1961 In May the Bureau's name is changed to the Children's Bureau of Indianapolis, Inc.

The Children's Bureau presents its third life membership to Mrs. Meredith Nicholson, Jr. The first two recipients were Mrs. Charles Garrard (1911) and Miss Gertrude Taggart (1915).

1962 The auxiliary sponsors an Indianapolis 500-Mile Race gala, its first charity ball at Riverside Park.

1964 Since 1959 the number of children and adolescents served by the Children's Bureau has increased dramatically The number of unwed mothers has risen 111 percent, to 346; the number of children placed for adoption is up 109 percent. There are 1,495 children receiving some care and 571 receiving full care, up 82 percent and 38 percent respectively

The War on Poverty is declared. This is a cornerstone of President Lyndon Johnson's vision of a Great Society. Over the next three years, laws will be passed to help alleviate poverty.

1965 The auxiliary's mission is "to assist the Board and the Staff of the Children's Bureau by interpreting the work of the Bureau to the community, providing volunteer assistants, and raising funds to augment the program of the Bureau." During the year, 28 children are adopted; 13 are minority children: 9 black, 3 Indian, and 1"interracial."

1966 "The outstanding concern of this year was the need for more applications from Negro couples interested in adoption."

1968 The auxiliary hosts its annual Thanksgiving party for foster parents and a Christmas party for children. Members again sponsor an annual dance and carnival at Riverside Park on the eve of the 500 Mile Race to raise money for art classes, dancing lessons, scholarships, and other enrichment activities for children.

1969 Mallon House for adolescent boys opens. It is named for director James Mallon's son, who was killed in Vietnam. By 1969 the Children's Bureau has placed more than 30 children from different Indian tribes across the United States as part of the CWLA Indian Adoption Project. Auxiliary members attend the annual Child Welfare Leagues central region conference in Pittsburgh to learn what others in the field are doing. They are the only auxiliary members to do so.

1970 Indianapolis's population is 744,624.

Evans House, a private home on the north side of Indianapolis, is donated to the Children's Bureau as a home for unwed mothers. It has facilities for as many as 10 girls and house parents. It also has a hospital room for emergencies. Members of the auxiliary establish one-on-one relationships with these girls through activities such as shopping trips. Evans House is an open home, meaning that it has fewer restrictions than traditional facilities for unwed mothers. It "de-emphasizes" family life because most babies are put up for adoption." Adoptive homes are found for 153 children, the highest number in the history of the agency to date. The number of children available for adoption will decrease hereafter as more unmarried women choose to keep their children.

The auxiliary sponsors the Peru (Indiana) City Circus "Big Top Twirl" dance at the Coliseum on the eve of the 500-Mile Race. It replaces the annual Riverside Park soiree.

1972 By March, 40 percent of the caseload is African American. Yet the Children's Bureau struggles to get a Black Adoption Council energized within the community

1973 The auxiliary continues to provide extraordinary support. This year, for instance, volunteers work 6,366 hours, or the equivalent of 2.2 workers for a year, in addition to raising more than $5,000.

The United States Supreme Court legalizes abortions with Roe v. Wade.

1974 The new Garrard House is built and furnished for approximately $160,000. The Children's Bureau opens and operates Morris House, a group home for boys with emotional or behavioral problems, under contract with the Office of Youth Development of Indianapolis on the east side of the city

1975 Morris House closes because of neighborhood problems, and the program moves to Evans House, which was originally used for unwed mothers. The Children's Bureau formulates a policy with respect to transracial adoptions. "The Board believes the Children's Bureau should proceed with an appropriate degree of caution in the placement of children across racial lines until more reliable evidence becomes available." Fewer children are placed for adoption, and there are more "waiting" children now.

1976 Morris House reopens as a facility for girls, ages 13 to 18. The Garrard House's occupancy rate now stands at 98 percent.

1979 The Children's Bureau establishes Homes for Black Children, an outreach program to meet the needs of minority children awaiting adoption and to educate the community about the need for black adoptive parents. Lilly Endowment and the Indianapolis Foundation award a one-year grant as seed money The Children's Bureau places 47 children for adoption, only 12 of whom are babies or young children; the rest are older children, sometimes in sibling groups. This marks a transition in the Bureau's adoptive services. The Children's Bureau undergoes voluntary national accreditation by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services. This process, which happens every four years, means that the agency is meeting or surpassing the highest national standards.

1980 Indianapolis's population is 700,807.

The Children's Bureau estimates that it has served more than 85,000 children and has placed approximately 5,000 for adoption since it was established.

1982 The auxiliary to the Children's Bureau celebrates its 50th anniversary.

1983 With the death of James Mallon, Janet M. Myers serves as acting director. Kenneth L. Phelps becomes director in October.

1985 Counseling becomes a large part of operations, with more than 3,600 hours devoted to it. Homes for Black Children finds homes for 23; total adoptions are down to 40. During the past year, auxiliary members have donated 11,069 service hours.

Indiana enacts a law that makes it the most restrictive state in the nation in regard to keeping adoption records confidential.

1986 The Family Support Center building is chosen as a Crisis Shelter for runaway youth. The Children's Bureau assumes administration of the respite care component from the Family Support Center and continues the mission of the existing "respite care program for abused/neglected children." The Bureau also assumes responsibility for the operation of the Delaware Youth Center, a center for male adolescents who are first-time offenders.

1988 The Children's Bureau establishes the Roberta West Nicholson Award to recognize an outstanding advocate for children on the local, state, or national level. The agency becomes a member of the Indiana Youth Services Association.

"Finding safe homes for children"

The types and the number of children available for adoption have ebbed and flowed with the tide of social and cultural change. For example, during World War II the number of available infants increased dramatically as women offered illegitimate children for adoption before their husbands returned from war service. In the 1970's widespread use of birth control pills, the legalization of abortion, and the loss of the stigma attached to single motherhood resulted in fewer healthy white infants available for adoption.

Concurrent with this change, however, the number of minority children placed for adoption has increased. Since the 1960's, the Children's Bureau has faced a growing need for homes for black children. By the early 1970's 40 percent of the caseload (foster and adoptive) was African American. This led to the founding of the Homes for Black Children program, which was established to create a pool of black adoptive parents and to reverse the growing trend of transracial adoptions.

Along with the increase in minority children available for adoption, the number of children with "special needs" has increased as well. Special needs children are older and have learning disabilities, backgrounds of abuse, or medical problems. Sometimes older children are part of a sibling group. Finding homes for these children has posed a different challenge than finding homes for healthy white infants.

Educating the public about the profile of children available for adoption has taken effort. In the early 1970's the Children's Bureau had a weekly segment on the Jim Gerard Show that featured a child, usually a minority infant, available for adoption. Later WTHR-Channel 13 began a similar weekly television report called "Thursday's Child." The Indianapolis Star has had a long-running column in Sunday's paper, "Sunday's Child," which features a child or a family group. Highly successful, these endeavors serve to keep one major mission of the Children's Bureau before the public; to find safe homes for children.

1989 In early April, a new Evans House for disturbed boys is dedicated. Counseling for children and families continues to be a significant part of the Bureau's efforts. Residential programs include Crisis Shelter, Runaway Shelter, Youth Center, and Project Safe Place. Youth generally stay in residential centers for a brief time before moving on to other situations. The auxiliary sponsors the first annual Children's Bureau Golf Classic.

The Legal Services Organization initiates a lawsuit against the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration for violating the constitutional rights of its wards by not moving them through the state welfare system quickly.

The Campaign for Healthy Babies is launched to reduce the high infant mortality rate among Indianapolis's African American population.

1990 Indianapolis's population is 741,962.

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 will average 5,000 to 6,000 hours this year and for each of the next five years.

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. 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.

The Federal Court orders reform of the Marion County Child Welfare system.

1993 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.

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.

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.

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. The annual CHILD (Citizens Helping and Investing in Lifelong Dreams) Award is established to recognize outstanding supporters of the Bureau and its clients.

1999 The Children's Bureau marks its 24th year of accreditation by the Council on Accreditation. 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 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.

2000 The Children's Bureau is one of only six non-profit organizations in the state to receive an Indiana Achievement Award for effectiveness.

With the rights of biological parents becoming of greater issue, some people are opting for "open adoption," whereby the child lives with the adoptive parent but maintains some contact with the biological parent. There are also same-sex couples and single-parent adoptions; same-sex adoptions are administered as single-parent cases.

This year 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.

2001 The Children's Bureau of Indianapolis celebrates its 150th anniversary.