Marlene Matarese

Marlene Matarese, PhD, serves as an Associate Research Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and Deputy Director of the Innovations Institute. With over 20 years of experience across individual, county, state, and national systems, she specializes in evidence-based intervention design and implementation science for public child, youth, and family-serving systems.

She earned her PhD in Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, complemented by an MSW and BA from Rutgers University.

Her research spans Child Welfare, LGBTQ+ Studies, Implementation Science, and Systems of Care, focusing on improving service access and quality for system-involved youth—particularly LGBTQ+ children in foster care—through tailored interventions and workforce development.

As Principal Investigator, she directs the National Quality Improvement Center on Tailored Services for LGBTQ+ Children in Foster Care, the National Quality Improvement Center on Family-Centered Reunification (both Children’s Bureau-funded), and SAMHSA’s National Center of Excellence for LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity. She co-founded Youth MOVE National to institutionalize youth voice in system design.