BROADCASTS.com

b'

When Sophia was growing up, she had an imaginary friend. It was only later she learned that the little girl she played with in her mind was not imaginary at all, but a distant memory of an older sister.

The two had been separated when they were in care, and contact between them was soon lost.

It might sound like a Dickensian tale of misery, but it\\u2019s not rare for siblings to be forced apart whilst in the UK\\u2019s care system.

In England alone, there are currently more than 78,000 children living in foster care or children\\u2019s homes.

Many have brothers and sisters, but keeping them together is difficult.

File on 4 hears from the children and young people who have been split up, and hear how it has affected the rest of their lives.

When they can\\u2019t be placed together, experts agree that robust plans should be put in place to maintain contact between them. So why is it not happening?

If one child goes on to be adopted, maintaining contact with their brothers and sisters is far from straight forward.

And for the families who do adopt sibling groups, there\\u2019s concern that they\\u2019re not getting the right help to support those relationships. \\n \\nSome experts argue that keeping siblings together shouldn\\u2019t always be the default intervention. \\n \\nFor some, placing them apart might be in their best interests but are the views of children always being taken into account when these decisions are being made and is the importance of sibling relationships sometimes being overlooked?

Reporter - Paul Kenyon\\nProducer - Emma Forde\\nEditor - Carl Johnston