Siblings in foster care: a descriptive and attitudinal study (child welfare, Louisiana)
Description
This study is based on two data sets: (1) descriptive information concerning 202 randomly selected children from sibling groups in Louisiana state custody on July 15, 1982; and (2) a survey of 108 state child welfare staff assigned to the children. A foster care data schedule and an attitudinal survey were developed for this study, which addresses five questions: the incidence of separation of siblings in foster care; the characteristics of the children and their placements that are associated with separation; the attitudes of foster care staff toward sibling relationships; their perceptions of barriers to placing siblings together; and, finally, background characteristics that are associated with specific attitudes or perceptions Of the children, 66.8% were placed with at least one sibling, and 38.1% shared placement with all siblings in care. Several characteristics of the children, their sibling groups, and their situations were found to be associated with placement with siblings The attitudes of staff, reflected by scores on four constructed scales, show high valuation of family and sibling ties. Their perceptions of agency placement practice indicate pessimism about siblings being placed together, despite the perception that the agency encourages joint placements for siblings. Associations are also reported between workers' background characteristics and particular attitudes and perceptions