CULTURAL IMMERSION

Cultural Immersion Report

Jim Nye
Wilmington University AHS8100

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The modern foster care system was officially established in the mid-twentieth century,
but the unofficial history of foster care goes back for hundreds of years. Long before there was a
government-funded, state-run established system of foster care, communities took care of their
own people from the community were paid from collections of church congregations to care
for children who had lost parents to illnesses and death, and the practice of placing orphaned
children into indentured servitude was common (History of foster care in the United States,
2012). According to the National Foster Parent Association (2012), the modern system of foster
care can arguably trace its origin to 1853, when Charles Loring Brace, the director of the New
York Childrens Aid Society, began the free foster home movement out of his concern about the
large number of immigrant children who were homeless and living in the streets. He developed a
system to provide homes for these children by advertising for families willing to provide free
homes for these children in return for whatever help these children could be to the families, or
simply because the family wanted to perform a charitable act by housing them. (History of
foster care in the United States, 2012). By the end of the nineteenth century, other states had
begun to follow New Yorks example, and began to establish humane practices for children in
need of care, and enacting legislation to protect children from unsavory fostering situations. In
1885, for example, the legislature of Pennsylvania required that anyone providing foster care for
more than two children must obtain a license to do so (National Foster Parent Association, 2012).
In modern times, the need for foster care placements is great, and the reasons children
come into foster care are many and varied. The numbers of youth in foster care fluctuate, but the
average number of children placed in out-of-home care is around 500,000 (Research on Social
Work Practice, 2008). The first choice for placement by family service workers is to place the
children with relatives, but if there are no relatives available (or willing) to have the children live
with them, the next choice is foster care. Most of the half-million children who come into foster

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care will be placed in traditional single-family foster homes, but some will be placed in group
homes. The numbers of group home placements fluctuate over time also, but the average number
of available group home beds is approximately 180,000 (Crosland et al, 2008).
One of these group homes, The Elizabeth W. Murphey School, has met the need for
group foster care since 1922, when it was established and incorporated by Sanford Murphey. Mr.
Murphey was born and raised in Dover, Delaware by his mother, Elizabeth, and his father,
Thomas, who was a Presbyterian minister. Mr. Murphey grew up to become a successful coal
mine owner in Colorado and wanted to give back to the community in which he was raised. Mr.
Murphey, who never married and had children of his own, decided to devote all of his financial
resources to founding a home for children. He considered it his lifes work. In the mission
statement and certification of foundation that he wrote in 1922, Mr. Murphey wrote that it was
his goal for the Murphey School to be a place for children who otherwise would not have a
happy childhood, with staff helping them develop into useful adults while being raised there.
Mr. Murphey wrote that he expected the staff working at the Murphey School to be alive to the
responsibility of raising the children in their care. Mr. Murphey further wrote that [t]he
purpose of the School, therefore, is nothing less than a plan to meet, insofar as possible, the
needs of every child in its care to the end that these children will be well fortified to meet the
problems of life in whatever manner they may presents themselves. Mr. Murphey passed away
in 1928, but the legacy he began just six years before his death still thrives. The Board of
Directors still refers to his original mission statement and his original incorporation notes when
making decisions about the management and direction of the School.
The eligibility criteria for children to live at the Murphey School back then were very
simple: Parents who could not take care of their children due to poverty or other life situations
would bring the children to the Murphey School, and Sanford Murphey would take over

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guardianship of the children. Though guardianship was transferred directly to Mr. Murphey for
educational and medical decision-making purposes, parents and family members could still visit
the children and children could go visit their families, when it was possible. The services that the
Murphey School provided became even more important once the Great Depression hit the area,
and many families were unable to provide for their children. Financial hardships and the deaths
of parents were the most common reasons for children to come to live at the Murphey School in
its early years.
Once the modern system of foster care was established, the criteria for placement at the
Murphey School changed. Families could no longer bring their children directly to the Murphey
School for placement; they had to contact the Division of Family Services and let the Division go
through their process of finding a foster placement. All youth who are placed at the Murphey
School now are referred by the Division of Family Services (DFS), an arm of the Delaware
Department of Services to Children, Youth, and their Families (DSCYF). According the the
AdoptUSKids website, there are over six hundred children currently in Delawares foster care
system; the Murphey School houses around thirty of them at any given time during the year. The
capacity is forty children, but the number of children in care at the Murphey School at any given
time is dependent on referrals from DFS and the availability of space the Murphey School has
for the age and gender children referred (cottages are separated by gender and age group; there is
a cottage for younger boys, a cottage for younger girls, a cottage for older boys, and a cottage for
older girls).
Immersion Experiences
To gain more understanding about the experience of someone in foster care, I chose to
watch the movie Antwone Fisher and interview a young African American man about his
experiences in foster care.

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Antwone Fisher is based on the book Finding Fish, an autobiographical account of Mr.
Fishers horrific experiences in foster care, and his eventual healing through therapy while in the
Navy. The movie was powerful, and underscores the existence of negative spaces in the foster
care system. The foster family that Antwone was placed with was abusive in all ways;
emotionally, physically, and sexually. The foster family kicked him out in his late teens after he
stood up for himself, and he ended up in a reform school until he aged out of foster care.
Antwone was homeless after aging out, and ended up joining the Navy, where his buried anger
manifested itself into fights with other sailors and a disdain for authority. His commanding
officer ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and while he was reluctant at first, when Antwone did
begin to talk to the therapist, the details of his painful childhood in foster care started to spill out
in catharsis. Encouraged by the therapist, and with support from a new girlfriend, Antwone
decided to try to find his family. During a trip to Cleveland, where he was born, he was able to
confront the abusive foster family (despite everything you tried to destroy me, Im still here,
strong), and after the foster mother gave him the last name of his father, he painstakingly called
every person in the phone book with his fathers last name, Elkins. He was able to connect with
his fathers sister, and the subsequent discovery of many paternal relatives the family he had
always dreamed of. Through those relatives, he was able to meet his mother, which was tense
and difficult, but allowed Antwone to say things he had always wanted to say to her.
The movie was a powerful statement about the importance of foster care oversight
providing better services to children in foster care, the importance of these children being able to
connect with their families of origin, and mostly the strength of the human spirit. Antwone was
able to put some closure to the pain of his past, and move forward in a positive direction
afterward. The children in foster care have a strong intensely strong pull to be connected with
their families of origin, even if those families have not been positive influences or even if they

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have been neglectful or abusive. This has to be recognized in service planning, and especially in
transition planning as children age out of foster care. The young adults will invariably seek out
their families after aging out, and need extra support (like the doctor gave Antwone) as they go
through that process.
I sat down for a conversation with a nineteen-year-old African American man, G, who
came into foster care at the age of 16 with two younger siblings (he has two older siblings in
their early 20s). Their mother, struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues, was
unable to secure stable housing or employment, which led to the childrens placement in foster
care. In contrast to Antwone Fishers experiences, G characterized his experience in foster care
as being positive; he said that the rules and structure that he has had in his foster placement at the
group home have helped him to control impulsiveness. He said that when he was with his
mother, there were no boundaries, and he could come and go as he pleased and do whatever he
wanted. I asked him if he felt that people in general are sensitive to his situation, and he said that
they are. He said that people dont bring it up to him, and that sometimes when the subject does
arise, he doesnt mind talking about it. However, he said that he does get into moods where he
does not want to talk about it, and it just angers him if people bring it up in social situations. He
said that he is able to simply say, Id rather not talk about it now and changes the subject. G
could not identify any unmet needs when asked. He listed necessities, and said they are all
provided food, a bed, clothes. I asked him about any unmet needs in other areas, such as
education or planning for his future. He smiled and said that he is going to graduate in June, and
there are a lot of people who stay on [him] about keeping his grades up so he can do that. I
asked him if he felt like his voice was heard in his placement at the Murphey School, and he
said that while he feels he is heard, he said that when it comes down to a staffs word against
his, the adults always win.

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7
Assessing the Agency

Community
The neighborhood immediately surrounding the Murphey School could best be described
as residential. The Murphey School is located in the middle of Dover, so besides residences there
is a variety of community elements within a short walk: Central Middle school, Wesley College,
Silver Lake park, restaurants, government buildings, museums, historic landmarks, the Post
Office, and Dover Library, to list a few of note.
Access
Children are placed at the Murphey School by the Division of Family Services. The
agency works with departments statewide when placing children. DFS workers, family members,
and children can access information about the agency and its services by calling or by visiting
the Murphey School website.
Receptivity
The main office of the Murphey School is tastefully decorated, and offers brochures and
sitting areas in the hallway. However, because there is no designated reception area, it can be
confusing for someone coming into the office for the first time to know where to go or who to
talk to. The office is usually very quiet, and because the Office Manager acts as the receptionist
and the bookkeeper, she is often on the phone or busy when a visitor walks in. Some signage
directing visitors to the Office Managers office would be helpful. Though the office is
welcoming, it is not clear where visitors should go or who they should talk to in order to ask
questions or get information.
Training
There is cultural diversity training as part of the initial orientation that is mandatory for
all new hires, but it is not specific to the culture of youth in foster care. In my opinion, the
training that the on-site counselor teaches the new staff is more relevant as training in the culture
of youth in foster care. He calls it Hole in the Heart, and it deals with the empty spaces that
kids come to foster care with, how kids try to fill them, and how the adults can most

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appropriately help the kids fill those voids, whether they are emotional, mental, educational, etc.
The agency does employ former foster youth, and there have even been some youth who lived at
the Murphey School who came back to work there. In fact, the maintenance supervisor from the
mid-80s until the mid-2000s lived at the Murphey School from the age of 3 until he graduated
high school and entered the military. Though he retired from that position, he still works part
time in the maintenance department.
Funding
The agencys funding comes mostly through the per diem paid by the State for the
placement of the children, and is used for all expenses of operating the agency, including hiring
and training of staff. The agency also applies for grant funding as appropriate, in order to offer
programs such as tutoring, enrichment experiences, and partnerships with other community
agencies, such as the Dover Police Department, to offer opportunities for the children in care.
Staff Sensitivity
Overall, the staff is sensitive to the childrens needs as foster children, non-judgmental,
and respectful to the children. Once in a while there are staff members who may speak harshly or
become frustrated with the children, and those situations are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Staff members who repeat mistakes such as those dont remain employed long. A culture of
patience, nurturing and warmth is what is needed to help these children; anything less is
unacceptable. By and large, staff members are aware of any special needs, and deliver services to
the children based on those needs.
Programs and Services
Effort
The agency does reach out to the kids in its care, via a semi-annual anonymous client
satisfaction survey. There is also a body within the organization made up of children in care,
called the Resident Advisory Council. The RAC meets monthly with the on-site counselor as its
advisor, and discusses issues that are important to the children, such as food, rules, bedtimes, etc.
The RAC input is taken directly to the Administrative meetings by the advisor, and the

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administrative team discusses their input. The RAC input has led to changes of policies, and
additions to programming.
Quality
The program at the Murphey School is broad enough to encompass the needs of foster
children of different cultures. When there is a need to go outside of the box of the program to
meet the needs of a client, it is done (for example, there are a few current residents who are
vegetarian, so a menu sensitive to the vegetarian diet was put in place). If a clients religion
required certain dietary restrictions or certain times/areas to practice, those needs are met (for
example, in the past there have been Muslim children in care, and protocols were put in place for
dietary needs and prayer times). The eligibility criteria are not specific to children of any
particular culture, only that they are children involved with the Delaware Department of Services
to Children, Youth, and their Families; I dont detect any bias in offering services.
Effectiveness
The numbers of clients served fluctuates depending on the number of referrals from the
Division of Family Services, but stays fairly stable, between 27 and 30. That number is just a
fraction of the children in foster care within the State of Delaware, but hopefully represents the
number of children that the DFS workers feel would flourish at the School. When I interviewed
G for this assignment, I asked him specifically about the quality of the programs and whether he
thought there were any unmet needs; he indicated that the quality and quantity of programs
offered to him was sufficient, and he did not feel he had any unmet needs. I cant identify any
unmet needs, though I do feel the coordination of services for youth transitioning out of foster
care could be better.
Efficiency
The Murphey School coordinates services with State agencies such as the Division of
Family Services, Prevention and Behavioral Health, and Youth Rehabilitative Services, as well as
other social service agencies like Delaware Guidance, A Center for Mental Wellness, Children

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10

and Families First, and Aid in Dover. Individualized service plans are created for the children by
a team made up of all the important players in the childs life, usually DFS workers, family
members, therapists, mentors, Murphey School representatives, etc. It is always to the best
interests of the child that the team communicates and coordinates its efforts on their behalf; the
better the communication, the more successful the plan is. Sometimes, children leave the care of
the Murphey School and move to foster placements or back home with family members. It is
imperative during those transitions that the team is communicating regularly about progress,
plans, and goals for the placement.
NASW Standards for Cultural Competence
Standard 9 of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Standards for Cultural
Competence states that social workers shall seek to provide or advocate for the provision of
information, referrals, and services in the language appropriate to the client, which may include
use of interpreters. The Murphey School provides an interpreter for Spanish-speaking children
and their families. This is essential during team meetings, school conferences, family counseling
sessions, and communication with staff. In my analysis, the agency meets Standard 9 of the
NASW Standards for Cultural Competence.
Conclusion
The Murphey School provides excellent care for children in foster care. In my analysis,
the agency meets the standards for cultural competence by providing services to a culturally
diverse group of clients, hiring a culturally diverse group of staff, providing training in cultural
diversity for staff, meeting the specific needs of clients of different cultures, involving clients in
their care, seeking input from clients in forming or improving programs, and coordinating
services in the best interests of the clients.

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11

References
Crosland, K. A., Dunlap, G., Sager, W., Neff, B., Wilcox, C., Blanco, A., & Giddings, T. (2008).
The Effects of Staff Training on the Types of Interactions Observed at Two Group Homes for
Foster Care Children. Research On Social Work Practice, 18(5), 410-420.
History of foster care in the United States. (2012). Retrieved from
http://nfpaonline.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1105741
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://adoptuskids.org/for-families/state-adoption-and-foster-careinformation/delaware
(n.d.). Retrieved from www.murpheyschool.org
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.naswdc.org/practice/standards/NASWCulturalStandards.pdf