Assistant Secretary of Family Support

Ashley Sias

Ashley Sias currently serves as the Assistant Secretary of Family Support for the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services. With more than a decade of experience working for the Department of Children and Family Services, she has contributed to the agency's advancement by developing and implementing innovative strategies to better serve clients by concentrating on staff experience and personal and professional development.

Ashley began her public service career as a Social Service Analyst with the Department of Children and Family Services in 2009, where she was a front-line worker assessing and evaluating individuals for services including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Family Independence Temporary Assistance (FITAP), and Kinship Care Subsidy Program (KCSP). Interacting with clients on a personal level offered Ashley the perspective and empathy she needed to coordinate the development of Social Service policies and programs later in her career. After briefly leaving DCFS in 2013 to take a supervisory position at the Office of Juvenile Justice, Ashley rejoined DCFS in 2014, working on a range of programs and initiatives between 2017 and 2020, including serving as the Organization Change Management and Communications Project Lead for Louisiana Integrated Technology for Eligibility (LITE). Since December 2020, Ashley has advised senior leadership and the Assistant Secretary for Family Support Strategic Plan Initiatives, helping spearhead the development of DCFS's DSNAP estimator, assisting in the efforts of "Hunger Free" college campuses, and collaborating with UrbanFootprint to identify Louisiana's most vulnerable citizens and create strategic outreach initiatives to serve and empower such individuals.

Ashley graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2007, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice. In 2021, she received certifications in Communications Across Barriers from the Beegle Poverty Immersion Institute and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida MUMA College of Business. She has served on the American Public Human Services Association's (APHSA) IT Solutions Management for Human Services planning committee and was recognized as an APHSA Emerging Leader for 2021. Ashley represents DCFS on the Council of Children of Incarcerated Parents and Caregivers Board.

Ashley enjoys spending her free time with family, reading, playing billiards, and pulling for Louisiana sports teams. She is also a budding tennis enthusiast.