Office of Children and Family Services

Sibling Placement in Foster Care in New York City (Follow-Up Report)

New York State’s foster care programs are administered by 58 local social services districts (57 counties and New York City) that are overseen by the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). According to State law and regulations, siblings placed in foster care should be kept together unless it is impossible or inadvisable to do so. If siblings in foster care are separated, provisions should be made for them to see one another regularly. In addition, the reason for their separation must be appropriately documented, as must each of their visits with one another.

In audit 2007-S-10, we examined whether these requirements were being met in New York Cit and found that they generally were. However, in some instances, there was no documentation indicating that separated siblings had visited with one another as often as required. We recommended such documentation be maintained and certain other administrative improvements be made. When we followed up on these matters with OCFS officials, we found that they had made progress in implementing our recommendations.

For a complete copy of Report 2008-F-48 click here.