siblings

The Imprint is highlighting each of the policy recommendations made this summer by the participants of the Foster Youth Internship Program (FYI), a group of 11 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships.

Disneyland is a dream destination for pretty much every kid in America. Though it may be hard to imagine improving on the happiest place on Earth, one group is making it even more magical for youth in foster care.

In Oklahoma, if a sibling group of three kids is taken into foster care, there is about a one-in-three chance they will be split up. A few years ago, one of the state’s child welfare providers decided to do something about it.

The Imprint is highlighting each of the policy recommendations made this summer by the participants of the Foster Youth Internship Program (FYI), a group of 10 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships.

Denise Goodman has been trying to figure out how to recruit foster parents for a long time. “I once recruited a foster home for Moses,” she joked in an interview with The Imprint.

For Brodie Lytle, a 17-year-old living in transitional housing in Concord, California, he feels lucky that he gets to see and talk to his biological brothers on a regular basis. However, that wasn’t always the case.

May is Foster Care Month, and it is a great time to sing the praises of the many wonderful foster parents who are changing children’s lives every day. As a social worker in Washington, D.C.’s

Every holiday season, 17-year-old Jordain Rodriguez sends a note to two families she barely knows with a simple wish: She’d like to see her nieces and nephews. Around the holidays and on each of the children’s birthdays, she writes emails to the two families who adopted her family members, asking for pictures, any recent updates and a chance to talk to them.

As a social worker in the District of Columbia’s foster care system, I was often saddened to see siblings separated for a variety of reasons. We do not know how many siblings are separated nationwide, but studies have found that “a substantial number” of children in foster care were not placed with all of their siblings who were also in care.