Meet Matthew P. DeCarlo, Ph.D. candidate
DeCarlo is a Ph.D. candidate and adjunct instructor at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work. His scholarship interests are in social welfare policy, with a focus on self-directed supports for individuals with disabilities and the lived experience of receiving social welfare for individuals experiencing poverty.
DeCarlo has taught nine classes over two years at VCU in both the B.S.W. and M.S.W. programs. DeCarlo has also served as a teaching assistant in VCU’s distance education program. His approach to teaching focuses on democratic group facilitation, peer-to-peer learning and building critical-thinking skills for self-directed study.
DeCarlo’s dissertation, “Implementation of Self-Directed Supports for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Political Economy Analysis,” investigates how institutional factors and critical actors affect how state program administrators implement self-directed supports for individuals with IDD. He also serves as co-investigator on the State of the States in Self-Direction project — working in coordination with the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota and the NASDDDS. DeCarlo has received the Frédéric Bastiat Fellowship and Humane Studies Fellowship in support of his dissertation research.
Categories Faculty and staff, Students