Ask a Grantee - Oklahoma State UniversityAsk a Grantee - Oklahoma State University
Rural Roads- The RCORPodcast.
Oklahoma State University’s NAS team talks about building jail-based telehealth and community partnerships to support pregnant and postpartum women with opioid use disorder in rural Oklahoma. The conversation focuses on stigma, practical re-entry planning, and how local champions help sustain change beyond grant funding.
34:31•27 Jun 2023
Building Rural Jail-Based Support for Pregnant Women With Opioid Use Disorder
Episode Overview
- Telehealth via iPads in rural jails has allowed pregnant and postpartum women to access prenatal care and medications for opioid use disorder.
- Short periods of incarceration can quickly lead to loss of housing, benefits, transport, and child custody, so re-entry planning must start before release.
- Community meetings in courthouses and jail annexes bring together judges, sheriffs, providers and community groups, breaking down silos between services.
- Education on addiction as a medical condition and the role of MOUD is key to challenging stigma among clinicians, law enforcement and community partners.
- Identifying local champions and supporting communities to run their own ongoing meetings helps sustain collaboration after grant funding ends.
“You have to strike while the iron is hot. When they’re ready for services and they’re about to get out, it is just vital that we have things set up for them.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation with Oklahoma State University’s Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) team shows how that strength can grow even inside a jail cell. The episode follows grantee representatives Chetna Mosapeta and Gina Moore as they talk with host facilitators about building services for pregnant and postpartum women with substance use and opioid use disorders across six rural Oklahoma counties.
Grant work began in the middle of COVID, so, as Chetna puts it, “we really had to look at how do we continue this grant in the world of COVID where everything literally was shut down.” Their answer was telehealth, using iPads inside jails so women could access prenatal care and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). Gina explains the impact of even a short jail stay: loss of housing, benefits, transport and, all too often, children.
That’s why the team focuses on practical re-entry support and timing: “You have to strike while the iron is hot” and have services lined up before release. They report working with around 88 incarcerated women across three years, with about 65 using MOUD, and describe recent shifts as rural jails move from medical detox towards medication-based treatment. You’ll also hear how they built unlikely partnerships.
Community meetings in courthouses and jail annexes bring together judges, sheriffs, behavioural health providers, people with lived experience, early childhood programmes, homeless shelters, and even a mobile farmers’ market. Chetna highlights the turning point when “law enforcement sit across someone with lived experience” and everyone realises they’re “all striving for the same thing.” For professionals working in rural health, criminal justice, or perinatal care, this episode offers a grounded look at what’s possible when small communities connect their dots.
Could similar community meetings change outcomes where you live?
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