Phyllis Gilmore

{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Phyllis Gilmore | image = | caption = | state_house = Kansas | district = 27th | term_start = 1995 | term_end = 1999 | predecessor = Nancy Brown | successor = Raymond Merrick | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1945|2|4}}<ref name="kslib">{{cite web |url=https://kslib.info/BusinessDirectoryii.aspx?ysnShowAll=0&lngNewPage=0&txtLetter=&txtZipCode=&txtCity=&txtState=&txtBusinessName=Gilmore%2C+Phyllis&lngBusinessCategoryID=0&txtCustomField1=&txtCustomField2=&txtCustomField3=&txtCustomField4=&txtAreaCode= |title=Kansas Legislators, Past and Present - Gilmore, Phyllis |author= |date= |website=kslib.info |publisher=State Library of Kansas |access-date=December 23, 2022}}</ref> | birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri<ref name="obit">{{cite web |url=https://www.penwellgabelkc.com/Obituary/195089/Phyllis-Gilmore/Olathe-KS |title=Phyllis Gilmore Obituary |author= |date=January 24, 2021 |website= |publisher=Penwell-Gabel |access-date=December 23, 2022}}</ref> | death_date = January 24, 2021 | death_place = Olathe, Kansas | party = Republican | spouse = Kenneth Gilmore | children = 2 | alma_mater = Vanderbilt University }}

'''Phyllis Lee Gilmore''' (February 4, 1945–January 24, 2021) was an American politician. She served as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999, and as head of the Kansas Department for Children and Families from 2012 to 2017.

Gilmore was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended Vanderbilt University. She married and moved to Johnson County, Kansas in 1972, where she worked as a social worker.<ref name="obit"/> In 1994, she won election to the Kansas House, where she was re-elected in 1996 and 1998.<ref name="kslib"/> During her time there, she worked on bills that would affect the adoption system.<ref name="obit"/>

In 2012, Governor Sam Brownback named her to be Secretary of the Department of Children and families. During her tenure as secretary, she faced criticism about the department's implementation of policy on assistance to the poor, and on their mishandling of the cases of children in foster care. She stepped down in December 2017, when Brownback left the governorship and incoming governor Jeff Colyer targeted Gilmore in a staff shakeup.<ref name="journal">{{cite web |url=https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/state/2017/11/03/dcf-secretary-phyllis-gilmore-kansas-head-welfare-programs/16522135007/ |title=DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore, Kansas' head of welfare programs, to retire |author=Carpenter, Tim |date=November 3, 2017 |website=cjonline.com |publisher=Topeka Capital-Journal |access-date=December 23, 2022}}</ref><ref name="ksnt">{{cite web |url=https://www.ksnt.com/news/kansas-dcf-secretary-phyllis-gilmore-to-retire/ |title=Kansas DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore to retire |author=Dulle, Brian |date=November 3, 2017 |website=ksnt.com |publisher=KSNT News |access-date=December 23, 2022}}</ref> After her tenure as secretary, she retired, dying in 2021 in Olathe, Kansas.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmore, Phyllis Lee}} Category:1945 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Republican Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives Category:Politicians from Olathe, Kansas Category:20th-century American women politicians Category:Women state legislators in Kansas Category:Vanderbilt University alumni Category:Women state constitutional officers of Kansas Category:State constitutional officers of Kansas Category:20th-century members of the Kansas Legislature