MORE than a third of brothers and sisters in foster care in Oxfordshire were split up last year, according to the latest research.

As a result, the county council is recruiting more foster carers so that it can avoid “breaking more young hearts in future”.

The charity Action for Children found that 36 per cent of children placed into foster care by Oxfordshire County Council did not stay together, and that a total of 65 of the 179 children placed into foster care between April 2013 and March this year were split from their siblings.

Following the figures obtained by the charity through a Freedom of Information request, the council said it needed more foster carers.

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Owen Morton said: “Like many other parts of the country, the council needs to attract more local foster carers, particularly those willing to care for brothers and sisters, and adolescents and children with special needs, to enable them to remain close to their families and maintain links with them.”

The charity said that splitting up siblings can cause feelings of loss and abandonment which affect emotional and mental health.

This increases the risk of further problems in adulthood, said Action for Children, such as difficulty in finding a job, drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness or criminal activity.

John Downing, director of children’s placements at the charity, said: “For many children, being taken into care can be a confusing and upsetting time.

“Nobody wants to separate brothers and sisters, but there simply aren’t enough foster carers in Oxford who can look after siblings.

“By arming ourselves with a pool of dedicated people who can provide a loving and caring home to groups of children we will avoid breaking more young hearts in the future.”

Long-term foster carer, Jenny Barney, 60, recently looked after the eldest of five siblings, aged 12, who was separated from the other four.

Ms Barney, who lives in the Oxford area, said: “We had him for about a week, he was very concerned for the safety of his siblings.

“When he was reunited with them at the end of the week he was still concerned about everything going on around him but he was relieved and much calmer for knowing his siblings were fine.”

Katherine Jones, 34, from Banbury, adopted three sisters in May last year, but the girls were nearly split up before the Jones’s came forward. Mrs Jones said: “Knowing how close their bond is and seeing them together every day I couldn’t imagine them not being together, it would be heartbreaking. The eldest goes to school now and the other two ask about her during the day and they run up to her in the playground when she finishes to find out about her day.”

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