to want to restore relationships with their biological family, especially their siblings. However, when exploring a relationship, many young people may find that they don’t exactly know what to say or how to engage with their siblings to reconnect with them in meaningful ways. Below is a list of five practical tips to help jumpstart the development of any relationship that may have been damaged by sibling separati...
Last week, I connected with a young man in foster care. I casually asked him about his weekend plans and he told me that he planned on attending the, “Families Belong Together” march in Phoenix, AZ with his peers who are also in foster care. I was pleasantly surprised at his response. To be honest, I was unaware that the march was taking place and I didn’t really know what it was about. Families Belong Together was a national march that recently took place in cities across the country on June 30th that aimed to protest the separation of immigrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border. I was impressed with his interest in protesting the separation of immigrant families because he expressed that he could relate to the impact of being a child taken away from his biological family. He spoke very passionately about his disagreement with the current presidential administration’s Zero Tolerance Policy on immigration and the negative effects that could potentially harm ...