Born into care in Scotland: circumstances, recurrence and pathways

8. Brothers and sisters

In UK policy, the principle has been established that siblings should be placed together, where this is in their best interests (Jones, 2016). The Promise (Independent Care Review, 2020) clearly stated that the presumption that children will stay together with their brothers and sisters must be fully implemented and closely monitored, whilst acknowledging that sibling relationships can be complicated, and that there is no agreed consensus on how 'sibling' is defined. The presence of siblings is known to act as a protective factor (Monk and Macvarish, 2018), and one review (Meakings et al., 2017) concluded that outcomes for children placed with siblings in foster care are mostly better than for those placed apart from siblings. However, Woods and Henderson (2018) found that 86% of children placed in out of home care at birth were separated from at least one sibling.

In this study, we were able to examine whether the study infants were known to have any older brothers and sisters when they became looked after away from home, and whether any younger siblings were born in the subsequent two years. We could also identify whether their siblings had been adopted or were placed away from home, and whether the infants in the sample were placed with any of their brothers or sisters.

At the time they were looked after away from home, 55 of the infants in the case file sample (79%) were known to have at least one sibling, with complex combinations of full siblings, and maternal and paternal half-siblings. In total, 22 infants had one or more full sibling, 39 had one or more maternal half-sibling, 18 had paternal half-siblings, and nine infants had adult siblings. As recognised in previous studies, it may be possible that other siblings, or sibling-like relationships existed but were not recorded in the case files (Jones and Henderson, 2017; Lery et al., 2005).

Where infants had older siblings, the majority (50, 91%) were known to have had at least one sibling previously looked after away from home. Forty-seven of the infants (85%) had at least one sibling living with foster carers, kinship carers or adoptive parents when they became looked after via the CHS. However, only 12 infants were initially placed with a sibling, which represents just a fifth (22%) of those who had at least one sibling. Of these, five were placed with siblings who had previously been accommodated or were in permanent placements away from home, and seven were placed with siblings accommodated on the same day.

Twelve of the infants had a full or half brother or sister born in the two-year period after they became looked after away from home, including 11 who also had older siblings. In terms of placement with siblings, two years after becoming looked after away from home on a CSO, 17 of the infants in the sample were known to be living with at least one of their brothers and sisters – five had been reunified with birth parents, three were living in a permanent placement with kinship carers, seven were living with adoptive parents, and two infants were on a CSO with (unrelated) foster carers. This represents less than a third (30%) of those known to have at least one sibling.

Key findings

• Four out of five of the infants (79%) had older brothers and/or sisters when they became looked after away from home.
• There was a complexity to this, with combinations of full-siblings, maternal and paternal half-siblings. Some infants also had adult siblings.
• The majority of infants with siblings had at least one sibling living with foster carers, kinship carers or adoptive parents.
• However, only 12 infants were initially placed with a sibling, which represents just a fifth (22%) of those who had at least one sibling.
• Twelve of the infants had a full or half brother or sister born in the two-year period after they became looked after away from home.
• Two years after becoming looked after away from home on a CSO, less than a third of the infants in the sample with siblings were known to be living with at least one of their brothers and sisters.