After more than a decade of service as a Service and Support Administrator (SSA), Tom Sherman accepted a well-earned promotion in April to the SSA Team Lead position.
Sherman was first hired as an SSA in October 2011 and worked until 2019 when he temporarily left the job to explore other career options. It wasn’t long until Sherman realized he missed his job as an SSA, and after about 18 months he decided to rejoin SCDD in 2021.
“We have a lot of really great people. It’s always been a really pleasant place to work,” he said.
SSA Director Chad Phipps said Sherman did a great job as SSA for many years, which is what made him the perfect choice to offer the promotion of SSA Team Lead.
The new job carries a smaller case load, with greater focus on mentorship. There are two SSA Team Leads, and each of them are assigned a team of SSAs that they will help by debriefing complex situations, and how to navigate resources such as waivers, Medicaid and administrative responsibilities.
“I’m very much looking forward to doing this,” Sherman said. “Part of this new role is mentoring, which I’m really looking forward to doing. I’d like to help people learn things. We didn’t have that sort of thing when I started and there’s a lot to know in this job. This is an opportunity to help people who are starting out and give them better access to resources that will help get them through all that.”
Phipps agreed that Sherman’s experience and mentorship would be a great asset to new SSAs.
“His experience is invaluable; his demeanor and just how he carries himself. He’s always been great to work with residential providers in the county. He’s seen a lot and done a lot, and this will be a new experience for him, but I fully expect him to excel,” Phipps said.
Sherman is still maintaining his SSA case load for the time being while he fully transitions to his new job, but he said he’s excited to begin this new challenge.
For more information about the programs and services at Scioto County Developmental Disabilities, call the number provided or visit online at www.sciotodd.org, and like and follow them on Facebook and TikTok.