CYP Now - One in three children in care separated from siblings, research finds

More than one in three children are separated from siblings when they go into care, new analysis from England’s children’s commissioner reveals.

A lack of suitable placements for siblings contributes to the increasing numbers of children being split from relatives, the report states. Picture: Adobe Stock

Dame Rachel de Souza's Siblings in Care report found that there are an estimated 20,000 - 37 per cent – of children in care in England who have been separated from their siblings.

Separations increase for larger sibling groups, rising from an estimated 26 per cent of children with one sibling, compared with 43 per cent of children with two siblings; 57 per cent of children with three siblings and 64 per cent of children with five siblings.

The data also found that of the sibling groups that were split up, 39 per cent were placed in two different local authorities and two per cent were split between three or more local authorities.

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