Metropolitan State University of Denver

Dr Dawn R Matera

Personal Biography Statement

Dawn is committed to advocating for children and families!
She has worked with children, adolescents, adults, and families in a variety of mental health settings. Her committment to providing quality of services for this population has guided her to complete a Master's in Social Work and become a PhD Candidate. Her dissertation will focus on mental health interventions with children and adolescents.

Professional Affiliations

National Association of Social Workers
Society for Social Work Research
Council on Social Work Education

Conference Participation

Society for Social Work Research Symposium, 2011
Society for Social Work Research Symposium, 2010
Society for Social Work Research Oral Presentation, 2010
5th Biennial Adoption Conference, 2008
Colorado Coalition for Children & Adolescent Mental Health, 2006
Colorado Foster Parent Association, 2003
National Staff Development and Training Association, 2001
CDHS Child Welfare Conference, 2001
CAFCA Conference, 2001, 1998, 1996
Regional Training Consortium, 1998
Kaleidoscope Conference, 1996

Current Projects

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Supervisory skills for caseworkers

Public Good Grant: Art from Ashes in Collaboration with the Bridge Project

Current Projects

CURRENT POLICY PROJECTS

White paper on Transition –Age Youth and Young Adults with Mental Health Diagnosis, written in collaboration with the Colorado Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council, Youth and Young Adult Transitions Committee

Current Projects

Working toward the completion of a dissertation focused on issues related to child and adolescent mental health

Selected Publications

Hanna, M. D., Tokarski, K., Matera, D., & Fong, R. (in press). Happily ever after? The journey from foster care to adoption. Adoption Quarterly.


Nicotera, N. and Matera, D. (in progress). Building civic leadership through neighborhood-based afterschool programming.

Middleton, J. and Matera, D. (in progress). The impact of vicarious trauma on forensic interviewing professionals.

Courses Taught

SWK-3000,SWK-3010,SWK-3780,SWK-3790,SWK-390X,SWKM-5050,SWKM-6050,SWKM-6100
,SWKM-6205,SWKM-6206,SWKM-6500

Office Hours

Monday - [  :   to   :  ]
Tuesday - [  :   to   :  ]
Wednesday - [  :   to   :  ]

Current Semester Schedule