A NATIONAL foster care service is encouraging more families across Oxford to foster children who are siblings.

With today marking National Siblings Day, Five Rivers Child Care wants to raise awareness of the importance of keeping siblings together in the care system.

The foster group believe that by keeping siblings together it will reduce the risk of further emotional trauma to children and young adults entering the care system.

It comes after the number of sibling groups entering the care system has increased with 51 per cent of children waiting to be placed with foster carers last year being siblings – an increase from 48 per cent the year before.

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Five Rivers Child Care says thousands of sibling groups in care across the UK are being separated because of a lack of suitable foster carers as well as a lack of space.

Oxford Mail:

A Freedom of Information request to councils across England and Wales found that 5,000 children in care were separated from their siblings.

Martin Leitch, head of fostering operations at Five Rivers Child Care, said: “Fostering sibling groups naturally comes with added responsibilities and challenges but similarly it can be infinitely more rewarding. By fostering siblings, you can treasure the knowledge that because of you they were able to stay together as a family.

“We have some amazing foster carers that look after sibling groups and we only hope more loving families across Oxford will be inspired to follow in their footsteps.”

Siblings who are kept together in care experience greater stability and are more likely to reunite with their birth families, according to research conducted by the Fostering and Education Department at the University of Oxford.

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Mr Leitch added: “Because looking after sibling groups can sometimes provide additional challenges, it’s vital foster carers have access to the relevant support and training at all times. We work very closely with social workers and our foster carers to ensure help is always at hand.

“Fostering a child is not just a career path, it’s a life choice, it’s choosing to provide a safe and loving home to someone vulnerable that otherwise might not have a family or home."

Oxford Mail:

He added: “At Five Rivers Child Care, we go above and beyond to ensure that where possible, and forgoing extreme circumstances, sibling groups are able to stay together.”

In 2017 The Fostering Network surveyed foster carer providers and revealed that 86 per cent of fostering services needed more foster carers who are open to fostering siblings to meet the growing demand.

Anyone over the age of 21, including singe people, co-habiting couples, same sex couples and people living in rented accommodation, can become a foster carer.

The only requirement is a spare room for each child and siblings of the same sex may be able to share rooms depending on the needs of the child.