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Updated: 1 hour ago 2025 Fact Book: Doing Business in Maine

John F. Murphy Homes: Making Lives Better for Children and Adults with Differing Abilities

PHOTO Courtesy of John F. Murphy Homes Residents, staff and family members celebrate Ashley Stasulis winning a bronze medal at the 2025 Special Olympics Winter World Games in Turin, Italy.

Making an impact, every day

“For Jess and for us, John F. Murphy Homes is family.”

Knowing their 46 year-old son Jess is cared for in a John F. Murphy (JFM) group home provides Jan Hanson and her husband John of Fryeburg with continued reassurance and immeasurable peace of mind.

Jess was born with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Because of significant behavioral challenges that come with his condition, he has lived in a JFM home for the past 25 years. “They do an excellent job of caring for him,” said John. “They know how to use their strategies to keep him safe, keep him happy.”

History

Since 1977, John F. Murphy Homes, Inc. has been a cornerstone in Maine’s efforts to support individuals with IDD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Headquartered in Auburn, JFM has grown from a single residence to a comprehensive network of services that empower individuals across their lifespan.

The roots of JFM trace back to 1954 when John F. Murphy, a member of the Lewiston Board of Finance, advocated for the use of the Garcelon School as an educational facility for individuals with developmental disabilities. This initiative laid the groundwork for future services in the region. Following Mr. Murphy’s passing in 1976, community leaders established the John F. Murphy Foundation for the Mentally Retarded Inc. in 1977 to honor his legacy. Starting with a modest $100 bank account, the organization opened its first home for six adults. Over the decades, JFM expanded its reach, now providing its continuum of services across 50 locations throughout the Greater Lewiston-Auburn area and beyond.

In 2000, the Margaret Murphy Centers for Children (named after John’s wife) were founded as special purpose private schools in response to growing need for this type of educational setting. In 2024, JFM’s Children Services expanded its footprint, when it opened its eighth school for children with developmental disabilities and autism in Brunswick. Other Margaret Murphy Centers are located in Lewiston, Auburn, Randolph and Saco.

PHOTO Courtesy of John F. Murphy Homes
A Margaret Murphy Centers for Children student works on language development with the help of augmentative communication devices and her Speech and Language Pathologist.

Services

To achieve its commitment of making lives better for children and adults with differing abilities, JFM offers a continuum of services designed to meet the diverse needs of individuals with IDD and ASD. These include:

Residential Services: JFM provides various 24/365 living options, including group homes, independent apartments and specialized facilities for medical needs, such as a licensed nursing home in Auburn. Through their Person-Centered Planning process, individualized support plans are developed to strengthen skills and confidence with the goal of greater independence. Community integration is a primary focus of JFM’s Residential Services as they strive to support independence, develop a sense of community and strengthen human connections.

JFM also offers shared living, where eligible members of the community may open their homes to care for an adult with a disability. Typically, this arrangement is with a family member but need not be.

Community Day Programs: Operating four distinct programs focusing on skill-building, community integration and personal development through activities like art, music, health and wellness, and volunteer opportunities. The core of what JFM does inside the walls of the Day Program is designed to better prepare people for similar opportunities in the community. In addition, JFM welcomes the community to join with its participants in group activities, through educational experiences and volunteer opportunities.

Employment and Work Support Services: JFM promotes Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) by offering individualized guidance and coaching to help people with IDD secure and sustain meaningful, community-based jobs. Services are tailored to each person’s goals and needs, with a strong emphasis on community integration. JFM partners with a variety of local businesses to create inclusive workplaces where individuals can thrive.

Its team of certified Job Coaches, Employment Specialists and Career Planners promote independence while providing support to individuals who then perform different job tasks tailored to the employer’s specifications, as well as the necessary interpersonal skills needed on the job.

Margaret Murphy Centers for Children (MMCC): A division of JFM, MMCC provides high-quality educational and clinical services to children from birth to age 21 across multiple locations in Maine. The schools employ or collaborate with professionals who hold a range of specialized qualifications or licenses relevant to both education and clinical treatment of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental disabilities.

Leadership & Workforce

PHOTOs Courtesy of John F. Murphy Homes
Todd Goodwin, JFM CEO

In January 2020, Todd Goodwin assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer, succeeding long-serving CEO Peter Kowalski. Goodwin brought extensive experience in Maine’s nonprofit sector, particularly in services for individuals with IDD, mental illness and substance use disorders. Under Goodwin’s leadership, JFM continues to build on its nearly half-century of providing critical supports to some of Maine’s most vulnerable residents. “Dignity, inclusion and opportunity should never be negotiable,” says Goodwin. “As we continue to grow, our unwavering focus remains on person-centered care, community integration and advocacy for individuals with differing abilities.”

PHOTOs Courtesy of John F. Murphy Homes
Brian Vye, JFM Senior Operations Director, Adult Services

Both the Adult and Children Services are always looking for dedicated, compassionate and caring people who are interested in joining the JFM team. The organization takes great pride in its staff and the work they do to improve the lives of the people the organization supports.

“The joy the residents get when they see me is the same joy I get when I see them,” says Patience Success Juwah, who has worked as a Direct Support Professional in a JFM residence for eight years since arriving in Maine from Nigeria. “I couldn’t imagine working without those people. They are like my family.”

PHOTOs Courtesy of John F. Murphy Homes
Michelle Hathaway, Senior Director, Children’s Services & Head of Schools, MMCC

As part of its commitment to workforce development, JFM ensures high-quality, relevant learning opportunities for its employees in order to meet state and federal certification requirements as well as to expand and ensure best practices in the delivery of its services. Certification training is offered in the following areas: Direct Support Professional, Certified Residential Medication Aide (CRMA), First Aid and CPR, Job Coach, and Welle (formally NAPPI) Behavioral Safety Management Course. These workshops are open to the public as well as to professionals from other agencies for a nominal cost.

JFM offers its employees a full complement of competitive benefits including medical, dental, vision, short/long term disability and term life insurances, accidental insurance​, employee assistance program, retirement plan, dependent care, and paid time off.

Advocacy

As members of the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) and the Maine Association for Community Service Providers (MACSP), JFM is actively involved in advocating for policies that enhance the lives of individuals with IDD and ASD. JFM leaders have provided testimony before the Maine Legislature, advocating for timely and sufficient reimbursement, design of improved delivery systems, and accountability in delivery systems. Advocacy at the federal level includes the work of creating a distinct occupational classification code and preserving Medicaid.

Recognizing the challenges faced by individuals aging out of children’s services, JFM supports initiatives like Maine’s proposed Lifespan Waiver, aimed at streamlining entry into adult disability services and building flexibility into Medicaid waiver programs to respond effectively to individuals’ needs as they age .

A society that engages and values all people

The dedicated professionals at John F. Murphy Homes utilize best practices and compassionate care every day to uphold their core values: high-quality services, accountability, communication and trust, community engagement, and viability and growth.

They are proud to be Maine’s largest and preeminent provider of support, treatment and education for those living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and autism. “We take our work and our obligations to the families and the people we serve very seriously,” says CEO Goodwin. “We’re very humbled to do the work, and we realize the great responsibility that comes with it.”

For more information about JFM programs and services, please visit their website at jfmh.org.

Additional data

  • 228 adults served
  • 151 adults cared for in residential settings
  • 8 schools serving 244 students
  • 47 owned properties

John F. Murphy Homes

800 Center St., Auburn, ME 04210

Sector: Health and Wellness

Todd Goodwin, CEO

Founded: 1977

Maine employees: 898 employees

jfmh.org