Sisters are doin' it for themselves!

In Colorado, sisters (age: 17 and 9, when they came in care) were separated and placed into foster care due to their biological mother’s drug addiction. The older sister emancipated herself and went on to have two children. After she had her two children, the foster parents cut off contact between the sisters (age: 22 and 13, now). They have not seen each other for two years. Young adults that were once foster children made a difference by going to the Colorado legislature to testify for foster siblings to have the right to remain in contact with each other. They were successful in their fight for the rights of foster children and have impacted the lives of current and future foster children. Foster sibling relationships are another thing that gets lost in the foster care system and has become a casualty. This is another area where the children pay the price for their biological parents issues."


Bill to help siblings in foster care:

"House Bill 1006 has passed in Colorado that will help foster children that have siblings in different foster homes and also when a sibling ages out of foster care. It is not uncommon for foster children to be separated in foster care. In some areas, foster siblings can find themselves separated by a number of miles making visits difficult and more likely not to happen. In these situations, siblings are the only family that these foster children may have. A lot of foster children did not have biological parents that they could depend on, so they learned to depend only on each other. In most cases, the bond with foster siblings is a very strong one. The older children tends to be the parent so to speak, since there was not a biological parent around or able to parent. It can be very difficult and hard on the older children not be in the parental position once they enter foster care."

I cannot even imagine foster parents coming between me and my two sisters (or Tomorrow and her FIVE sisters) and I am so glad to know that there is legislation being enacted to help protect the rights of siblings to remain in contact with each other.

The bond between siblings can be stronger than the bond between a parent and a child-- perhaps especially in situations where there has been abuse and neglect.

A huge part of why I feel that the court-ordered visits Tomorrow has *are* so important is that she gets to be with her sisters who all adore her and shower her with love.

*The above (quoted) is taken from a really great blog I've been reading that is all about fostering: http://foster-care.adoptionblogs.com