Oregon school districts get no state money to run youth addiction prevention programs they are legally required to have, a new report finds. That includes Hillsboro School District, which serves about 17,891 students across four high schools and 38 other campuses.
The report, first reported by The Lund Report and Oregon Public Broadcasting, found that of the $1.5 billion Oregon spent between 2023 and 2025 on substance use services, just $39.1 million went to prevention. That is 2.6 percent of the total. Treatment took 73 percent.
Third Horizon, a Chicago-based consulting firm hired by the state, verified $31.2 million of the $39.1 million as primary prevention. Only $13 million of that reached communities. The remaining $18.2 million stayed inside state government, including $15 million spent enforcing retail alcohol sales regulations.
The findings were released Thursday, Oct. 1, under a study mandated by House Bill 3321 (HB 3321), which the Oregon Legislature passed in 2025. The law required the Oregon Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission to assess how the state handles youth addiction prevention.
A mandate without money
Oregon has required every public school district to maintain a research-based prevention plan since 1989. Of 65 districts surveyed, only 19 have completed one, according to the report's executive summary.
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), charged with enforcing the mandate, employed a single prevention coordinator and funded one campaign during the two-year period the consultants studied.
Hillsboro's school board approved its 2025-2026 Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention Plan on April 28 by a 7-0 vote, according to board records. Assistant Superintendent Brooke Nova presented the plan to the board on March 10 before the vote. The district uses Youth Contact's Student Assistance Program (SAP) in its schools for prevention, intervention and referral services, along with LifeStance Health for school-based mental health in secondary schools. Both are locally arranged.
None of that comes with state funding.
Thin workforce, high-risk youth underserved
The report found Oregon has just 48 certified prevention specialists statewide. Fourteen counties have none. Only 3 percent of county prevention activity targets youth already showing early warning signs. The vast majority, 85 percent, is universal programming.
Of 265 documented prevention programs statewide, only 41 use a recognized curriculum.
State Sen. Lisa Reynolds, a pediatrician and member of the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, called the findings troubling. "We pat ourselves on the back for allocating this money, and then we're not necessarily following up on what happened … what were the results," Reynolds told The Lund Report.
Jon Epstein, a prevention advocate who lost his 18-year-old son to an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2020, said the report shows how Oregon underserves youth and families. The report estimates prevention returns as much as $63 for every dollar spent, compared to $4 to $7 for treatment.
What the report recommends
The consultants called for increasing prevention spending to nearly eight times its current level, funded by a dedicated revenue stream such as liquor sales. The goal: move community-based prevention from under 3 percent to at least 20 percent of the substance use budget without cutting treatment.
Other recommendations include building a regional system with unified staffing and contracts, expanding services for higher-risk youth, and creating a central state prevention office.
An ODE spokesperson said the agency has begun building prevention infrastructure with one-time legislative funding but acknowledged the effort is still in early stages.
A spokesperson for Gov. Tina Kotek said her staff is reviewing the report.
HB 3321 sunsets Jan. 2, 2027, putting pressure on the 2027 legislative session to act on the recommendations. Hillsboro's district, already facing $10.2 million in budget cuts for 2026-27, would need new state dollars to expand prevention work beyond what it funds locally.
