1990:
On 23 March the Children's Bureau establishes its own foundation (Children's Bureau Foundation, Inc.) to protect and manage its assets. Counseling continues to be a large part of the Children's Bureau's efforts, accounting for a total of 4,753 hours. The Bureau helps 2,085 in residential centers. A Transitional Living Program is initiated "to help young adults make an easier adjustment to life on their own." The Bureau serves 122 pregnant teens, 175 children in foster care, and 73 children in group homes. There are 70 adoptions, 44 through Homes for Black Children.

1991: Counseling programs average 5,000 to 6,000 hours this year and for each of the next five years. (Right)  >> Homes for Black Children symbolized the shift of the Children's Bureau at the end of the twentieth century toward community programming. These families associated with the program went to Washington, D.C. in the 1990s for the First Stand for Children.

1992: In January the Children's Bureau merges with the Family Support Center. It develops and implements ADAPTS (Adolescent Development and Primary Treatment Shelter) and HEART (Home, Education, and Respite Team) programs. <<  (Left) Childrens enjoyed a day of activites as part of the Respite Program at the Family Support Center in the 1990s.

Fewer children are living in group homes (31) and staying in residential centers (1,066) than in prior years. The Child Abuse Hotline receives 5,310 calls. The Family Support Center has its own auxiliary, which actively supports the Center's endeavors. 1993:
The Children's Bureau launches a residential-care program (ADAPTS Plus) on the northwest side of Indianapolis for emotionally disturbed children. The facility is set up to teach teens life skills, such as balancing a checkbook and preparing for a job interview. Indiana makes changes to the law regarding the confidentiality of adoption records. Now both parties can file with the State Board of Health to make contact.

1994: In the past two years a total of 335 families have undergone training to be foster or temporary parents for abused or neglected children. More foster families are still needed. (Right)  >> Fewer white children than ever before were available for adoption in the 1990s, when 60 precent of the caseload at the Children's Bureau were African American. (Photo by Carl Pope)

1997:
Ken Phelps resigns, and Ron Duke Carpenter becomes President and CEO in July. There are 81 children in group homes. The Crisis Center deals with 694 children, and 493 are in home-based counseling. Statewide, 1,000 children have been in foster care for more than six years. In November the United States Congress passes the Adoption and Safe Families Act, designed to expedite adoption and to reduce the number of children in foster care. The act is designed to force agencies to develop a "permanency plan"  early in the foster care cycle, which allows the state to terminate parental rights within a given time frame.

1998: The Children's Bureau administers or is involved in 20 definable activities or programs under the major headings of Group Home Living, Secure Residential Care, Transitional Living Services, Family Support Center, and Child and Family Services. <<  (Left) Ron Carpenter accepted a check from Fox 59 Community Fund in 1998 for the Safe Place Satuday program.

1999: Hoosier cartoonist Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, designs a t-shirt that promotes adoption awareness through a program called "My Forever Family, Indiana's Adoption Initiative." The Children's Bureau marks its 24th year of COA accreditation by the Council on Accreditation. The Bureau takes a leadership role in administering the Neighborhood Alliance for Child Safety, which educates neighborhoods on their roles in protecting children from abuse and helps families with a wide range of needs to keep them out of the welfare system. (Right)  >> The Children's Bureau of Indianapolis administered Indiana's Adoption Initiative. The statewide program,br> published "Picture Book," which features special needs children awaiting adoption.

2000: Indiana is attempting to find adoptive homes for more than 1,200 foster children. It is estimated that one in six of these adoptions will fail and the child will be returned to state care. <<  (Left) Supporters of Invest in Kids, a coalition to raise community interest in and advance advocacy of children's issues, gathered for a rally in 2000.

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2001:

The Children's Bureau celebrates its 150th anniversary.