Deborah Smith is an innovative leader and social worker with extensive child welfare and social services experience at the local, state, and federal level. She is passionate about strengthening families and engaging communities. She serves as the Deputy Director at Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) where she is responsible for safety net services, childcare services, and child support services. She started her professional career as a front-line child welfare worker in rural Oklahoma. After 12 years of child welfare practice and management experience, she was promoted to Director of Child Welfare Services (CWS). She was the principal developer and author of the Oklahoma Pinnacle Plan. She also served as the Director of Innovation Services for several years where she worked agency-wide to identify efficiencies innovative strategies. Between the role of CWS Director and Innovation Services Director at OKDHS, she served 5 years at the federal level as the Regional Program Manager for the Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau out of Kansas City, MO. In this role, she worked with child welfare programs in KS, MO, IA, and NE along with the nine Indian Tribes located in those states.
