(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that: (a) It is beneficial for a child who is removed from his or her home and placed in foster care to be able to continue relationships with his or her brothers and sisters, regardless of age, in order that the siblings may share their strengths and association in their everyday and often common experiences. The general assembly also finds that the initial decisions about temporary placement of a child may affect the ultimate permanent placement of the child or of the children in a sibling group. (b) When parents and other adult relatives are no longer available to a child, the child's siblings constitute his or her biological family; (c) When placing children in foster care, efforts should be made to place siblings together, unless there is a danger of specific harm to a child or it is not in the child's or children's best interests to be placed together. The general assembly further finds that if the county department locates an appropriate, capable, willing, and available joint placement for all of the children in the sibling group, there should be a rebuttable presumption that placement of the entire sibling group in the joint placement is in the best interests of the children. Such presumption should be rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence that placement of the entire sibling group in the joint placement is not in the best interests of a child or of the children. (2) The general assembly also declares that nothing in this article regarding the placement of sibling groups together should be construed as requiring the removal of a child from his or her home and placement into foster care if that is not in the best interests of the child.
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