{"id":9092,"date":"2021-01-21T20:28:11","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T20:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrensbureau.org\/?p=9092"},"modified":"2025-04-28T13:10:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T17:10:59","slug":"press-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"PRESS RELEASE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Contact: Annie Martinez<\/p>\n<p>317 625-6005<\/p>\n<p>amartinez@childrensbureau.org<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Children\u2019s Bureau and Families First Sign Merger Agreement<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (January 21, 2021)\u2014 Children\u2019s Bureau and Families First, two of Indiana\u2019s most established nonprofits\u2014have joined forces to better serve families and children. With roots in the community that go back more than 185 years, a merger agreement to combine the two organizations has been signed.<\/p>\n<p>Children\u2019s Bureau and Families First have worked together for many years. Services not offered at one agency were offered by the other, making referrals between the two common. The merger will allow greater efficiency and impact for the children, youth, adults, and families served by both organizations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Children\u2019s Bureau\u2019s geographic scope, the new entity will be able to serve even more individuals throughout the state,\u201d said David Siler, President &amp; CEO, Families First. \u201cIn addition, this merger helps both organizations go further to offer a more holistic approach to child abuse prevention, family preservation, and recovery services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The agreement stipulates that Children\u2019s Bureau will work with Families First to transition operations including facilities, human resources, clinical programs, investments, accounting and finance, and all other programs and departments by the closing date of March 31.<\/p>\n<p>Guided by consultant Kelly Frank of Social Legends, both boards took a deep dive into the \u201cwhy\u201d for nearly two years to explore culture, programmatic fit, and economic opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCombined, both organizations will do even more to prevent child abuse by supporting and empowering families to reach self-sufficiency and stability,\u201d said Tina Cloer, President &amp; CEO, Children\u2019s Bureau.<\/p>\n<p>Cloer will remain as President &amp; CEO of the newly combined organization. It will be doing the same important work to strengthen families, protect children, and build more resilient communities.<\/p>\n<p>Matchbook, a strategic advertising and branding firm based in Indianapolis, will lead a brand study for the newly combined entity, which will include recommendations for an organization name.<\/p>\n<p>Nonprofit mergers are becoming more common. A 2020 study published in the <a href=\"https:\/\/ssir.org\/articles\/entry\/covid_19s_impact_on_nonprofits_revenues_digitization_and_mergers\">Stanford Social Innovation Review<\/a> showed that 23.1 percent of non-profits responding to the survey were exploring some type of permanent partnership; while in the two decades prior, that number was about one percent.<\/p>\n<p>Chair of the Children\u2019s Bureau Development Committee and member of the Young Professionals Advisory Board, Caitlin Smarrelli, said \u201cThis is an exciting merger.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Delta Faucet Company considered local non-profits to receive COVID-19 assistance, Families First was added to the conversation because of its emphasis on mental health, domestic violence, and helping youth. It seemed to provide services that fulfilled a lot of needs that were amplified due to the effects of COVID-19,\u201d she explained. and. \u201cI see this as a big win for families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe offer our congratulations on this new chapter in their service to our community and to the important work they do for Hoosiers both in normal circumstances and in times like these,\u201d said Ann Murtlow, President &amp; CEO, United Way of Central Indiana.<\/p>\n<p>Please visit <a href=\"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/\">https:\/\/www.fireflyin.org\/<\/a> to learn more about this merger and what it means for clients, stakeholders and donors. Individuals are also encouraged to connect with Children\u2019s Bureau on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FireflyIndiana\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/fireflyindiana\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/childrensbureauinc\/\">Instagram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fireflyIndiana\">Twitter<\/a> to follow exciting new developments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong><em>About Children\u2019s Bureau + Families First<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>On Thanksgiving Day, in 1835, citizens founded the Indianapolis Benevolent Society (IBS), an organization that would\u2014in responding to the changing needs of its community\u2014give rise to both the Children\u2019s Bureau and Families First.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>As the nature and focus of family preservation, prevention of child abuse, and adult recovery have intersected, the missions of these formerly parallel organizations have now once again come together to better meet the needs of today\u2019s children and families.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Annie Martinez 317 625-6005 amartinez@childrensbureau.org &nbsp; Children\u2019s Bureau and Families First Sign Merger Agreement INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (January 21, 2021)\u2014 Children\u2019s Bureau and Families First, two of Indiana\u2019s most established nonprofits\u2014have joined forces to better serve families and children. With roots in the community that go back more than 185 years, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PRESS RELEASE - Firefly Children and Family Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/press-release\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PRESS RELEASE - Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Annie Martinez 317 625-6005 amartinez@childrensbureau.org &nbsp; Children\u2019s Bureau and Families First Sign Merger Agreement INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (January 21, 2021)\u2014 Children\u2019s Bureau and Families First, two of Indiana\u2019s most established nonprofits\u2014have joined forces to better serve families and children. 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