Matthew Poquette, M.S.W.
Research Associate
Matthew Poquette has made valuable contributions to a number of HZA’s evaluations since coming to the firm in the summer of 2015. Working from the firm’s Troy, New York office, he has been instrumental in developing matrices of policies and procedures which are used to guide case practice in Maine, as part of an organizational assessment ofMaine’s child welfare program. He also participated in a review of the state’s hotline to identify why differences exist between the number of reports referred for investigation and those which are conducted.
Mr. Poquette serves as a key player in a number of evaluations the firm is conducting of state’s Title IV-E Waiver programs. He developed a range of data collection instruments for the Waiver program evaluations, including interview protocols used to collect information from key agency and community stakeholders, and case level data. He participates in many of the data collection efforts and assists in analyzing the data and writing reports.
For an evaluation of Virginia’s juvenile justice program, Mr. Poquette conducted the quantitative analysis of a survey administered to youth on probation or parole. The information is being used by the state to identify where improvements are needed to ensure youth receive the services they need and receive support from their probation officers to become productive citizens and not return or venture further into the justice system.
Prior to coming to HZA, Mr. Poquette was a Mental Health Counselor at Glenmont Clinical Services in Delmar, New York. He conducted mental health evaluations and took psychiatric referrals; organized both individual and group therapy, including family therapy, couples therapy, and substance abuse counseling; and provided trauma education and comprehensive family assessments. Prior to that, Mr. Poquette served as a Child Protective Services Caseworker for Schenectady County Social Services in Schenectady, New York where he investigated allegations of child abuse and maltreatment while assessing the social services needs of individuals and families. In this position he also provided direct services, case planning and reassessment of families’ needs. Mr. Poquette worked with children placed in foster homes, institutions and adoptive homes during his time as a caseworker.
Mr. Poquette received a B.S. Summa Cum Laude in Psychology from SUNY Cortland in 2007, and went on to earn his M.S.W. from the SUNY Albany School of Social Welfare in 2009.
Program Evaluation
From Arkansas IV-E Waiver Evaluation Proposal – March 2016
Matthew Poquette, L.M.S.W., Research Assistant
As part of an organizational assessment of Maine’s child welfare program, Mr. Poquette helped develop matrices of policies and procedures used to guide case practice in Maine,. He is also participating in a review of the state’s hotline to identify why differences exist between the number of reports referred for investigation and those which are actually conducted. For the evaluation of Arkansas’s Title IV-E Waiver Mr. Poquette will assist with onsite data collection, case reviews and qualitative analysis.
He serves as a key player in all three evaluations the firm is conducting of state’s Title IV-E Waiver programs. He developed a range of data collection instruments for the Waiver program evaluations for Maine and West Virginia, including interview protocols used to collect information from key agency and community stakeholders, and case level data from community service providers. He participates in many of the data collection efforts and assists in analyzing the data and writing reports.
In addition, Mr. Poquette analyzed data from a survey administered to youth on probation or parole to identify satisfaction and areas of improvement with case practice in Virginia. He also participates in the case record reviews of Child Protective Services cases in Arkansas.
Prior to coming to HZA, Mr. Poquette was a Mental Health Counselor at Glenmont Clinical Services in Delmar, New York. He conducted mental health evaluations and took psychiatric referrals; organized both individual and group therapy, including family therapy, couples therapy, and substance abuse counseling; and provided trauma education and comprehensive family assessments. Prior to that, Mr. Poquette served as a Child Protective Services caseworker for Schenectady County Social Services in Schenectady, New York where he investigated allegations of child abuse and maltreatment while assessing the social services needs of individuals and families. In this position he also provided direct services, case planning and reassessment of families’ needs. Mr. Poquette worked with children placed in foster homes, institutions and adoptive homes during his time as a caseworker.
Mr. Poquette received a B.S. Summa Cum Laude in Psychology from SUNY Cortland in 2007, and went on to earn his M.S.W. from the SUNY Albany School of Social Welfare in 2009.
From Diligent Recruitment Waiver Evaluation Proposal – March 2016
Matthew Poquette, L.M.S.W., Research Assistant
Working from the firm’s Troy, New York office, Mr. Poquette has developed matrices of policies and procedures as part of an organizational assessment of Maine’s child welfare program. He also participates in a review of the state’s hotline to identify why differences exist between the number of reports referred for investigation and those which are conducted. He has been an active participant in each of the evaluations HZA is currently conducting of ACF funded waiver initiatives, including those in Arkansas, and will continue to assist with data collection and the qualitative analysis.
For both the Diligent Recruitment and Title IV-E Waiver initiatives, he has participated in onsite data collection efforts as well as case reviews. Mr. Poquette assists with analyzing the qualitative data, identifying themes and trends for the process evaluation component. For the evaluation of West Virginia’s Safe at Home West Virginia program, he developed a range of data collection instruments, including interview protocols used to collect information from key agency and community stakeholders, and case level data from community service providers. Mr. Poquette also assists in writing portions of the various reports.
Mr. Poquette has also analyzed data collected through a survey administered by Virginia’s Department of Juvenile Justice to youth in probation and parole supervision to identify satisfaction and areas of improvement with case practice. He also participates in the case record reviews conducted of Child Protective Services cases in Arkansas to measure compliance and identify areas where practice needs to improve.
Prior to coming to HZA, Mr. Poquette was a Mental Health Counselor at Glenmont Clinical Services in Delmar, New York. He conducted mental health evaluations and took psychiatric referrals; organized both individual and group therapy, including family therapy, couples therapy, and substance abuse counseling; and provided trauma education and comprehensive family assessments. Prior to that, Mr. Poquette served as a Child Protective Services caseworker for Schenectady County Social Services in Schenectady, New York where he investigated allegations of child abuse and maltreatment while assessing the social services needs of individuals and families. In this position he also provided direct services, case planning and reassessment of families’ needs. Mr. Poquette worked with children placed in foster homes, institutions and adoptive homes during his time as a caseworker.
Mr. Poquette received a B.S. Summa Cum Laude in Psychology from SUNY Cortland in 2007, and went on to earn his M.S.W. from the SUNY Albany School of Social Welfare in 2009.
From South Carolina Empowering Communities for Healthy Outcomes (ECHO) Proposal – February 2016
Matthew Poquette, M.S.W., Research Associate
Matthew Poquette was formerly a Mental Health Counselor at Glenmont Clinical Services in Delmar, NY. He conducted mental health evaluations and took psychiatric referrals; organized both individual and group therapy, including family therapy, couples therapy, and substance abuse counseling; and provided trauma education and comprehensive family assessments. Mr. Poquette has also served both as a Child Protective Services and as an Adult Protective Services caseworker in Schenectady County, located in upstate New York.
A recent hire at HZA, Matt has analyzed data of a survey administered to youth in probation and parole supervision to identify satisfaction and areas of improvement with case practice in Virginia. For the evaluation of a federally sponsored recruitment grant received by Arkansas’s Department of Health and Human Services, he assisted with the development of a focus group protocol of foster and adoptive parents to identify strengths and weaknesses of Arkansas’s recruitment, training and support efforts to prepare and retain families to provide care and support to youth. In addition, he has assisted with the development of surveys to be administered to that same State’s Division of Children and Family Services’ staff to measure program fidelity of the six Title IV-E waiver initiatives, and is doing the same for the evaluations of Maine’s and West Virginia’s Waiver initiatives. He also participates in the data analysis and report writing for the various federally sponsored programs. Mr. Poquette graduated from University at Albany, School of Social Welfare with a Master of Social Work in 2009.
From South Carolina Grant Writing and Evaluation Services Proposal – October 2015
Matthew Poquette, M.S.W., Research Associate
Matthew Poquette was formerly a Mental Health Counselor at Glenmont Clinical Services, Delmar, NY. He conducted mental health evaluations and took psychiatric referrals; organized both individual and group therapy, including family therapy, couples therapy, and substance abuse counseling; and provided trauma education and comprehensive family assessments.
A recent hire at HZA, Matt has analyzed data of a survey administered to youth in probation and parole supervision to identify satisfaction and areas of improvement with case practice in Virginia. For Arkansas DHHS he assisted with the development of a focus group protocol of foster and adoptive parents to identify strengths and weaknesses of Arkansas’s recruitment, training and support efforts to prepare and retain families to provide care and support to youth. In addition, he has assisted with the development of surveys to be administered to DCFS staff to measure program fidelity of the six Title IVE waiver initiatives. Prior to working for HZA, Mr. Poquette served both as a Child Protective Services and as an Adult Protective Services caseworker in upstate New York. He has also been a Mental Health Counselor at the public and private level. Mr. Poquette graduated from University at Albany, School of Social Welfare with a Master of Social Work in 2009.
Workload Study
From Colorado Child Welfare Caseload Study Proposal – November 2015
Matthew Poquette, M.S.W., Research Assistant
Matthew Poquette is currently involved in a special project in Arkansas designed to project the need for casework staff. Using workload studies HZA has conducted in other states as well as those conducted by other entities in states similar to Arkansas, he and Ms. Ryan (see below) are estimating the time child welfare caseworkers should be spending on the activities needed to serve different types of cases. The data will then be used to develop a series of projections showing how many additional staff are needed for investigations, for in-home cases and for out-of-home cases. The analysis is being conducted in preparation for a budget request.
Mr. Poquette has also been instrumental in developing matrices of policies and procedures which are used to guide case practice in Maine, as part of an organizational assessment of Maine’s child welfare program. He recently participated in stakeholder focus groups to review these matrices and assisted with the qualitative analysis and report writing.
Prior to coming to HZA, Mr. Poquette served as a Child Protective Services Caseworker for Schenectady County Social Services in Schenectady, New York where he investigated allegations of child abuse and maltreatment while assessing the social services needs of individuals and families. In this position he also provided direct services, case planning and continual reassessment of families’ needs. Mr. Poquette has worked with children placed in foster homes, institutions and adoptive homes during his time as a caseworker. He earned his M.S.W. from the School of Social Welfare at SUNY Albany in 2009. In 2007, he received a B.S. Summa Cum Laude in Psychology from SUNY Cortland.
Mr. Poquette will devote 312 hours to the study, with an additional 24 hours devoted in the event TRAILS analysis is added.