DCBS Commissioner Lesa Dennis
Lesa Dennis serves as Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), leading an agency that serves children, adults and families in all 120 Kentucky counties.
Commissioner Dennis began her career with DCBS in 1997 as a frontline social worker in Eastern Kentucky. Over nearly three decades, she has served in roles across the department, including Service Region Administrator, Director of Service Regions, Chief of Staff and Deputy Commissioner. She was appointed Commissioner in June 2023.
As Commissioner, Dennis is focused on strengthening DCBS as a modern, effective and accountable human services organization while keeping children, families and vulnerable adults at the center of the department's work. Her leadership emphasizes prevention, family preservation, child safety and permanency, stronger supports for kinship and foster families, improved outcomes for children in out-of-home care, and meaningful access to services that help families achieve stability and self-sufficiency.
Dennis believes the work of DCBS cannot be accomplished by government alone. She is committed to building strong partnerships with families, communities, providers, courts, schools, health and behavioral health systems, and other public and private partners. Her approach is grounded in the belief that child welfare belongs to all of us and that lasting improvements require shared responsibility, strong community capacity and a willingness to work across traditional systems and silos.
Under her leadership, DCBS continues to focus on strengthening the child welfare continuum, from prevention and early intervention to kinship care, foster care, permanency and transition to adulthood, while also improving the delivery of public assistance, child care and adult protective services. Dennis has championed efforts to better align resources, strengthen frontline practice and workforce support, improve accountability and data-informed decision-making, and ensure that services are designed around the needs of the people and communities DCBS serves.
Dennis earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Morehead State University and a master's degree in social work from the University of Kentucky. She remains deeply connected to the communities and families she has spent her career serving and is committed to strengthening DCBS so that every Kentuckian has the opportunity to reach their full human potential.
DCBS Deputy Commissioner Gena Boyle
Gena Boyle serves as Deputy Commissioner for the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services, a role she has held since May 2024.
Gena has extensive experience in public sector leadership roles and human services policy. She served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services, where she was part of a leadership team overseeing a social services system with 11,700 employees and a multibillion-dollar budget. In this capacity, she provided strategic oversight and guidance for the Divisions of Finance and General Services, as well as the Offices of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs and Trauma and Resilience Policy.
Previously, Gena held the position of Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources in Virginia. Her primary focuses in this role included implementing Medicaid expansion, improving maternal health outcomes, promoting trauma-informed care and practices among child and family-serving agencies, and preventing youth from entering the foster care and juvenile justice systems.
Gena is a proud 2004 graduate of Morehead State University in the eastern Kentucky mountains, with a Bachelor’s degree in government and minor in legal studies. She holds a Master’s degree in public administration and public policy from Virginia Tech University. Her professional passions include improving care and response for survivors of sexual and domestic violence and promoting greater understanding of the intersections of trauma and adverse physical and behavioral health outcomes, especially substance use disorder.
DCBS Chief of Staff Shannon Hall
Shannon Hall was named chief of staff for the Commissioner’s Office on Feb. 1, 2022. He has been with DCBS since 2001 and has held various positions in the department, most recently as service region administrator of the 15-county Northeastern Service Region, a role he held since 2015.
Hall’s main responsibilities include furthering the goals of department transparency and inclusivity as the agency works toward becoming a 21st Century DCBS. He is the conduit between leadership and staff on all personnel issues, including pay equity, professional development and safety, and has helped implement major improvements in these areas. He also currently leads the DCBS Critical Incident Task Force to strengthen staff safety and facility security.
Hall is a graduate of Morehead State University and gives much credit for his practical education and skills development to his colleagues, customers and leadership throughout his experiences at DCBS.
He is a lifelong Kentuckian and currently lives in Grayson with his wife, a social worker in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and their two sons.