Brownback Names Head Of New Children And Families Department

Fri, February 03, 2012

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KMUW / Briana O’Higgins

Gov. Sam Brownback announced today he has chosen licensed social worker and former state legislator Phyllis Gilmore to serve as the administration’s secretary of the soon to be named Department for Children and Families.

The Department for Children and Families will be created along with the proposed Department of Aging and Disability Services under an executive reorganization order or ERO released today by the governor in order to implement his realignment of the state’s Medicaid agencies.

The reorganization will transition SRS into the new Department for Children and Families which will focus on child and family welfare issues.

In a release Gov. Brownback says he selected Gilmore because she is experienced in family and children-related issues and understands the many challenges faced by the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

Gilmore has a master’s degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis. She served as the executive director of the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board for more than 11 years, and served Johnson County as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives from 1994 to 2000.

The governor will sign and deliver the ERO to the Kansas Legislature on Monday. If neither chamber rejects it within 60 days, it will go into effect on July 1.