Meet the Division Leadership

Marla McDade Williams

Marla McDade Williams

Administrator
Marla McDade Williams serves as the Administrator of the Division and was appointed in September 2023. She was formerly the Deputy Director of Programs, Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), providing oversight to the five Divisions’ programs. Marla has a long history with public policy and health and human services policy. She served as Senior Director for Northern Nevada for Strategies 360 and worked for DHHS for 10 years, including serving as Deputy Administrator for the Division of Public and Behavioral Health and as a Bureau Chief over the regulation of health facilities. Prior to working at DHHS, Marla worked for the Research Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau as a principal policy analyst for health and human services and was primary staff to the Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services and what was formerly the Legislative Committee on Health Care. Her more than 30 years of experience has enabled her to maintain an extensive network of community stakeholders and key policymakers throughout the State of Nevada.

Marla has served as a member of the Nevada Indian Commission, represents the Commission as a member of the Statewide Land Use Planning Advisory Council, and serves on the Executive Board of the Nevada Open Government Coalition. Marla earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Washington State University and her master’s degree in public administration from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Jacqueline Wade

Jacqueline Wade

Deputy Administrator - Children's Mental Health
Dr. Jacqueline Wade joined the Division in 2006 and currently serves as the Deputy Administrator over Children's Mental Health. In this role, she is responsible for the leadership and strategic direction of Nevada’s Residential and Community Services: The Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities, Desert Willow Treatment Center, Mobile Crisis Response Teams, Outpatient Medication Clinic, Intensive Case Management Wraparound In Nevada, Early Childhood and Children’s Mental Health. Prior to joining DCFS, Dr. Jacqueline Wade served as the Coordinator of School Based Services at the University of Nevada School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry where on campus mental health services were provided to Clark County School District students and their families and adjunct faculty at University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Social Work.

Dr. Wade has extensive clinical experience in the following settings: psychiatric hospitals, community-based services, adolescent group homes, convalescent hospitals, juvenile justice mental health departments, and clinical consultant to mental health agencies. Dr. Jacqueline Wade has experience in providing holistic client-centered therapeutic services to individuals across the life span i.e., children, adolescents, and couples. Additionally, she is a Board approved Clinical Social Work supervisor responsible for supervising students and Clinical Social Work interns.

Her professional interests are resiliency across the life span, challenges of families with limited English proficiency and access to mental health and healthcare services, people centric leadership, diversity and equity in the workplace, prevention services, and continued training and development of mental health professionals.

Sharon Anderson

Sharon Anderson

Deputy Administrator - Juvenile Justice Services
Sharon Anderson joined the Division in 2005 and currently serves as the Deputy Administrator for Juvenile Justice Services. In this role, she is responsible for the leadership, operations, and oversight of the statewide Juvenile Justice Programs Office, Youth Parole Bureau, and three state-operated residential juvenile justice facilities: Caliente Youth Center, Nevada Youth Training Center, and Summit View Youth Center. She joined the department in July 2005 as a Youth Parole Counselor, for the Nevada Youth Parole Bureau, where she specialized in gender-specific programming. She subsequently served at the same agency as a Senior Youth Parole Counselor and Unit Manager. She also served as the Committee Chairperson for the implementation of Juvenile Justice Reform Bills that passed during the 2017 Legislative sessions.

Prior to joining the Division of Child and Family Services, Sharon Anderson began her career in Human Services as a Residential Counselor for The Devereux Foundation, a residential facility for developmentally disabled individuals. She subsequently served as a Guidance Counselor/Group Worker at Rancho San Antonio, Boys Town of the West, a Corrections Officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons for several years, and before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, she worked as a Juvenile Probation Officer for the San Diego County Probation Department for 10 years.

She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a master’s in social work administration from San Diego State University, and she is a Certified Public Manager.

Betsey Crumrine

Deputy Administrator - Child Welfare
Betsey Crumrine joined the Division of Child and Family Services in 2007 and currently serves as Deputy Administrator over Child Welfare. In this role she is responsible for leadership and oversight of child welfare services statewide ensuring adherence to state and federal child welfare mandates for practice, reporting, and continuous quality improvement. She also directly oversees the child welfare agency serving the 15 rural counties.

For 36 years she has dedicated her career to serving the most vulnerable children and families. She has worked in the field of mental health and child welfare as a child protection caseworker, perinatal social worker, children’s mental health clinician, Guardian ad Litem, Social Services Program Specialist III and finally as a Social Services Manager V for 15 years before being promoted to this position. Her career has spanned several states to include, Maine, Minnesota, Anchorage and Homer Alaska, before moving to northern Nevada 18 years ago.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree in social work from the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is an LCSW and a Certified Public Manager.

Lori Ann Malina-Lovell

Deputy Administrator - Support Services
Lori Ann has served as the Clinical Program Planner II for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C Office, Director’s Office, DHHS, for 6 years, and during that time, established the Nevada Early Intervention Professional Development Center to support the education of developmental specialists in Nevada. This work has been instrumental in ensuring services continue to be delivered for over 1,000 families in 2024. In addition to leading and managing the Part C Office, she has performed fiscal management and participated in legislative activities, built and cultivated strong, supportive partnerships for stakeholder engagement, ensured regulatory compliance for Federal funding as well as grant compliance. Lori Ann has used data to drive decisions, provided Technical Assistance as needed, and lead innovative personnel retention initiatives. She has a Doctorate Degree in Public Health with a specialization in Epidemiology, a Masters Degree in Special Education and a Bachelors Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with disciplines in Psychology and General Science.

Kyra Morgan

Kyra Morgan

Medical Epidemiologist
Kyra Morgan serves as the Medical Epidemiologist for the Division, where she leads strategic research and evaluation initiatives to improve outcomes for Nevada’s children and families. With over 15 years of experience in public health, data analytics, and program evaluation spanning state- and county-level government as well as the private sector, Ms. Morgan brings a results-oriented, data-driven approach to policy development, clinical integration, and systems improvement. In her current role Ms. Morgan oversees the Planning and Evaluation Unit, a team of professionals responsible for statewide program evaluation and quality assurance across the Division. She also represents the Division on the Clark County Children’s Mental Health Consortium and plays a key leadership role in shaping evidence-based policies, diagnostic criteria, and interagency coordination strategies.

Previously, Ms. Morgan served as the Chief Biostatistician for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Analytics (2015–2024), where she advised state leadership on data-informed decision-making. She was instrumental in the development of the DHHS Data Portal that launched in 2023, Nevada’s Master Client Index platform, and several cross-sector data integration initiatives, significantly expanding access to comprehensive population health data across the state.

Ms. Morgan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Master of Science in Statistics, and she is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Health. A recognized innovator, she has received numerous accolades, including the Innovation in Data Dissemination Award from the National Association of Health Data Organizations (2024) and Nevada’s "Hero of the Day" for her pivotal work during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Known for her strategic thinking, collaborative spirit, and effectiveness under pressure, Ms. Morgan consistently drives operational excellence and advances cross-agency solutions to some of the state's most pressing public health challenges.

Davor Milicevic

Information Technology Manager
 

Sara Velasquez

Systems Advocate, Public Information Officer
Sara Velasquez joined the Division in 2018 and currently serves as the Systems Advocate overseeing constituent services and also serves as the Division’s public information officer, hearing officer, and media liaison.

Previously, Sara worked in the Juvenile Justice Services unit of the Division as the Training Officer for Summit View Youth Center. Prior to DCFS she was with the University of Nevada Clark County Extension Office as a program manager. Sara has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed journal articles, presentations, and curricula on the topics of juvenile justice, positive behavioral intervention and supports, women and substance abuse, nutrition, physical activity, eating disorders, and body image. Throughout her career, Sara has collaborated on projects in program planning, data collection and analysis, length of stay, evidence-based practices, racial & ethnic disparities, emergency planning and response, quality assurance, policy, and more.

Ms. Velasquez is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). She earned her bachelor's degree in health and her master's degree in public health from the University of Nevada, Reno.