What’s Your Story? Beth Graham

Beth has worked at the Athens County Board for many years and has held positions at Personnel Plus and within the SSA department. Beth is noteworthy for always helping out the new SSAs, caring a lot about the people on her caseload, and being an early adopter of person centered planning. Beth believes that “we shouldn’t try to put the people we work with in bubble wrap” and only worry about their safety. Beth believes we should instead balance safety with helping people grow and achieve their goals. Person Centered Planning does this by asking in-depth questions of individuals served, family, and friends, and finding new and innovative ways for people to meet their goals instead of only offering choices that are currently offered. Through this process, the people we serve have been able to make new friends, build on their strengths, learn how to fail, and succeed in ways they never thought possible. People like Beth spearheading this push have improved the quality of lives for people with disabilities in our community.