Blaine Brockman, J.D. recently retired as APSI’s Board President after 12 years of service. During his tenure, he saw APSI improve and evolve from primarily a guardianship agency to a central voice in the developmental disabilities (DD) field.
Blaine's passion for helping people with disabilities sprouted before he went to law school when he was inspired by his sister-in-law Rebecca, who has disabilities. In 2001, he founded his fledgling law firm to achieve his dream of supporting the DD community.
“I attribute my sensitivity to people with developmental disabilities and my desire to be involved in that legal space to Rebecca, in large part,” Blaine said.
In his practice, Blaine guided individuals with disabilities and their families through the complexities of the DD system, including schools, guardianships, estate planning and Medicaid.
“[People with disabilities] are among the vulnerable people in this world. And someone has to speak up for vulnerable people,” Blaine explained. “In the DD space, there are a variety of services, both at school and in the adult community that you only get by advocating for those services.”
Although now retired from law, Blaine cherishes the impact he’s made.
“I have a couple of those experiences, the sort of ‘but for me’ experiences, where if I wasn't there, doing what I did, the life of that individual would be remarkably different... And you live for those,” he said.
Blaine's commitment to advocacy blossomed when he joined the Madison County Board of Developmental Disabilities in 2003. His expertise and passion led him to serve on other boards, including The Arc of Ohio’s, the Ohio Association of County Boards’, Creative Housing’s and the Community Housing Network’s.
Then, Blaine joined APSI’s board of trustees and has supported APSI since. At first, Blaine viewed APSI as a mere guardianship agency. However, his perspective quickly changed as he became more involved.
“APSI went through a lot of evolutions over time, and I wasn't as aware of those evolutions until I got more involved with APSI,” Blaine said. “By the time I actually came on the board, APSI had started to see itself differently, and I started to see APSI differently.”
The APSI board is a unique community to Blaine; the camaraderie between members bolsters their passion for APSI’s mission. Blaine enjoyed the board enough to step up as Vice President before finally leading the board as President.
“It's more than just administration. It's more than just showing up and voting and looking at financials or policies... You can be on a board like APSI and sleep better at night for it,” he said.
During his more than a decade of board service, Blaine witnessed APSI grow into an advocacy leader in Ohio.
“It's not just about doing guardianships,” he said. “It's about developing cultural expertise in supporting the lives of people with developmental disabilities and being the expert. And that's where we're at now. We're asked our opinion about things that have nothing to do with guardianships, and I think that's an important space for APSI to occupy.”
As Blaine steps down, another advocate steps up; Brad Eberhard, CPA, CVA, APSI’s current Board Vice President will assume his new role as Board President in place of Blaine.
“Brad's been on the board a long time. He understands the system, and he's a man of great empathy and care,” Blaine said.
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