“As the industry leader, we’ve always recognized our responsibility to go beyond insurance and find ways to build stronger and safer communities for our customers and the neighborhoods we serve,” said Paul Smith, Chief Operating Officer at State Farm. “This partnership with ADT gives State Farm the opportunity to provide Smart Home technology that takes us from our ‘repair and replace’ model to a ‘predict and prevent’ mindset. These innovations will help us take the next step into the future of home insurance and add more value for our customers.”

As part of this new partnership, and by building upon ADT’s existing relationship with Google, the companies will combine next-generation security, innovative smart home technology and reimagined risk-mitigation capabilities to monitor, detect, help prevent and optimize against homeownership risks.

With 13.7 million homeowners policies in force, State Farm will invest up to $300 million in an opportunity fund to support product innovation, technology and marketing that will differentiate and improve the customer experience for homeowners.

The companies will embark in the product innovation, technology development and marketing process together under the fund investment.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC was the financial advisor to State Farm, and Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal advisor. Citi and Evercore were the financial advisors to ADT, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP acted as legal advisor.

For more information, visit the State Farm Newsroom and ADT Newsroom.

About ADT Inc.:

ADT provides safe, smart and sustainable solutions for people, homes and businesses. Through innovative products, partnerships and the largest network of smart home, security and rooftop solar professionals in the United States, we empower people to protect and connect what matters most. For more information, visit www.adt.com.

Imagine you're a teenager. You want to hang out with your friends, but you have to go home, clean the house, cook dinner and take care of your sick parent or family member. It's a lot. You want to do it. You love them and you’d do anything for them. But still, you're just a teen.  An assist here and there would be nice...

I'll help with your appointment.

I’m cooking tonight! I did the laundry, dishes and cleaned the house today.

I love you mom! I’m always here for you!

These are commonly heard statements in the Cuco house. Dianne and Tanya Cuco have been caring for their mom since her leukemia diagnosis in 2008.

“It was so hard. Our dad left the house one year before my mom got ill,” says Dianne. “At first, my older sister and I didn’t know what to do.”

They quickly learned to care for their mom even while they were going to school and work. Both sisters do housework. They give their mom medication and take her to buy groceries.

Tanya is now a college sophomore studying to be a radiologist. Dianne, a ninth-grader, wants to be a veterinarian or marine biologist someday.

“Hopefully I can do something bigger for my mom when I grow up, like buy her a house,” says Dianne.

Caregiving youth, like Dianne and Tanya, help their relatives deal with physical or mental illness or disability. This help is significant and often on a daily basis, according to the American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY), a support organization for youth and their families.

These eight to 18-year-olds often forgo their education, health, and childhood to take on the responsibilities of an adult caregiver.

For children in ethnic-minority families, things can be even more complicated. Sometimes they are the only English-speakers in the family. They often miss school to serve as translators for family doctor appointments.

These heavy responsibilities can cause them to fall behind in school. They sometimes struggle with feelings of isolation and anxiety. 

Carmella Keim was five when her mom was diagnosed with a brain illness that affects her balance.

“I help give her medicine, clean around the house, and also help my dad cook,” says Carmella. She is a freshman now at Florida Atlantic University studying to be a schoolteacher.

State Farm and ADT are supporting these children and their families. They are helping relieve anxiety through AACY's Caregiving Youth Stress Reduction Project. It provides a source of 24/7 live communication for ill or disabled family members. This allows the youth caregiver to focus on school and socialization.

“I’m so glad my mom now has the medical alert bracelet,” says Tanya. "Before having it, she felt insecure and scared to be home alone. Now my sister and I have peace of mind while we are at school or work. We know she can get help if she falls down.”

“The medical alert pendant allows my daughter and husband to leave the house without worrying about me falling,” says Denise Keim. “Thanks to State Farm, ADT and AACY, my daughter is finally getting the freedom and childhood she deserves.”

ADT is the nation’s leading provider of home security services. They are donating ADT Medical Alert monitoring devices to 100 AACY client families. AACY selects families and works with ADT to provide the appropriate device at no cost. State Farm is covering monitoring service costs for one year for all 100 families.

State Farm also offers connected care options and customer discounts on select ADT products. This helps meet the unique needs of customers in caregiving situations. For more information, visit statefarm.com.

BOCA RATON, Fla. and BLOOMINGTON, Ill., (August 30, 2016) – Going back to school is a mixed bag of emotions for most children; a blend of excitement to see friends again and disappointment that the summer is officially over. But according to the American Association for Caregiving Youth® (AACY), the start of the school year results in stress, anxiety and depression for the estimated 1.4 million youth between the ages of eight to eighteen years caring for ill or disabled parents or grandparents. These young people are often forced to forgo their education, health, and childhood to take on the responsibilities of an adult caregiver. State Farm, ADT, and AACY are hoping to relieve some of the stress for these families as the school year begins through the Caregiving Youth Stress Reduction Project.

More than one third of youth caregivers help with at least one activity daily for a loved one, such as dressing, feeding or bathing. Children in ethnic-minority families who are the only English-speaking family members often miss school to serve as translators for family doctor appointments. As a result of these heavy responsibilities, these children often fall behind in school and struggle with feelings of isolation and anxiety.

The Caregiving Youth Stress Reduction Project aims to relieve some of this anxiety by providing a source of 24/7 live communication for ill or disabled family members while allowing the youth caregiver to focus on school and socialization. ADT, the nation’s leading provider of home security services, will donate ADT Medical Alert monitoring devices in the homes of 100 AACY client families throughout the remainder of 2016. AACY will select families by identifying their needs and working with ADT to provide the appropriate device at no cost to the family.

“All of us at ADT, along with our colleagues from Protection One, are proud to help make a difference in the lives of families who will benefit from this donation,” said Jay Darfler, ADT Senior Vice President. “We applaud AACY for the tremendous work they’re doing to increase awareness and provide support to youth caregivers.”

State Farm will pay the cost for one year of monitoring service for all 100 families. The State Farm Connected Care program helps consumers age in their homes by providing accessibility to leading aging-in-place technology providers through a variety of automation and monitoring systems and medical alert devices. “As the leading provider of homeowners’ insurance, State Farm has a vested interest in helping build safer, stronger, and better educated communities,” said Dar Hakimi, State Farm Director-Innovation. “By forming relationships with companies such as ADT, we are empowering customers help protect themselves, their family members and irreplaceable possessions.”

The donation of medical alert devices and one year of paid monitoring service was announced at the AACY Back to School Brunch on Thursday, August 25 in Boca Raton, Florida. The event also honored Carolyn Boltin-Kelly, First Lady of Florida Atlantic University, an advocate and former youth caregiver who cared for her mom as she battled cancer.

According to Dr. Connie Siskowski, “We are thrilled to help reduce the stress on the youth caregiver plus other caregiving adults in the home. In addition, the systems also provide comfort for the care receiver as explained by one mom: ‘You have really made life easier for me knowing that my children aren’t stuck with the burden of my issues and making sure that they have the life they deserve.’”

About ADT

ADT is a leading provider of security and automation solutions for homes and businesses in the United States and Canada. ADT's broad and pioneering set of products and services, including ADT Pulse® interactive home and business solutions, and health services, meet a range of customer needs for today’s active and increasingly mobile lifestyles. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, ADT helps provide peace of mind to nearly seven million customers, and it employs approximately 17,000 people at 200 locations. More information is available at www.adt.com.

About the American Association of Caregiving Youth

The American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY) is a Florida based 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation that began serving the greater Boca Raton community in 1998. Today AACY is the only organization of its kind in the United States solely dedicated to addressing the issues surrounding the silent, vulnerable and hidden population, conservatively estimated to exceed 1.4 million children, who provide care for ill, injured, elderly or disabled family members. Its mission is to increase awareness and provide support services for youth caregivers and their families by connecting them with healthcare, education and community resources. AACY's model program, the Caregiving Youth Project (CYP), works in partnership with The School District of Palm Beach County. Dr. Connie Siskowski, the organization's founder was a 2012 CNN Top Ten Hero.

It was a cold March day in Owasco, New York but Lynn Smith’s heart was warm with love. Like most grandparents, there is nothing more special than spending time with her grandchildren.

Her daughter Kelly came up for the weekend from New York City with her girls, Olivia, four, and baby Mila, 10 months. Lynn’s son, Stephen, who lives nearby, came with his three girls. It was a packed house.

Lynn turned on the portable heater in the back bedroom where baby Mila would sleep since it was so cold outside. Everyone went to bed exhausted after a long day of driving and playing.

At 2:00 a.m. Kelly woke up to baby Mila crying. She went into the back bedroom, scooped up Mila, and brought her into bed. Both fell back to sleep.

At 5:30 a.m. Lynn was half awake when she heard the hallway smoke detector. She initially thought the battery was low but at the same time the ADT smoke alarm was going off. It got louder and louder.

Lynn jumped out of bed and ran to the room with the portable heater. There was a chemical smell in the air. Lynn’s daughter Kelly woke up too. At first she wasn’t worried but then her mom came bursting into the bedroom.

Kelly ran into the room where baby Mila had been sleeping and saw the portable heater was on fire. The flames were already a foot high.

Kelly had Mila in her arms and ran into the room where her daughter Olivia was sleeping. She woke up Olivia, grabbed her hand, and made it out of the front door. Kelly’s eyes were stinging from the smoke but the family was out of the house safely.

Nearly 800 miles away, ADT Dispatcher Amanda Willoughby started her 4 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. shift at ADT’s Knoxville, TN monitoring center. Her job requires her to be calm and ready to assist customers should a monitor go off.

At approximately 5:30 a.m. she received an alarm notification from the ADT system at the home of Lynn Smith. She immediately contacted the fire department to report an emergency.

At the same time Kelly was calling 911 to report the fire, Lynn received an incoming call.

“This is Amanda with ADT security. Is everything okay there?”

Amanda asked if everybody was out of the house and informed Lynn the fire department would arrive shortly. Within minutes, Owasco Fire Department trucks and ambulances were on scene. Thanks to the quick response, the fire only had time to scorch the bedroom carpet and blacken the walls in half the house.

Being Thankful

“We could have slept through it. The smoke could have killed us,” shared Lynn.

State Farm Agent Ray Haynes was also thankful too. As an insurance agent, he knows how devastating a fire can be for a homeowner and was very relieved his customer Lynn and her family were safe.

On April 22, 2016, six weeks after the fire, ADT held an event at Smith's home. ADT presented the company's highest honor, the LifeSaver Award, to Willoughby and the technicians who installed the home's alarm system. The company flew Willoughby in from Knoxville, TN so she could not only accept the award, but also meet Lynn Smith personally.

ADT and State Farm representatives presented $10,000 to the Owasco Fire Department for its efforts that day. Fire Chief Chris Morabito said the grant will fund the purchase of an air compressor to fill firefighters' bottles before they enter dangerous environments like the one at the Smith home.

"Every two and a half hours, someone in America dies in a house fire," Morabito said at the event. "Smoke detectors are a definite need in every house. If you can hook it up to a center like ADT that makes it even better because you know you're getting somebody to call you back and make sure everything is good."

To learn more about an ADT special offer for State Farm customers, visit the ADT Home Security website or State Farm Home Protection & Automation. Homeowners and renters may qualify for the Home Alert Protection Discount. Contact your State Farm agent for details.

Check out the ADT blog about Lynn’s story.

The alarm sounded just as Joyce Miller was about to step out the front door. Her first reaction wasn’t panic, but confusion – there was no burning smell, no heat coming from anywhere on the first floor. But when she went to the second floor, she looked into a bedroom and saw flames stretched from floor to ceiling.

She closed the door on the flames and ran downstairs, calling out for her five cats, hoping to get them to safety before the fire reached the rest of the house. As she looked for her pets, the alarm company called to confirm there was a fire, telling her they had dispatched the local Harrods Creek (Ky.) Fire Department.

Knowing she didn’t have much time, Miller quickly put one cat in the car and backed the car out of the garage. She found another cat and put it in the garage with the doors closed. But try as she might, she couldn’t find the other three cats.

“Common sense comes into play and you realize you have to get out,” Miller said. Hoping the cats were safe wherever they were hiding, Miller hurried out the back door.

A Lesson From Her Neighbor

Miller installed a home monitoring system in her Prospect, KY home at the recommendation of her State Farm agent.

“I had always wanted to do that,” Miller said. “But it’s one of those things you put off.”

Miller and her late husband were longtime customers of State Farm. Denny Vogel, the Miller’s State Farm agent, said he often talks to customers about the benefits of a home monitoring system. But the most powerful selling point is the endorsement of a friend or neighbor who had an experience (burglary) like Miller’s.

“I definitely use it as an example, especially in this neighborhood,” Vogel said.

“I don’t think I realized how great a monitored fire alarm system was,” Miller said, “until the morning of December 11, 2013.”

A Matter Of Minutes

The fire department arrived at 8:08 a.m., just six minutes after receiving the call from ADT. They saw smoke coming from the eaves beneath the roof and worried the fire had spread to the attic.

Firefighters proceeded upstairs to the bedroom where they found a mattress engulfed in flames, caused by a malfunctioning electrical outlet. They knocked down the flames and dragged the bed downstairs into the yard to finish putting out the fire. Though it seemed like an eternity to Miller, it took just 90 minutes for firefighters to save her home.

She found two of the missing cats under a bed downstairs. The other emerged from the basement when the ruckus died down. Now, three months later, repairs to the house are almost complete, and Miller and her cats are getting back to normal.

If a home security system had not been present, it is possible Miller would not have heard an alarm at all and would have continued to leave her home that morning. And she might have inadvertently left the fire to grow. She could have come home to nothing but ashes.

“Even if she had battery operated smoke detectors, nobody would have been there to hear them,” said Major Steven Hanson of the Harrods Creek Fire Department. “We could get there in five minutes or less, but if a fire’s been cooking for 45 minutes, there’s not much to save when we get there.”

The alarm sounded just as Joyce Miller was about to step out the front door. Her first reaction wasn’t panic, but confusion – there was no burning smell, no heat coming from anywhere on the first floor. But when she went to the second floor, she looked into a bedroom and saw flames stretched from floor to ceiling.

She closed the door on the flames and ran downstairs, calling out for her five cats, hoping to get them to safety before the fire reached the rest of the house. As she looked for her pets, the alarm company called to confirm there was a fire, telling her they had dispatched the local Harrods Creek (Ky.) Fire Department.

Knowing she didn’t have much time, Miller quickly put one cat in the car and backed the car out of the garage. She found another cat and put it in the garage with the doors closed. But try as she might, she couldn’t find the other three cats.

“Common sense comes into play and you realize you have to get out,” Miller said. Hoping the cats were safe wherever they were hiding, Miller hurried out the back door.

A Lesson From Her Neighbor

Miller installed a home monitoring system in her Prospect, KY home at the recommendation of her State Farm agent.

“I had always wanted to do that,” Miller said. “But it’s one of those things you put off.”

Miller and her late husband were longtime customers of State Farm. Denny Vogel, the Miller’s State Farm agent, said he often talks to customers about the benefits of a home monitoring system. But the most powerful selling point is the endorsement of a friend or neighbor who had an experience (burglary) like Miller’s.

“I definitely use it as an example, especially in this neighborhood,” Vogel said.

“I don’t think I realized how great a monitored fire alarm system was,” Miller said, “until the morning of December 11, 2013.”

A Matter Of Minutes

The fire department arrived at 8:08 a.m., just six minutes after receiving the call from ADT. They saw smoke coming from the eaves beneath the roof and worried the fire had spread to the attic.

Firefighters proceeded upstairs to the bedroom where they found a mattress engulfed in flames, caused by a malfunctioning electrical outlet. They knocked down the flames and dragged the bed downstairs into the yard to finish putting out the fire. Though it seemed like an eternity to Miller, it took just 90 minutes for firefighters to save her home.

She found two of the missing cats under a bed downstairs. The other emerged from the basement when the ruckus died down. Now, three months later, repairs to the house are almost complete, and Miller and her cats are getting back to normal.

If a home security system had not been present, it is possible Miller would not have heard an alarm at all and would have continued to leave her home that morning. And she might have inadvertently left the fire to grow. She could have come home to nothing but ashes.

“Even if she had battery operated smoke detectors, nobody would have been there to hear them,” said Major Steven Hanson of the Harrods Creek Fire Department. “We could get there in five minutes or less, but if a fire’s been cooking for 45 minutes, there’s not much to save when we get there.”