July 22, 2008

Twelve-year-old Shantio was just a baby when she was adopted. But she has always wanted to spend time with her two younger sisters and a brother who were born later on and placed into foster care.

This week, Shantio is spending an entire week getting to know her brother and sisters as part of a special “siblings session” at Camp Morty, a county-owned camp for disadvantaged youth at Mountain Lakes Park in North Salem.

The week-long session reunited nearly 40 children, ages 6-17, who may have been removed from abusive or neglectful homes, but were not able to be placed in the same foster care home. 

On Tuesday, July 22,Camp Morty, which has undergone major renovations and is reopening after 10 years, held an open house to show off the new camp facilities and to welcome the siblings. County Executive Andy Spano, county legislators and county officials toured the new camp and met the children.

“Being removed from their homes and placed in foster care is a heartbreaking experience for children, and it is especially difficult when they are separated from their brothers and sisters,” said Spano. “Our goal is to give these youngsters a chance to reconnect with siblings, have a good time and create good memories that will stay with them during the tough times.”

During the week, children will swim, kayak and participate in sports and other outdoor activities in a fun, safe and nurturing camp setting within the 1,082-acre park. For most of the children, it was the first time attending sleep-away camp and was especially memorable since they were able to share the experience with their brothers or sisters.

The sibling session at Camp Morty is a joint effort of the county’s Departments of Parks and Social Services. It is one of only a handful of camps like it offered in the United States.

Studies have shown that siblings are most likely to be separated when they come into foster care as older children, have more than one or two brothers and sisters, have developmental disabilities or have come into care at different times. While most states have policies that encourage siblings to continue their relationship, the current system makes it difficult to keep siblings together.

Spano said that Morty Hyman, the former county supervisor of camps after whom the camp is named, would have been especially pleased about the sibling session since he was separated from his brothers and sisters after his mother died when he was a boy. His widow, Camille, and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all attended the camp open house.

Children from 13 different families are attending this first “Sibling Session.’’ In addition to Shantio, who will reconnect with her brother, James and sisters, Yvette and Yashima; the group includes:

•  17-year-old twins, Christopher and Thomas, who live in different residential facilities.
• Twins Joseph and Aaron and their brother Isaiah, who live in three different foster homes.
• Twins Tremell and Tamell, one lives with the mother and the other in a foster home.
• And a set of four siblings, Elijah, Chayanne,  Isian and Tylan, who live together in one foster home, and are being reunited with a fifth brother, Elliot.