IN NOVEMBER 2024, when I launched Kicking It Together, a soccer program for kids in foster care, I hoped it would be a fun, recreational outlet for children going through an incredibly challenging experience. For two participants, however, it was much more than that: biological brothers Jackson and Chris had been separated into different foster homes, and as I soon discovered, my weekly clinic was the only time they got to see each other.

At each session, they would sprint over to the field and begin playing together. After the session ended, Jackson would pull out Go Fish and other favorite card games to play with his brother, extending the clinic’s duration for as long as possible. And when their foster parents inevitably had to end their card games to take them home, Jackson would look back and say goodbye to his brother three or more times before climbing into his booster seat.

Unfortunately, Jackson and Chris’s experience is not unusual. While the Department of Children and Families does not track the number of sibling separations that occur during placement, the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange estimates that over 70 percent of children in foster care in Massachusetts have been separated from at least one sibling while in care.

I have been a foster brother twice now, and both children who lived with my family were split up from their siblings. Such separations often prove immensely difficult for children who are already dealing with significant struggles. Kids experiencing foster care are separated from their families and often bounce from home to home, only to be adopted if they are lucky. Given the isolation many of these kids face, the bond with their siblings is, in some cases, the only long-term connection they still have.

H.268, An Act to Keep Siblings Together in Foster Care, sponsored by state Rep. Joan Meschino, offers an overdue opportunity to prevent such painful sibling separations. This bill requires the Department of Children and Families to prioritize placing siblings in the same foster homes. While DCF may still separate siblings in rare circumstances where it is in their best interest or when the sibling group is too large to feasibly place together, H.268 requires that DCF still ensure regular contact between siblings, with the court’s oversight.

The research supporting this bill is robust. Numerous studies have shown that placing siblings together improves their mental health, provides stability in a fraught environment, and reduces trauma. Sibling connection reduces behavior problems and ultimately improves a sense of belonging and stability, which is the ultimate goal of our foster care system.

Versions of H.268 were filed as early as 2019, and the bill came close to passing in 2022. Now, years later, it is closer to becoming law than ever, having been favorably reported by the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities, but it still has not been passed.

May is Foster Care Awareness Month, but these children do not lack recognition; they lack each other. To properly recognize the collective struggle of kids and families in foster care, Massachusetts must help the thousands of sibling pairs separated by the system, including Jackson and Charlie, reconnect.

Rahsaan Mustafa-Coentro is a junior at Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury. He is the founder of Kicking It Together, a soccer clinic for kids in foster care and their siblings, and volunteers with Silver Lining Mentoring.