Why and how does Project Family Ties promote openness in the placement of older children and youth?
Lipscomb: Research shows that the longest lasting relationships that most people have are with their siblings. From our own experience, we know that children’s regular contact with their siblings or other birth relatives helps with their self-esteem and self-image and gives them a connection to their family history and cultural heritage. If children know they can pick up the phone and call their brothers and sisters or see them on a regular basis, they’re less likely to worry about them. Working to maintain this kind of open relationship with birth relatives just makes sense in foster care and adoption. We do quite a bit of training to prepare prospective families for openness. For instance, families receive information on openness in their orientation packet and in their training. When we assess families, we help them determine the type of openness that they would be comfortable with. And when we talk to children and youth in our program, we discuss what openness options they need in
