Jocelyn Gainers holds a doctoral degree in education from Morgan State University. She currently serves as the Executive Director of The Family Recovery Program, Inc. (FRP), the only Family Treatment Court in Baltimore city, Maryland, and the President and CEO of 1209 Rose LLC (a housing management firm). FRP has worked diligently since 2005 to decrease the amount of time children spend in foster care through wrapping intensive services around the family to support reunification efforts. As such, FRP is recognized as a national peer-learning court. Dr. Gainers has over 30 years of experience in the field of human services and is an expert in the field of addictions, having worked with both adolescents and adults impacted by substance abuse and dependence. As a certified counselor, she has worked with families, couples, and individuals in both group and individual settings to improve system functioning and increase family cohesion. Dr. Gainers currently serves on several boards throughout the state of Maryland and provides guidance and insight to businesses on delivering excellent service to indigent populations. Considered a social action champion, Jocelyn has worked diligently to positively impact families who are often vulnerable, marginalized, and survivors of trauma.
Within her non-profit organization, Dr. Gainers and her staff of 33 work daily to eradicate addiction and reunify families impacted by substance use. Recognizing that one of the main barriers to long-term reunification expressed by many clients has been the lack of safe and sober housing, Dr. Gainers embarked on a mission to create sustainable housing for parents with a history of substance abuse. Under her steadfast leadership and guidance, on November 24th, 2015, after years of intensive fundraising, she and her company broke ground and began the renovation of a 28,000 square-foot retired Catholic school in East Baltimore City. To date, a total of seven million dollars has been raised to support this project. In 2016, with the assistance and work of her entire team, Dr. Gainers celebrated the grand opening of this 23-unit apartment building with two and-three-bedroom apartments now known as The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building at Sage Center (Sage). To further improve her local community and help more families, through her company she purchased and renovated five townhomes adjacent to the Sage Center, giving five Sage Center graduate families the opportunity to live on their own in the community while still receiving case management support. Sage II at Monarch View has opened and is serving five families.
Jocelyn earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Virginia and graduate degree from Towson University. In her spare time, Jocelyn volunteers with the MentHer program through Towson University mentoring college students in the school of business. In April of 2018, the Daily Record selected Dr. Gainers as one of Maryland’s Top 100 women. In 2019 she graduated from in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses program, a national initiative design to help small businesses grow and thrive. In 2020 she was selected through The Child Welfare League of America’s 100th anniversary as one of 100 awardees for their Champion for Children Award and most recently was honored as a “Reunification Hero” by the American Bar Association. Through her work, she has empowered thousands of individuals to believe in themselves and their capacity to change and become self-reliant.
Jocelyn is married to Antonio Gainers and together they have three beautiful adult children, and one super grandson.