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Parent Partnership chair urges state to expand intensive supports after recounting ReMerge recovery
Summary
Sunny Jamerson, chair of OCCY’s Parent Partnership Board, described her recovery through the ReMerge program and urged the commission to expand state-supported access to longer-term, wraparound treatment similar to ReMerge; she cited program outcomes and savings to the state.
Sunny Jamerson, chair of the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth Parent Partnership Board, told commissioners how long-term, wraparound programs shaped her recovery and argued that state-funded treatment options for people with opioid and other substance use disorders are currently too short and uneven.
Jamerson said she completed a ReMerge program that provided 18 months of structured services and post-treatment supports. She contrasted that experience with typical state- or Medicaid-funded residential stays, which she said now average about 45 to 60 days since expanded managed care — a timeframe she said is shorter than the brain’s recovery timeline. “There are actually two systems of care,” Jamerson said, describing one for more resourced patients and a second, less comprehensive system for many Oklahomans. She asked commissioners: how many more people could succeed if the playing field were even?
Jamerson described ReMerge as a donor- and grant-funded program that has graduated roughly 206 women since 2011 and, she said, has saved the state more than $51,000,000 over 13 years by reducing incarceration and related costs. She said ReMerge’s offerings — paid sober living, legal and employment assistance, and education — were critical to her reunification with her child and to becoming employed and credentialed after graduation.
Commissioners and staff asked Jamerson about her current employment and program involvement; Jamerson said she works with Catalyst Behavioral Services and that she is transitioning to a full-time therapist role. Commissioners thanked Jamerson for her testimony and noted the Parent Partnership Board’s role in advising agencies and elevating parent voice at policy tables.
The presentation closed with Jamerson inviting commissioners to identify one action their agency could take to help “even the playing field” and offering the Parent Partnership Board’s support for implementation.
Ending: Commissioners acknowledged Jamerson’s story, expressed appreciation for parent-led input, and continued the meeting’s agenda.
